United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-00-276 December 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ SEPA Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot City of Shreveport, LA 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 $1,000,000 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 Shreveport for a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. The City of Shreveport also is the recipient of a Brownfields Assessment Pilot and a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant. The City already has made a loan to fund cleanup of a site for Shreveport's new $85 million convention center. Shreveport (population 198,000) is located in northwestern Louisiana and is at the crossroads of major rail and highway systems that transport high volumes of hazardous materials. City residents suffer from a 24% poverty rate and an 11% unemployment rate. Almost half of the city's residents have not graduated from high school. The Job Training Pilot will focus on several neighborhoods in the inner city. Shreveport's inner city contains hundreds of acres of former industrial sites that lie derelict due to the presence or threat of contaminants. Employment has suffered since the "Oil Bust" of the 1980s when the area lost more than 10,000 jobs. The Job Training Pilot will help residents access new jobs created by the assessment and cleanup of brownfields that is being stimulated by the PILOT SNAPSHOT City of Shreveport, Louisiana Date of Announcement: December2000 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will train 48 participants as brownfields technicians. Students will be recruited from inner-city neighborhoods, which contain hundreds of acres of former industrial sites that lie derelictas a result of the "Oil Bust" of the 1980s. Contacts: City of Shreveport (318)673-5009 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA - Region 6 (214)665-2200 Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.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/ ------- Brownfields Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund Pilots. There currently is no resource in North Louisiana certified to train qualified abatement contractors and workers. TRAINING OBJECTIVES The City of Shreveport plans to train 48 participants, achieve an 85% placement rate, and support career placement of graduates for one year after the training is completed. Participants will be recruited from residents of neighborhoods impacted by brownfields. The 200-hour Pilottraining program will use an existing curriculum that includes construction skills, environmental health and safety, 80-hour general construction, 40-hour lead abatement, 40-hourasbestos abatement, soil sampling, water testing, and bioremediation, including training in the use of innovative assessment and remediation technologies. The training efforts of the City of Shreveport will be supported by organizations such as Southern University-Shreveport, the Shreveport Fire Academy, Xavier University, and the Laborers AGC. Eight 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 residents from six neighborhoods in the inner city that have been impacted by the presence of brownfields. • Conducting training for entry-level positions as brownfields field technicians, 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 December2000 Applicant, County, State EPA500-F-00-276 ------- |