SEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-99-099
May 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
Hennepin County, MN
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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 forthe 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 Hennepin County for a Brownfields
Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot.
The county is also the recipient of a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. Hennepin County will focus on
neighborhoods within and around downtown
Minneapolis, which encompasses a state-designated
Enterprise Zone and federally designated Enterprise
Community (population 49,000). Formerly apreferred
location for heavy industry, the urban core of
Minneapolis has declined because of the movement
of industry to the suburbs. More than half of the
residents are African- American, Native American,
Asian/Pacific Islander, or Hispanic. Minneapolis has
one of the highest concentrations of poverty of any
metropolitan area in the country. Unemployment
among African Americans is 28 percent.
The downtown area contains half of Minneapolis'
hazardous waste generators, and numerous
brownfields are located within low-income re sidential
areas. The City of Minneapolis has targeted
brownfields sites within the downtown area for
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment.
Environmental firms in the city have reported difficulty
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Hennepin County,
Minnesota
Date of Announcement:
May 1999
Amount: $199,752
Profile: The Pilot will train 100
participants as environmental
technicians. Students willbe recruited
from underemployed residents and
single working mothers in downtown
Minneapolis, which has lost many
industriesto the suburbsand includes
a state Enterprise Zone and federal
Enterprise Community.
Contacts:
Hennepin County
(612)348-3932
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
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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in finding skilled labor within the urban core. The need
for liveable-wage jobs for downtown residents and
the need for skilled labor to assist in downtown
redevelopment projects indicate a need for this Pilot.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
Hennepin County plans to train 100 disadvantaged
students, achieve a 75 percent placement rate, and
track graduates for one year after completion of the
training. The Pilot will target underemployed residents
in downtown Minneapolis, with special emphasis on
working single mothers. The Pilot training program
will consist of a comprehensive 210-hour
environmental technician training program, including
training in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies.
The training efforts of Hennepin County will be
supported by organizations such as The Green
Institute, Hennepin Technical College,the Minneapolis
Employment and Training Program, the West Metro
Job Partner Network, Peer Environmental &
Engineering Resources, Inc., Belair Excavating, Braun
Intertec, and neighborhood associations. Potential
employers have committed to providing
apprenticeships to graduates and participating on an
Advisory Committee.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit underemployed
residents of downtown Minneapolis, with an
emphasis on working single mothers;
• Conducting environmental technician training,
including courses in the use of innovative assessment
and cleanup technologies;
• Supporting career placement of graduates 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 factsheetare subjectto change.
Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot Hennepin County, Minnesota
May 1999 EPA 500-F-99-099
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