PPG Industries, Inc. – Monroeville Technical Center

Total Acreage: 183      
Location: 16 miles east of Pittsburgh off Rt. 22
Description/ Activities: 

• Pollinator Meadow featuring native wildflowers and grasses, plus milkweed plot for monarch breeding, used as hub for ecological studies with Wings of Wonder (visit their photo gallery to see the progress!)     
• Wide perimeter of wooded area with mainly oaks and wild cherry                     
• Wildflower and butterfly gardens                     
• Annual 4th of July Butterfly Count with the North American Butterfly Association                      
• Bluebird nest box program with 13 nest boxes.                      
• Four permanent biological monitor sites set up and initial census completed                     
• Interpretive Trails  in East Woods near bird boxes                     
• Brush piles                     
• Selective logging in past allowed sunlight to reach forest floor, causing an increase in plant diversity                     
• Created snags for wildlife by girdling some large trees                     
• Reduced and Rotational Mowing to manage meadows and old field                     
• Bird window collision fatality log started to gather data on losses & develop ways to minimize                     
• Bird feeder set up by cafeteria for year-round feeding                     
• Participation in Cornell University Backyard Bird Count

Community Outreach: 
PPG Monroeville is a pilot site for Team Monarch in the Wings of Wonder project, hosting local students to learn about pollinators and their connection to plants through inquiry-based curriculum as developed by ASSET, Inc. and TRHP.  For more information visit the Wings of Wonder Web site. 

The Technical Center also encourages the community to become involved with their efforts each year during the Annual Butterfly Count and other surveys.  In addition, they hosted the Three Rivers Habitat Partnership's workshop for International Migratory Bird Day on May 6th, 2000.  Speakers included a master gardener, Pennsylvania Wildlife Center, and Wild Birds Unlimited. 

PPG Industries, Inc. – Allison Park 

Total Acreage: 90       
Location:  Allison Park, outside Pittsburgh 
Description/ Activities:

•  Bluebird nest box program          
• Native wildflower gardens

PPG Industries, Inc. – Ford City 

Total Acreage: 80      
Location:  Ford City, PA, along the Allegheny River
Description/ Activities:
 

• brownfield site owned by Ford City, future community park and wildlife habitat                      
• planned biodiverse phyto-cap, featuring native shrubs and trees with hybrid poplars in a natural configuration of islands                     
• planned warm-season grasslands and wildflowers for ground-nesting birds and pollinators                     
• future nest boxes for bluebirds, kestrels, and prothonotary warblers                     
• Glade Run, a quality wetland, will be preserved         
• vernal pool preservation

Back to Top

The Greening of Brownfields
By Marcia Maslonek

Two brownfield sites joined the ranks of the TRHP: Ford City with the help of PPG Industries and Vintondale, a project of the nonprofit organization AMD & ART, Inc.  Each site is working to transform land with a long history of industrial use into a community asset with a bright future of environmental remediation and even restoration.  They are working with TRHP to embrace the community and create a project that inspires pride in the present, yet humility for the past. 

PPG continues to assert its role in increasing the amount of quality wildlife habitat on corporate property with the addition of the Ford City site.  Located outside of Ford City along the Allegheny River, PPG donated the land to the borough in 1973, and is planning a community park and nature reserve as part of the site’s remediation. 

The 80-acre site is a former industrial landfill once used for the disposal of batch material from glass production, a highly alkaline substance. In order to control groundwater on site, a phytoremediation cap of hybrid poplars and other species, in conjunction with habitat enhancement, is proposed.  Most phyto-caps resemble simply a grove of poplars, with a minimum of biodiversity and wildlife value.  The proposed Ford City cap, however, will include a variety of native tree and shrub species in a natural arrangement of islands and corridors.  Besides appearing more natural to visitors, this will provide food, cover, and travel lanes for a wide host of wildlife, from songbirds to red fox.  The cap will also demonstrate the value of alternative closures to industry and community. 

The site is composed of a mix of open fields, wooded corridors, and wetlands.  Existing fields will be enhanced by planting warm-season grasses with native wildflowers.  This habitat will serve as valuable breeding grounds for ground-nesting songbirds like the meadowlark as well as game birds like the ring-necked pheasant.  In addition, the wildflowers will serve as habitat for a group of animals long overlooked—the pollinators.  From orchard mason bees to butterflies, the meadows will be “abuzz” with these valuable and attractive insects.

Additional habitat projects include management for prothonotary warblers, a Pennsylvania species-of-concern that favors forested wetlands and riparian areas, wetland enhancements, and raptor management.  Control of invasive species, which otherwise out-compete native plants, will also play an important role in maximizing biodiversity. 

The Ford City site will have considerable community value as well.  While the majority of the site will be maintained as habitat, recreational areas are planned, such as ball fields, picnic areas, and nature/wellness trails.  A Community Composting Center and Christmas Tree Recycling program may also complete the plan in the future, both simple ways to educate and encourage resident recycling.  Perhaps one of the nicest features will be the nature trail.  Winding through various habitats, from meadow to forest edge, the trail will not only provide an enjoyable area for recreation, but also educate the community about local environmental issues and practical ways to address them.  Habitat projects undertaken by PPG such as nest boxes, native plants, and wetland conservation can all be translated to the average backyard in the region. 

PPG’s Ford City project is developing an excellent model for proactive, innovative remediation.  The local wildlife may not realize the industrial heritage of the site, but they will benefit from the greening of this unique brownfield.

Back to Top 

Aristech Chemical
AMD & ART, Inc.
Bayer Corporation
Browning-Ferris Industries
Duquesne Light Company
Hercules, Inc.
Mulligan Mining
PPG Industries, Inc.
Pioneer
United States Steel Corporation
United States Gypsum Company
Wildlife Team Links