Hopewell Plant

About the Program
The Hopewell Plant is a chemical plant operated by Ashland Inc. located in Hopewell, Virginia, just south of Richmond. Situated in eastern Virginia and sandwiched between the James River, the Appomattox River and Cattail Creek, this site boasts a remediated landfill cap containing eight acres of grassland habitat and over four acres of wetland habitat. Less than a mile from the James River Important Bird Area, this site attracts an array of native wildlife species with bluebird boxes, wood duck boxes, pollinator boxes, raptor perches and basking logs for reptile and amphibian species on site. 

Practices and Impacts

• The landfill cap meadow/grassland started merely as a remediation project and has since far exceeded those goals. A native wildlife meadow mix was planted on portions of the landfill to promote native habitat and is monitored and managed to prevent woody vegetation from encroaching on the edges of the habitat. 
• The two wetlands on-site are excellent sources of water for native wildlife in the are. They are monitored for invasive species and serve as connecting habitat to the nearby Cattail Creek and Bailey Creek. 
• Native eastern bluebirds, tree swallows and house wrens are targeted with the five bluebird nesting boxes on site. These nesting boxes unfortunately were not used by birds in 2021 due to the presence of wasps, but there are plans to minimize these negative impacts of pests for the coming breeding season. 
• Two pollinator boxes were placed in the grassland habitat to attract and provide shelter for native bumblebees, honeybees and butterfly species. With clear evidence of use in 2021 by wasps and bees, there are plans to add native wildflower mix around these boxes to increase foraging opportunities for these species. 
• Eight basking logs were added to the wetland on-site to attract native reptile and amphibian species such as the yellow-bellied slider, the coastal plain cooter and the eastern cricket frog. This project proved successful in 2021 with eight different species of reptiles and amphibians noted using the logs. 
• In March 2021, two wood duck boxes were placed near the wetland habitat to provide nesting opportunities for this species. Unfortunately these boxes were not used by wood ducks, but instead wasps, so there are plans to prevent wasp use of these prior to next breeding season. 
• One raptor perch is located in the grassland with the hopes of attracting native peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawk and Cooper's hawk. Due to the lack of use in 2021,the perch will be relocated, possibly closer to the wetland, to increase foraging and nesting opportunities.