Greg Jevyak has seen industrial land at its most damaged, the scorched earth of refinery closures, the chemical-laden soil beneath decommissioned facilities, the silence left where machinery once ran around the clock. What makes his perspective on wildlife habitat restoration so grounded is precisely that starting point. Few people understand the distance between a contaminated industrial property and a thriving certified wildlife habitat better than someone who spent years working at that first, difficult stage of the journey.
Converting a former industrial site into a certified wildlife habitat is a sequence of disciplines that must be executed in the right order and with the right expertise at each phase. The growing number of brownfield properties being reimagined as ecological assets represents one of the more promising developments in land reclamation, but the path from contaminated ground to functioning ecosystems is more demanding than most people realize.
Understanding the Gap Between Industrial Land and Living Ecosystem
The condition of most former industrial properties is in stark contrast to what wildlife habitat requires. Years of petroleum storage, chemical processing, and heavy industrial activity leave behind compacted soils stripped of organic matter, groundwater contamination that can suppress plant germination, and structural remnants that create hazards instead of habitat. Native species that once populated a landscape cannot simply return on their own when the underlying conditions are hostile to life.
Jevyak, whose career included extensive work in petroleum site remediation and refinery closure, has seen that damage up close. The gap between an industrial footprint and a functioning habitat is chemical, structural, and biological. Addressing it requires a sequence of interventions that begins well before any discussion of wildlife species or planting plans.
“People sometimes think you can plant a few native grasses and call it habitat,” Jevyak says. “But if the soil is still contaminated, if the hydrology has been altered, if there’s no food web to support the species you’re trying to attract, the habitat won’t function. The ecological work has to follow the remediation work, not replace it.”
The Environmental Remediation Foundation
No legitimate wildlife habitat can be established on land that has not been properly remediated. The cleanup phase, removing or neutralizing hazardous substances in soil and groundwater, is the non-negotiable foundation on which every subsequent ecological decision rests. Regulatory agencies set cleanup standards based on intended land use, and wildlife habitat designation typically requires a level of remediation that surpasses what some industrial-to-commercial conversions demand.
Soil quality is the most immediate concern. Industrial contamination can deplete the microbial communities that make soil productive, strips nutrients, and alters pH levels in ways that prevent native vegetation from establishing. Remediation strategies may include excavation and replacement of contaminated soil, bioremediation techniques that introduce microorganisms to break down petroleum hydrocarbons, or phytoremediation using specific plant species to draw contaminants out of the ground over time.
“The Phase I and Phase II site assessments are where you learn what you’re actually dealing with,” Jevyak explains. “If that work is done thoroughly, you can design a remediation plan that addresses the real conditions on the ground. Cut corners there, and you end up discovering problems mid-project that set everything back.”
Groundwater remediation adds another layer of complexity as contaminated groundwater plumes can extend well past the visible boundaries of an industrial site, and stabilizing or treating them may take years. For wildlife habitat purposes, groundwater quality matters because it feeds the wetlands, seasonal pools, and riparian zones that many species depend on.
Designing for Wildlife: From Soil to Canopy
Once remediation reaches the thresholds required for ecological use, the habitat design phase begins. Effective wildlife habitat is a structured landscape that provides the food sources, shelter, water, and nesting opportunities that sustain animal populations across seasons and life stages. Ecological designers work with site topography, regional climate data, and species range maps to develop planting and landscape plans tailored to the native wildlife of a given area.
Native plant species are the backbone of any certified habitat. Co-evolved with local wildlife over thousands of years, they provide the seeds, nectar, and insects that native birds, pollinators, and mammals require. Structural diversity matters equally, a monoculture meadow supports far fewer species than a landscape combining native grasses, shrubs, canopy trees, brush piles, and shallow water elements. Intentional diversity at the landscape level drives species diversity over time.
The Path to Habitat Certification
Several organizations offer formal wildlife habitat certification, the most recognized being the National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program. Certification requires demonstrating four essentials including food, water, cover, and places to raise young. For former industrial sites, remediation history and ongoing environmental monitoring often factor into that demonstration.
Jevyak points out that certification, while valuable for public engagement, matters less than ecological integrity. The documentation process does serve one practical purpose but instead forces site managers to identify and address gaps.
“Certification is a checkpoint more than a finish line,” he observes. “The real measure is whether the habitat is actually being used, whether the birds are there, whether the pollinators are there, whether the ecosystem is building on itself year after year.”
Stakeholder Collaboration and Long-Term Stewardship
Transforming contaminated industrial land into certified wildlife habitat rarely happens through a single organization’s effort. Municipal governments, nonprofits, corporate landowners, regulatory agencies, and community groups each bring something essential like funding, expertise, regulatory authority, or credibility.
Successful projects build coalitions capable of sustaining the work through the years ecological restoration requires. Long-term stewardship is where many well-intentioned efforts falter as invasive species must be controlled, water features maintained, and monitoring programs kept active.
The conversion of former industrial sites into certified habitats produces ecological, economic, and community benefits simultaneously, but demands the kind of firsthand environmental expertise that only sustained field experience builds.
Greg Jevyak is a retired management professional with more than 30 years of experience in the petroleum and environmental industries. Specializing in refinery closure, demolition, and environmental cleanup, he held roles including environmental business manager, site manager, and project engineer, and earned recognition from both the Illinois EPA and the U.S. EPA.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributor based on personal professional experience and are intended for informational purposes only. They do not constitute legal, environmental, or regulatory advice.
