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Brownfields 2008
Grant Fact Sheet
STRIVE/East Harlem
Employment Services,
Inc., NY
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is real
property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of
which may be complicated by the presence or potential
presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or con-
taminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W.
Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief
and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under this law,
EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. The brownfields job training grants
provide residents of communities impacted by
brownfields with the skills and training needed to
effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup
activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and
environmental remediation. Additionally, funding support
is provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services, Inc., was
selected to receive a job training grant. STRIVE will
target the residents of New York City's East Harlem
neighborhood (population 110,000). The unemployment
rate in this primarily African-American and Hispanic
7
Job Training Grant
$200,000
EPA has selected STRIVE/East Harlem Employ-
ment Services, Inc., for a job training grant.
STRIVE plans to train 120 students, place 96 in
environmental jobs, and track graduates for two
years. Trainees will receive 106 hours of training,
including certification training in HAZWOPER;
OSHA construction health and safety, disaster site
worker, and confined space entry; lead abatement
handler; and CPR and first aid safety. STRIVE
will draw upon the expertise of Ando Interna-
tional, an environmental training firm, to provide
instruction in environmental cleanup. Participants
will be recruited from among the residents of East
Harlem who are concurrently enrolled in
STRIVE's Construction Skills program. STRIVE
has developed a substantial roster of employers
looking for environmental remediation technician
program graduates. These employers include
project partners Microecologies, Inc., Clean
Harbors Environmental, Inc., James Weldon
Johnson Houses, and Mount Sinai Hospital.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit
the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
brownfields.
Yocasta De Jesus, EPA Region 2
212-637-4340
http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/
Grant Recipient: STRIVE/East Harlem
Employment Services, Inc., NY
646-335-0832
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-08-227
March 2008
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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neighborhood is more than 16 percent, and 38 percent
of area residents live below the poverty level. East
Harlem has a very high concentration of hazardous
waste handlers and sources of air pollution. It also has
one of the highest asthma rates in the United States.
The concurrent construction and environmental
remediation training available through the STRIVE
program positions trainees to respond to the enormous
demand for construction workers with environmental
training in Harlem. Graduates without the construction
component of the training will be qualified for place-
ment directly into brownfields remediation jobs in the
area and throughout the City of New York. The city
has approximately 6,000 vacant or abandoned industri-
ally zoned properties covering about 7,600 acres.
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