United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-247
August 1998
v>EPA Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
Richmond Employment and Training
Department, Richmond, CA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots will each be funded up to $200,000 over
two years. These Pilots will bring together community groups, job training organizations, educators, labor groups,
investors, lenders, developers, and other affected parties to address the issue of providing environmental
employment and training for residents in communities impacted by brownfields. The goals of the Pilots are to
facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites contaminated with hazardous substances and prepare trainees for
employment in the environmental field, including training in alternative or innovative treatment technologies.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the Richmond Employment and
Training Department for a Brownfields Job Train-
ing and Development Demonstration Pilot. The
Richmond Employment and Training Department
will concentrate its workforce development efforts
in the City of Richmond, California, which is a
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot.
The Job Training Pilot will target welfare-to-work
and other disadvantaged residents of neighborhoods
surrounding the 900-acre North Richmond Shore-
line. The target area encompasses the distressed
Parchester Village, Southside, and Iron Triangle
neighborhoods. The demise of shipbuilding and
other heavy industry in Richmond has contributed
to entrenched poverty and persistently high unem-
ployment in these neighborhoods. The target area
is characterized by a mixture of low-income
residential communities and vacant or aging heavy
industrial properties. The poverty rate is 38% in
the target area and the unemployment rate is four
times higher than the average rate of the San
Francisco Bay area. Targeted residents are 67%
African American, 16% Hispanic, and 6% Asian/
Pacific Islander. The efforts of Richmond to
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Richmond Employment
and Training Department,
Richmond, California
Date of Announcement:
August 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
welfare-to-work and other
disadvantaged residents
of the distressed
Parchester Village,
Southside, and Iron
Triangle neighborhoods,
which are adjacent to the
North Richmond
Shoreline.
Contacts:
City of Richmond
(510) 307-8019
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 9
(415)744-1207
Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html
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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assess and clean up brownfields, along with high
unemployment rates in targeted neighborhoods,
indicate a need for environmental training.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The City of Richmond plans to train 45 students
with the EPA grant, achieve a 70% placement rate,
and track students for up to one year. Participants
to be targeted will be welfare-to-work and other
disadvantaged residents of neighborhoods sur-
rounding the North Richmond Shoreline. The Pilot
training will consist of a 13-week curriculum,
including training in the use of innovative assess-
ment and cleanup technologies. The training
efforts of the City of Richmond will be supported
by organizations such as the Richmond WORKS
One Stop Career Center, Contra Costa Social
Services Department, and Richmond Community
Enrichment Initiative.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing a curriculum for brownfields
assessment and cleanup;
• Conducting brownfields assessment and cleanup
training, including courses in the use of innovative
assessment and cleanup technologies; and
• Conducting outreach to recruit welfare-to-work
and other disadvantaged residents of
neighborhoods surrounding the North Richmond
Shoreline.
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 Richmond Employment and Training
August 1998 Department, Richmond, California
EPA 500-F-98-247
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