United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-167
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
City of Brockton, MA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Brockton for a
Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot. The City is the recipient of a
Brownfields Assessment Pilot and a Brownfields
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot. Brockton
(population 93,000) is located in Southeastern
Massachusetts 20 miles south of Boston. The blue-
collar City is both a suburb of Boston and the central
city within Plymouth County. Brockton's
unemployment rate has been above the statewide
average for nearly 20 years. The city-wide poverty
rate is 14 percent and the medium household income
is 25 percent less than the rest of the region.
The Job Training Pilot will focus on the City's
Economic Corridor, which runs north-south parallel to
the railroad system. Economic Corridorneighborhoods
encompass half of the City' s re sidents living on public
assistance. Many of City's 100 identified brownfield
sites are located in the Economic Corridor.
Redevelopment along the Economic Corridor is
essential to providingjobs for city residents. However,
no environmental training programs exist in the City at
this time and the City has no resident "Licensed Site
Professionals" to employ in assessment, cleanup, and
redevelopment activities.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Brockton,
Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: ThePilotwilltrain40-
50 participants as environmental
technicians. Students will be
recruited from low-income
residentsoftheCity'sEconomic
Corridor, which encompasses
half of the City's residents living
on public assistance and many
of the City's 100 identified
brownfields.
Contacts:
City of Brockton
(508)580-7113
Regional BrownfieldsTeam
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1209
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The City of Brockton plans to train 40-50 participants,
achieve a 75 percent placement rate, and support
career placement of graduates for one year after the
training is completed. Participants will be recruited
from amongthe low-income residents of the Economic
Corridor. The Pilot training program will consist of
courses on information gathering and analysis for site
assessments, site remediation techniques, lab
techniques for collecting and analyzing samples, and
environmental health and safety. The courses will
require 16 weeks, 40 hours per week, including
training in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies.
The training efforts of the City of Brockton will be
supported by organizations such as the Brockton
Area Private Industry Council, Massasoit Community
College, Fleet Environmental Services, and Jobs for
Youth. Classes will be offered both day-time and
evening, and certificates will be offered in
Environmental Technology and 40-hour OSHA health
and safety. Local employers have committed to hire
participants to fill environmental j obs.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents
of the Economic Corridor;
• Conducting brownfieldstechnician training, including
courses in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for one
year after the job training is completed.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot City of Brockton, Massachusetts
May'2000 EPA500-F-00-167
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