Copperhill Industries is the winner of the 2025 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for Water Quality. The award is one of nine in different categories announced Monday by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The company announced a successful transformation of one of Tennessee’s most environmentally impacted Superfund sites into a model of stormwater and watershed restoration at the Davis Mill Watershed. The project reflects over 15 years of transformative environmental work, culminating in a self-sustaining site with compliant stormwater discharges, ecological recovery and innovative biosolid reclamation practices.
Once the epicenter of industrial ore processing and acid rain damage, the Copperhill site now boasts 24 consecutive quarters of water quality compliance. Thanks to site-wide reclamation, stormwater management, and sustainable land application of lime-stabilized biosolids, the site now discharges more than 31.5 million gallons of clean stormwater annually to the Ocoee River without chemical treatment.
Beginning in 2018, the company introduced land-applied, lime-stabilized biosolids from the Chattanooga Wastewater Treatment Program to jumpstart reclamation.
The biosolids provided organic carbon and calcium carbonate missing from traditional methods such as replacing topsoil and establishing vegetation. The results have been dramatic with the soil pH improving from below 2.0 to neutral; an addition of a four-inch layer of healthy topsoil, which supports native plant succession; the establishment of 100 percent vegetative cover, which prevents erosion and reduces stormwater volume; and a self-sustaining ecology for the first time in over 150 years.
Copperhill Industries has constructed lined stormwater collection ponds using high-density polyethylene liners to intercept and manage runoff before it reaches the Ocoee River. These engineered systems were key components of the shift from active chemical treatment to passive treatment through wetlands.
A milestone was the conversion of the East Branch Pond from a contaminated water body into a thriving wetland ecosystem. Once requiring 24/7 pumping and chemical treatment at a cost of $10,000 per month, the pond now supports fish and nesting birds like eagles and ospreys, all while discharging clean water. Copperhill Industries has proved that even the most degraded landscapes can be restored through innovation, persistence, and partnership. The Copperhill site now exemplifies not just reclamation, but resilience with stormwater quality that meets all regulatory requirements and ecological systems that are rebounding naturally, said officials.
Other winners of the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards announced in different categories are:
Natural Resources – Sanofi, a healthcare company
Clean Air and Transportation Solutions – Averitt, a supply and logistics company
Agriculture and Forestry – Cul2vate, a faith-driven nonprofit
Sustainable Performance – The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
Building Green – Donelson branch of the Nashville Public Library
Education and Outreach – University of Tennessee Extension Smart Yards program
Materials Management – WM (formerly known as Waste Management)
Energy and Renewable Resources – White Pine Solar Farm