&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA500-F-01-223
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
Getting the Lead Out— Creating New
Opportunities in the Old Lead Belt
MINERAL AREA COLLEGE
esidents of the Old Lead Belt counties of Madison and
St. Francois, Missouri, are being offered new career opportuni-
ties through EPA's first rural Job Training and Development Dem-
onstration Pilot. The Pilot has completed its first training cycle
and graduated 13 students, all of whom are currently employed.
Because of its rural location, the Pilot has faced several chal-
lenges, including participant retention and transportation issues.
In order to overcome these obstacles, the Pilot has leveraged re-
sources and partnered with local entities that provide students
with unique opportunities such as a ride-share program.
Mineral Area College (MAC) in Park Hills, Missouri, was se-
lected by EPA for a Job Training Pilot in May 1999 and received
a two-year, $200,000 grant. To date, EPA has awarded 37 Job
Training and Development Demonstration Pilots across the coun-
try. The purpose of these Pilots is to facilitate cleanup of
brownfield sites and prepare trainees for a career in the environ-
mental field. Job Training Pilots are located either within or
adjacent to Brownfields Assessment Pilot areas; the MAC Pilot
is associated with the Bonne Terre Assessment Pilot located in
St. Francois County.
continued ^
JUST THE FACTS:
• The Pilot trains participants in mine waste
site assessment and cleanup, emphasizing the
use of innovative technologies.
• One graduate of the MAC job training
program moved from an entry-level cleanup
job paying $10 an hour to a $29-per-hour
position within two months.
• The State of Missouri contributed $400,000
toward construction of a state-of-the-art
environmental training facility.
In order to overcome trainee retention
and transportation issues, the Pilot
leveraged resources and partnered
with local entities to provide students
with unique opportunities such as a
ride-share program.
ERA'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.
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Madison and St. Francois counties (combined population of 25,000),
located 60 miles south of St. Louis in the Ozarks, are suffering with
a depressed economy due to the demise of the area's lead mining
industry. Nearly 300 years of lead mining left behind more than
3,000 acres of exposed mine tailings and hundreds of acres of
brownfields, making the area appear undesirable for new busi-
ness. As a result, the area's poverty and unemployment rates are
significantly higher than state and national averages.
CONTACTS:
Mineral Area College
(573)518-2153
EPA Headquarters
(202) 260-4039
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
The Pilot grant awarded to MAC provides valuable environmen-
tal training to residents who are recruited from low-income com-
munities in the area and who are often involved in the Welfare-to-
Work and Trade Readjustment Act (TRA) programs. The Pilot trains
participants in mine waste site assessment and cleanup, emphasizing the
use of innovative technologies such as phytoremediation of lead, sludge ap-
plications, in situ soil flushing, and phytostabilization. Students get hands-on expe-
rience through access to sites targeted by the Bonne Terre Assessment Pilot for study and
fieldwork. Graduates of the program receive Brownfields Worker Certification and can ap-
ply their training toward an associate's degree in environment, health, and safety at MAC or
another institution.
All of the program's graduates to date have found employment. One graduate immediately
began work with an environmental placement firm and, through commitment and hard work,
moved from an entry-level cleanup job paying $10 an hour to a $29-per-hour position within
two months. Her foreman commented that she and her fellow MAC job training graduates
had the finest environmental knowledge base out of any technicians he had seen in years.
The Pilot has also been successful in leveraging funds and other resources to support the
program. The State of Missouri contributed $400,000 toward construction of a state-of-the-
art training facility, which is now completed. In addition, the East Missouri Action Agency
and the Unitec Career Center are providing life skills and remedial training, such as GED,
math, and English "brush up" courses for incoming trainees, and is helping to reimburse
qualified trainees for transportation and book costs. For more information on the Mineral
Area College Job Training Pilot, contact Shawn Grindstaff, Mineral Area College, (573) 518-
2153.
Brownfields Success Story
June 2001
Mineral Area College
EPA 500-F-01-223
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