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[BIRDS CHIRPING, SLOW MUSIC]
NARRATOR: The city of Huntington, West Virginia, which sits quietly next to the Ohio River,
was once a bustling center of commerce in the steel industry. But Huntington has struggled for
years with economic challenges such as manufacturing decline, job loss, poverty, and
blight.
MAYOR STEVE WILLIAMS: You go by something that is just in disrepair, that’s not functional, and
after a while you become blind to it.
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NARRATOR: But the city is ready for a comeback. The Environmental Protection Agency is
committed to making a difference in communities such as Huntington. Through the agency’s
Making A Visible Difference effort, EPA, in partnership with the city, recently convened the
Huntington Revitalization Forum.
SHAWN GARVIN: The main focus of making a visible difference is we know everything that we
do is really focused on the people that we represent. So we came up with this concept of
making a visible difference in communities and picking some communities where we can really
try out, how do we leverage, how do we convene, how do we work together. Not only
with other federal agencies but with state agencies, local agencies, philanthropic organizations, non-
profits, and most importantly, the citizens. Because at the end of the day, it’s hearing from
them on what their needs are and not us coming in and telling them what their needs are.
MATT WARD: I know that the EPA has really been dedicated with its Brownfields program, with its
sustainable communities program to actually making places wonderful, healthy, beautiful, clean
and sustainable again. To come to a place like Huntington and say we’d really like to see that
dead factory go away, we’d really like to see the flooding problem be solved, we’d really like to see
the green infrastructure in the trees grow again in these abandoned places.
NARRATOR: Bringing together a broad variety of resources from federal, state, local and
non-profit organizations is key.
MARGARET MARY LANE: It’s bringing together many agencies. Breaking down the silos that
exist between federal agencies, state agencies, and the recipient, it’s breaking those silos down
and we’re creating a network of communication and we’re finding those spaces where we can
connect deeply so that these agencies can be responding to our particular and unique needs.
NARRATOR: A unique area of Huntington known as the “Highlawn” neighborhood is a prime target
for redevelopment. Once an area of stately homes, the neighborhood is now packed with
brownfields and abandoned manufacturing plants.
MARY WITTEN WISEMAN: That is the single largest piece of property for development in the
state of West Virginia. The cost of reclaiming a Brownfields is so astronomical that but for the
help of the outside agencies and their willingness to work with the local groups and partner with
them to get them cleaned up and make them safe again, we would not be able to reclaim those properties and
that is the key to our economic success going forward.
NARRATOR The Highlawn neighborhood’s location near the busy Ohio River, the downtown,
and Marshall University makes it prime for redevelopment. Huntington has begun addressing
stormwater and flooding issues and has identified properties for revitalization through
EPA’s Brownfields Program.
GEORGE CARICO: We’ve got some great things that have started over the last few years and
now we’re seeing new ways to bring more of these things to fruition. Stormwater management,
it’s been a joke here in this town for years and now we’re finally realizing we can address it and
address it correctly in a way that’s sustainable and responsible.
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SHAWN GARVIN: Our job is working in communities, our job is working with people in
communities and so the more that we can learn how to do that better, the better off we are.
MAYOR STEVE WILLIAMS: What I’m seeing in my partnership with EPA, it’s not just making sure that
we have clean streets. It’s making sure that we rebuild a community. It not only sets a standard
for the country but it will transform Appalachia because it’ll start to show this property that has
been traditionally been energy oriented we have other ways that we can do it and partner with
the University and partner with the federal government and state government we can show
what we can do.
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