United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-239
August 1998
vxEPA Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
New Bedford, MA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots will each be funded up to $200,000 over
two years. These Pilots will bring together community groups, job training organizations, educators, labor groups,
investors, lenders, developers, and other affected parties to address the issue of providing environmental
employment and training for residents in communities impacted by brownfields. The goals of the Pilots are to
facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites contaminated with hazardous substances and prepare trainees for
employment in the environmental field, including training in alternative or innovative treatment technologies.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of New Bedford,
Massachusetts for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. The City of
New Bedford is also a Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot.
The City (population 99,900) is on the Atlantic
coast, 55 miles southeast of Boston. New Bedford
has a long history as the home of whaling, cotton
textile manufacturing, and fishing industries. This
has left little space for new industrial development.
The decline of the City's main industries and the
recent departure of several large employers have
created many abandoned properties that either are
contaminated or thought to be contaminated.
Many of these brownfields are now owned by the
City. New Bedford's efforts to assess and clean
up brownfields and reduce a high unemployment
rate indicate a need for environmental job training.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
New Bedford plans to train 36 students with the
EPA grant, achieve a 65% placement rate, and
track students for up to one year. Participants to
PILOT SNAPSHOT
New Bedford,
Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
August 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
underemployed and
unemployed residents of
New Bedford, particularly
those living in proximity to
brownfields sites targeted
by the Assessment Pilot.
Contacts:
City of New Bedford
(508)979-1485
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9634
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld
For further 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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be targeted are the underemployed and unem-
ployed residents of New Bedford, particularly
those living in proximity to brownfields sites
targeted by the Assessment Pilot. The Pilot
training program will consist of 25 weeks of
comprehensive environmental response training,
including training in the use of innovative technolo-
gies for site assessment and cleanup activities.
The City's training efforts will be supported by
organizations such as Old Bedford Village Commu-
nity Development Corporation, New Directions—
Careers 2000, Bristol Community College, and the
Community Economic Development Center of
Southeastern Massachusetts.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing a curriculum for brownfields
assessment and cleanup;
• Conducting training in site assessment, cleanup
methods, and the use of innovative technologies;
and
• Conducting outreach to recruit underemployed
and unemployed City residents.
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 New Bedford, Massachusetts
August 1998 EPA 500-F-98-239
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