SEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-169
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
Concurrent Technologies Corp., Charleston, SC
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 Concurrent Technologies
Corporation in Charleston, South Carolina, for a
Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot. The City of Charleston is the
recipient of a Brownfields Assessment Pilot and a
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot. The
Job Training Pilot will focus on the City of Charleston's
federal Enterprise Community, which is located near
the city' s historic district. Approximately 22,5 00 people
live in the Enterprise Community, 8 0 percent of whom
are African American. The poverty rate in the
Enterprise Community is greater then 45 percent and
the unemployment rate is over 12 percent. Of the
2,000 families with children in the Enterprise
Community, two-thirds are headed by single women.
The Enterprise Community has experiencedthe growth
and decline of several industries since the Civil War,
including fertilizermanufacturing, lumbertreatment,
and pulp and paper manufacturing. The Charleston
Naval Base, which employed many in the area, closed
in 1994, resulting in higher unemployment and the
decline of many small manufacturing operations.
Over 100 brownfields have been identified within the
Enterprise Community. The Department of Defense
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Charleston,
South Carolina
Contacts:
ConcurrentTechnologies
Corporation
(843)744-2829
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 60
participants as environmental
technicians. Students will be
recruited from low-income
residents of the City's Enterprise
Community, which has suffered
economically from theclosing of
the Charleston Naval Base and
the presence of over 100
brownfields created by past
industrial activities.
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404)562-8661
Visit the E PA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm
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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plans a $30 million restoration of Charleston Naval
Base. The environmental industry in Charleston is a
growing industry and maj or environmental firms have
indicated that they would be adding environmental
technicians to their staff over the next couple of
years.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
Concurrent Technologies plans to train 60 participants,
achieve an 80 percent placement rate, and support
career placement of graduates for one year after the
training is completed. Participants will be recruited
from low-income residents of the Enterprise
Community. The Pilottraining program will consist of
40 hours of sampling and basic math, 30 hours of
OSHA general industry standards for safety and
health, 40 hours of HAZWOPER, eight hours of
heavy equipment operation and safety, and 24 hours
of innovative technology courses. In addition, eight
students will be provided the opportunity to take the
Commercial Driver's License course at the conclusion
of the environmental technician training.
Concurrent Technologies' training efforts will be
supported by organizations such as Trident Technical
College, the Medical University of South Carolina,
Innovative Alternatives for Women, Partners for
Employment Program, and Youth Services Charleston.
The training program will offer opportunities to take
advanced training and earn credits towards a college
degree. The City offers employers incentives to hire
local residents.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents
of the City of Charleston's Enterprise Community;
• 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.
BrownfieldsJob Training and Development Demonstration Pilot Concurrent Technologies Corp., Charleston, South Carolina
May 2000 EPA500-F-00-169
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