Ecology in Partnership 

with Industry 

Cape Charles/Northampton, VA 

Cape Charles, Virginia, a small, picturesque town on the southern tip 

A walkway winds through natural 

habitat as part of the eco-park. 

of Virginia's Eastern Shore, is a model for how ecology can work in tandem 

with industry, enabling both to thrive. Created by Northampton County and 

the Town of Cape Charles, the Sustainable Technology Park Authority has 

worked hard to incorporate natural habitat protection into overall plans for 

the town's Sustainable Technology Park. This work paid off with a $200,000 

U.S. EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot award in September 1995, adding 

to a commitment of private, state, and federal funding that exceeds $15 

million and continues to grow. The project has blended environmental protection and business development to create an eco-industrial park that now 

serves as a model for similar projects nationwide. 

The Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Park is only one piece of a countywide, six-tier strategic plan called the Northampton County Sustainable 

Development Action Strategy. This plan was created through a cooperative 

effort between community officials and the public, following the county's 

designation as a rural Enterprise Community (EC) by the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture. In August 1994, the President's Council on Sustainable 

Development selected Cape Charles as one of four sites for a national ecoindustrial park demonstration project, to showcase advanced facilities in 

resource efficiency and pollution prevention. Community-wide interactive 

workshops held in February 1995 began the design and development process 

for the eco-industrial park. Included in the millions of dollars from various 

public and private sources toward redevelopment was a $790,000 Rural 

Business Enterprise grant from the Department of Agriculture and the 

Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, which 

funded infrastructure improvements. 

An abandoned, 25-acre dump once lay at the heart of the 200-acre ecopark. Seventy thousand dollars of EPA's $200,000 Brownfields Assessment 

Pilot grant funded an environmental assessment of this site. According to 

Tim Hayes, Executive Director of the Sustainable Technology Park Authority, 

"This funding was vital to the success of the entire project, because access 

to the Park was contingent on redeveloping this brownfield." 

Construction of the Park's first building—appropriately known as "Building 

One"—was completed in March 1999. Funded with a $2.5 million county 

bond, this 30,930-square-foot facility includes a solar electric roof system 

that is the largest of its kind in North America, capable of generating 42 

kilowatts of power for the building's tenants. Wetlands were created around 

the building as a natural landscaping enhancement, and the facility features 

continued �

JUST THE FACTS: 

•	 Funded with a $2.5 million county bond, 

the eco-industrial park's first building is a 

30,930-square-foot facility that includes a 

solar electric roof system capable of 

generating 42 kilowatts of power for the 

building's tenants. 

•	 Wetlands were created around the 

building as a natural landscaping 

enhancement. The building also features 

indoor air quality monitoring, skylights for 

natural lighting, and stormwater runoff 

chutes. 

•	 ProVENTO, a German-based energy 

company that develops and markets 

wind farms and sells the resulting energy 

to public utilities, plans to invest $7.5 

million to relocate its U.S. headquarters 

to Cape Charles' eco-industrial park. 

Approximately one-half of 

the land in Cape Charles' 

Eco-Industrial Park was set 

aside as natural habitat, 

including a 30-acre Coastal 

Dune Natural Area Preserve 

and approximately 60 acres 

of other natural areas. 
CONTACTS: 

For more information contact 

U.S. EPA-Region 3 (215) 814-3132 

Or visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

indoor air quality monitoring, skylights for natural lighting, and porous stormwater runoff chutes. 

The Park's first tenant was Energy Recovery, a manufacturing and research and 

development firm. 

Systems, a company that manufactures the same photovoltaic panels used in 

Building One's solar roof system. 

30 local residents to assemble solar panels. 

been layed off from a local crab processing plant, where they developed a 

manual dexterity that served them well in their new jobs. 

that relocated to the Park include SEA, an environmental consulting firm, 

and Delisheries, a gourmet baking mix shop. Tenants are able to reduce 

the cost of their leases by meeting the Park's clean operating standards. 

In April 2001, ProVENTO, a German-based energy company, announced 

plans to relocate its U.S. headquarters to Cape Charles' eco-industrial park. 

The company, which develops and markets wind farms and sells the resulting 

energy to public utilities, will invest $7.5 million in both the headquarters and 

development of six 1.3-megawatt wind towers, a project that will bring 25 new 

jobs to Cape Charles. Then-Governor of Virginia James Gilmore said of the project, 

"The potential benefits that this company has to offer are tremendous. 

towers that ProVENTO will place on Virginia's Eastern Shore will create enough energy to supply more 

than 3,000 homes." 

introduction to the U.S. of the capabilities of modern wind technology. 

County Board of Supervisors, explained that "ProVENTO's decision [to locate in the Park] is a key 

milestone in establishing Northampton County as a showcase for state-of-the-art renewable energy 

companies." And former Virginia Secretary of Comerce and Trade Barry DuVal remarked, "As energy 

is an essential component to doing business, it is crucial that we look into the future to guarantee an 

environmentally friendly and continuous supply of energy. O 

will diversify our energy sector and further confirm [Virginia's] probusiness climate." 

Approximately one-half of the land in the Park was set aside as 

natural habitat, including a 30-acre Coastal Dune Natural Area 

Preserve and approximately 60 acres of other natural areas. 

entire habitat area, including walkways, trails, and a Chesapeake 

Bay overlook, is now open to the public. 

was included as a featured bird-watching site for the Seventh 

Annual Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding Festival. 

In addition to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Business 

Enterprise grant for the Park, federal agency involvement has 

also contributed to the larger scope of the Northampton County 

Sustainable Development Action Strategy. The National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration funded development of the Action Strategy and helped with planning 

and design of the park and the Energy Recovery building. The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife 

funded the park's Natural Area Preserve, as it has provided for other natural preserves within Northampton 

County. And in 1998, EPA awarded the Cape Charles Pilot an additional $200,000 as a finalist in the 

interagency Showcase Communities program. 

The Cape Charles/Northampton County, Virginia, Brownfields Pilot has been successful in combining 

the efforts of both government agencies and the community and is a refreshing reminder that industry 

and the environment can coexist and prosper. 

opportunity to establish themselves in Cape Charles and build a workforce from local talent. 

Building One includes a solar electric 

roof system that is the largest of its kind 

in North America. 

Energy Recovery was followed soon after by Solar Building 

Solar Building Systems has already hired 

Many of these workers had 

Other companies 

The six wind 

Intended to be a wind energy showcase, ProVENTO wants to use this project as an 

Felton Sessions, Chairman of the 

ProVENT

The 

In 1999, the habitat area 

In addition, the Park is giving innovative companies the 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA500-F-03-008 

Cape Charles/Northampton, Virginia	 and Emergency May 2003 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/