SEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-170
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
City of Flint, Ml
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
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 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.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Flint for a Brownfields
Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot.
The City is the recipient of a Brownfields Assessment
Pilot. The Job Training Pilot will focus on the City of
Flint's federal Enterprise Community, which
encompasses ten square miles of the highest
concentration of poor families in Genesee County.
The City of Flint (population 141,000) is the industrial
and commercial center of Genesee County. Over half
of the City's current residents are minorities, and the
city-wide poverty rate is over 30 percent. The poverty
rate in the federal Enterprise Community is even
higher, at 44 percent (statistics based on the 1990
census).
The City of Flint's population has steadily declined
since the 1950s. Its oldestneighborhoods and business
districts have suffered from years of disinvestment.
The downtown is nearly vacant. In the heart of the
city lies the 10 million cubic foot "Buick City." Tens
of thousands of jobs were lost with the
decommissioning of this facility. An agreement
between General Motors and the City to work together
to redevelop this site has spurred redevelopment
efforts in the City. Environmental technician training
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Flint, Michigan
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 70
participants as environmental
technicians. Students will be
recruited from underemployed
residents of the City of Flint'sfederal
Enterprise Community, which has
suffered from years of disinvestment
in manufacturingfacilities, including
the decommissioning of the 10
million cubic foot "Buick City."
Contacts:
City of Flint
(810) 766-7355, ext. 3007
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312)353-0123
Visit the E PA 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/
-------
for local residents is needed to fill the growing need
for skilled environmental workers.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The City of Flint plans to train 70 participants, achieve
a 75 percent placement rate, and support career
placement of graduates for one year after the training
is completed. Participants will be recruited from
underemployed residents of the City's federal
Enterprise Community that have been recommended
by other service organizations participating in the
pilot. The Pilottraining program will consist of a core
200 hours of instruction, including HAZWOPER,
emergency response, respirator training, lead and
asbestos hazard evaluation and abatement, and
innovativetechnologies. Students then have the option
of selecting one of two 40-hourtracks in Geographical
Information Systems training or Geoprobe and Drilling
Rig training.
The City of Flint's training efforts will be supported by
organizations such as the Michigan State Police
Hazardous Materials Training Center, Environmental
Consulting & Technology, Inc. (ECT), Career Alliance,
Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Neighborhood
Violence Prevention Collaborative, Spanish Speaking
Information Center, and Urban League of Flint. U.S.
EPA's National Risk Management Laboratory in
Cincinnati will assist with innovative technology
training. General Motors has committedto employing
graduates.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit underemployed
residents of the City of Flint's federal Enterprise
Community;
• Conducting brownfieldstechnician training, including
courses in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for one
year after training is completed.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
BrownfieldsJob Training and Development Demonstration Pilot
May2000
City of Flint, Michigan
EPA500-F-00-170
------- |