United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA500-F-01-354
December 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation
Corporation, Brooklyn, New York
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 $250,000 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 St. Nicholas Neighborhood
Preservation Corporation (St. Nicks) for a Brownfields
Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot.
St. Nicks' assessment pilot partner is the New York
City Brownfields Assessment Pilot. St. Nicks is a
community development corporation established in
1975 serving the Latino, Polish-American, Italian-
American, and African-American populations of the
Williamsburg/GreenpointneighborhoodsinBrooklyn.
St. Nicks has recruited and screened 80 individuals
for temporary positions in the World Trade Center
cleanup effort.
The Job Training Pilot will focus on residents in the
Williamsburg neighborhood (population 88,000) of
Brooklyn. Neighborhood residents are predominantly
minorities, and more than 25% of the residents live in
poverty. Residents are in need of jobs with a career
ladder. The area is zoned for mixed use and includes
heavy industrial, underused, and vacant brownfields.
Two of the City's Assessment Pilot sites slated for
cleanup and development are located near St. Nicks.
There is steady demand for entry-level environmental
workers from local environmental contractors.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Brooklyn,
New York
Dateof Announcement:
December2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 80
students as environmental
technicians. Students will be
recruited from unemployed and
underemployed residents of the
Williamsburg neighborhood of
Brooklyn, which houses pre-
dominantly minority residents
and includes numerous heavy
industrial, underused.and vacant
brownfields.
Contacts:
St. Nicholas Neighborhood
Preservation Corporation
(718)302-2045
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 2
(212)637-4291
Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/
bfmainpg.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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TRAINING OBJECTIVES
St. Nicks plans to train 80 students, achieve a
graduation rate of 85%, achieve a job placement rate
of 70% of graduates, and support career placement of
graduates fortwo years afterthe training is completed.
Students will be recruited from among unemployed
and underemployed residents of the Williamsburg
neighborhood. The 192-hour Pilot training program
will consist of an introduction to environmental issues,
chemical hazards and hazardous materials
management, remediation techniques, health and
safety, and 40-hour HAZWOPER, including training
in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup
technologies. Field trips with technology
demonstrations are planned to two nearby Assessment
Pilot brownfields.
The training efforts of St. Nicks will be supported by
organizations such as Williamsburg Works, Clean
Harbors Environmental Services, Miller
Environmental, Hunter College, Labor Technical
College/Carpenter's Union, One Stop Centers, and
STRIVE. St. Nicks will establish an ad-hoc advisory
board consisting of representatives of employers,
unions, trainers, and community residents to provide
advice on Pilot implementation.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit unemployed and
underemployed residents of the Williamsburg
neighborhood of Brooklyn;
• Conducting training for entry-level positions as
brownfields technicians, including courses in the
use of innovative assessment and cleanup
technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for two
years 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 De velopment Demonstration Pilot
December2001
St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation, Brooklyn, NewYork
EPA500-F-01-354
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