United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-180
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
City of Tacoma, WA
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 the City of Tacoma for a Brownfields
Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot.
The Job Training Pilot will focus on the federal
Enterprise Community encompassing the downtown,
port, and South Tacoma Way industrial areas in the
Nalley Valley district. Residents living in the Enterprise
Community (population 20,500) have a reported
average poverty rate of 41 percent. Half of the total
Enterprise Community population lives within the
downtown or Hilltop areas, which has a large minority
population. The City of Tacoma is also the recipient
of a Brownfields Assessment Pilot.
Historically, Tacoma grew as a result of intense
industrial development, including fishing, logging,
mining, and other related manufacturing industries.
By 1980, industrial development had waned
significantly, leaving many sites vacant and a legacy
of soil and sediment contamination. Tacoma's
emphasis on redevelopment of brownfields within its
core port and downtown areas has resulted in a local
building boom. Contractors working on these sites
report difficulty in locating trained workers to perform
assessment and remediation activities. The Job
Training Pilot offers the community an opportunity to
obtain good-paying jobs and develop apool of skilled
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Tacoma,
Washington
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 45
participants as environmental
technicians. Students will be recruited
from low-income residents of the
downtown, port, and South Tacoma
Way portions of thefederal Enterprise
Community, within which the City is
actively redeveloping brownfields left
behind by a long history of industrial
activity.
Contacts:
City of Tacoma
(253)594-5933
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 10
(206)553-7299
Visit the EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site at:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/
9f3c21896330b4898825687b007aOf33/
0058bc2fabfabead88256555006b075a?OpenDocument
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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local workers to meet this demand.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The City of Tacoma plans to train 45 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 downtown, port,
and South Tacoma Way areas. The Pilot training
program will consist of 184 hours of environmental
technician training over six months. Training modules
will include environmental chemistry, HAZWOPER,
industrial chemical spill response, environmental
sampling methods, environmental site assessment,
introduction to soils, watershed analysis, surface and
groundwater hydrology, and hazardous waste site
operations, including training in the use of innovative
assessment and cleanup technologies.
The City of Tacoma's training efforts will be supported
by organizations such as the Metropolitan Development
Council, Clover Park Technical College, Private
Industry Council, Western Washington Operating
Engineers, Tacoma's Local Employment and
Apprenticeship Training Program (LEAP), and
Saltbush Environmental Services, Inc. Local
employers have committed to hiring graduates of the
Pilot program.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents
of the downtown, port, and South Tacoma Way
portions of the federal Enterprise Community;
• Conducting brownfieldstechniciantraining,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 City of Tacoma, Washington
May 2000 EPA500-F-00-180
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