I
I,
111
Brownfields 2008
Grant Fact Sheet
Heritage Health
Foundation, Inc.,
Allegheny County, PA
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
Heritage Health Foundation, Inc. (HHFI), was selected
to receive a job training grant. HHFI will recruit
residents of the communities of the Monongahela
Valley (combined population 79,000) in southwestern
Pennsylvania. The decline in the steel industry has
Job Training Grant
$197,051
EPA has selected Heritage Health Foundation,
Inc. (HHFI), for a job training grant. HHFI plans
to train 60 students, place 45 in environmental
jobs, and track graduates for one year. HHFI
plans to conduct two sequential training sessions:
a six-week, 240-hour construction technician
track, followed by an eight-week, 320-hour
engineering technician track. Courses will include
HAZWOPER, OSHA 10-hour health and safety,
materials handling, confined space entry, and
asbestos and lead abatement worker and inspec-
tor training. The training program will be devel-
oped and facilitated by the Western Pennsylvania
Brownfields Center at Carnegie Mellon Univer-
sity. Participants will be recruited from among the
low-income, unemployed and underemployed
residents living in the brownfields-impacted
neighborhoods of southwestern Pennsylvania's
Monongahela Valley. HHFI will partner with the
Allegheny County Housing Authority, Three
Rivers Workforce Investment Board, Community
College of Allegheny County, Allegheny County
East Career Link, and several environmental
employers and community organizations to place
graduates in environmental jobs.
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.
Jeff Barnett, EPA Region 3
215-814-3246
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm
Grant Recipient: Heritage Health Foundation, Inc.,
PA
412-351-0535
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-08-228
March 2008
www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
negatively impacted the economic, social, and physical
well-being of Allegheny County communities surround-
ing Pittsburgh. The poverty rates in some of these
communities are as high as 45 percent, and some
towns have unemployment rates of up to 14 percent.
Each of the communities lies in close proximity to one
of 25 brownfield sites throughout the valley. There are
more than 1,000 vacant acres of brownfields within or
adjacent to the targeted communities. According to a
recent county report, there is a shortage of qualified
local workers, especially in skilled technical fields.
HHFI will work directly with local potential employers
and cooperative partners to place program graduates in
environmental j obs.
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
------- |