Protect Harpers Ferry

Protect Harpers Ferry!
Your Help Needed to Save Threatened Landscape; Our Civil War, Civil Rights, and Natural Heritage

A proposed 188-unit housing development adjacent to Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, including a 130-foot water tower visible throughout the area, threatens this historic landscape. The proposed "Murphy’s Landing" has applied for a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

The West Virginia Office of Water Resources expects to post the permit application for public comment in April, with a public hearing in May. If WV grants the NPDES permit and "Murphy’s Landing" were to be built, treated sewage would empty into the Shenandoah River directly upstream of the park.

The 100-acre Murphy Farm is among some 600 unprotected acres known as "School House Ridge," identified by the National Park Service as critical to preserve the historic and scenic integrity of Harpers Ferry. In addition to its rich Civil War history, Murphy Farm is a site sacred in America’s civil rights history because John Brown’s fort was relocated there in the early 20th Century after the railroad bought its original site.

The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) named Harpers Ferry to its 2001 "10 Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields" list. The 2001 Interior Appropriations bill earmarked $2 million for acquisition from willing sellers of Civil War battlefield sites adjacent to the park, an amount less than that observers expect will be needed to protect School House Ridge.

TAKE ACTION now:

Even before the NPDES permit application is posted for public comment, it’s useful to write Governor Robert Wise. Ask him to ensure that state review of proposed development at School House Ridge fully evaluates potential impacts on historic as well as natural resources. Address: The Hon. Robert Wise, 1900 E. Kanawha Blvd., Charleston, WV 25305.

Contact Paul Rosa, director of the Harpers Ferry Conservancy, prosa@crosslink.net, for updates on the NPDES permit application.

Check http://www.civilwar.org for the CWPT’s "10 Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields" report.

National Parks Conservation Association’s website http://www.npca.org/take_action will have an action alert after the NPDES public notice is posted.