Cincinnati CityBeat

Every year thousands of visitors head to Fernald Preserve to hike, bird watch and learn about the history of this former uranium processing plant. The 1,050-acre nature preserve is located just a short drive from Cincinnati, in Hamilton, and has everything — forests, prairies, wetlands, grasslands and open water. On the eastern boundary of the site, a large on-site disposal facility looms in the distance. This makes it impossible to ignore that what is now a natural sanctuary was once home to the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, a Cold War-era uranium processing facility. ⁠ ⁠ How did a heavily polluted weapon plant become a healthy destination for outdoor enthusiasts, history buffs and hundreds of species of birds? The short answer is grassroots activism. The long answer — and all of the lessons in environmental activism that come with it — can be found in Cleaning Up the Bomb Factory, the first book by environmental historian Dr. Casey A. Huegel. Within its pages, Huegel explores how the Greater Cincinnati community gained momentum with grassroots activism and a state coalition and managed to be part of the driving force that turned a polluted uranium plant into a nature preserve.⁠ ⁠ 🔗 Click the link in our bio to learn more about the interesting history of Fernald Preserve.