United States	Press Office (A-107)
Environmental Protection	Washington DC 20460
Agency
4*EPA Environmental
News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDSDAY, MARCH 5, 1980	Acly (202) 755-0344
EPA SETS UP NEW	As knowledge of the relationship between
WATER POLLUTION
TRAINING CENTER water	pollution and public health increases, so does
AT UNIVERSITY
OF MASSACHUSETTS the need for trained specialists. To answer this
need,	the Environmental Protection Agency is trying
out a new short-course "training center" approach.
The Agency's first Area Training Center is now being
established on a trial basis at the University of
Massachusetts in Amherst. Beginning this June, it
will offer selected three- to five-day courses to
public and private sector employees, primarily from
the Northeast, who work in the pollution control and
public health fields. The courses will stress the
latest techniques and technology in these areas.
The Center's operations will be evaluated over the
first year. If the Training Center idea proves its
worth during that period, the Agency will consider
opening additional centers in other parts of the
country.
The Center's courses will be of interest to employees
of, for example, State and Federal environmental
protection agencies, local health departments and
consulting firms. The courses will be offered on a
tuition basis and are expected to cover such topics as:
—Orientation to municipal wastewater treatment;
—Methods for determining chemical contaminants
in drinking water;
—Methods for analyzing bacteriological conta-
minants in drinking water;
R-41
(more)

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—Land application of wastes; and
—Bioassays (animal tests) for toxic and hazardous
materials.
The Area Training Center will be coordinated by Battelle's
Columbus Laboratories as part of a one-year grant study for
EPA's National Training and Operational Technology Center,
based in Cincinnati. The University of Massachusetts was
selected as the site following a competitive process involving
universities in New England, New York and New Jersey. It
will cost about $30,000 to operate the Center during the
one-year trial period.
Working for EPA, Battelle will assist the University of
Massachusetts in carrying out the training program. In
addition, Battelle will evaluate the program and make appropriate
recommendations for implementing and operating a nationwide
network of area centers for training in water quality.
The Director of the training center is Dr. Francis A. DiGiano,
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Coordinator of
Environmental Engineering Program at the University of
Massachusetts. He can be contacted at the University's
Department of Civil Engineering, Amherst, Massachusetts
01003, phone (413) 545^0685, for more information.
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