United States
Environmental
Solid Waste
and Emergency
EPA 500-F-99-105
May 1999
Protection Agency Response (5101) www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Washington, D.C. 20460
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
STRIVE-Boston Employment
Service, Inc., MA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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 forthe 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 STRIVE-Boston Employment
Service, Inc. for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. STRIVE's
Brownfields Assessment Pilot partner is the City of
Chelsea. STRIVE is anon-profitemploymenttraining
and placement organization with 60 offices across the
country. ThePilotwilltargetdistressedneighborhoods
in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and New York City.
Chelsea is a small (population 35,000) harbor
community within Boston's inner metropolitan core.
The population of Chelsea is approximately 45%
percentminority. One-quarter ofthe population lives
in poverty and unemployment is double the state
average.
Historically, Chelsea has been home to various heavy
industries, much of which are now abandoned or
underused because ofthe potential for environmental
contamination. The city is implementing a major land
recycling initiative, the Anchor Projects Program,
which is currently focusing on redevelopment ofthe
43-acre Everett Avenue Urban Renewal District.
The city's assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment
activities and the economic distress of many residents
indicate a need for this Job Training Pilot.
PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Announcement:
May 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilotwilltrain 75 participants
as environmental technicians. Sixty
students will be recruited fromdistressed
neighborhoods in Chelsea,
Massachusetts, is a small harbor
community within Boston's inner
metropolitan core. During the second
yearof the Pilot, an additional 15 students
will be recruited from distressed
neighborhoodsinNewYorkCity.
STRIVE-
Boston Employment
Service, Inc.,
Massachusetts
Contacts:
STRIVE-Boston
Employment Services, Inc.
(617)437-1441
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)918-1209
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
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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TRAINING OBJECTIVES
STRIVE plans to train 75 students, achieve a 65
percent placement rate, and track students for a
minimum of two years after the job training is
completed. Sixty of the participants will be trained by
STRIVE-Boston, and during the second year of the
Pilot, 15 students will be trained by STRIVE-New
York. Participants will be recruited from low-income
residents of Chelsea and New York City. The Pilot
training program will consist of a 12-week
environmental technician training program, including
training in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies.
The training efforts of STRIVE will be supported by
organizations such as the Chelsea Human Services
Collaborative, the Greater Boston Urban Resources
Partnership, the University of Massachusetts-Lowell,
Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection, Onsite Environmental Staffing Services,
and ETI Environmental Professionals, Inc. STRIVE
has established an Environmental Technology Advisory
Board, comprised of representatives from potential
environmental employers, local businesses, and local,
state, and federal agencies, to help guide the Pilot.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents
from distressed Chelsea and New York City
neighborhoods;
• Conducting environmental technician training,
including courses in the use of innovative assessment
and cleanup technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students foratleast
two years after the job training is completed.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this factsheetare subjectto change.
Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot STRIVE-Boston Employment Service, Inc., Massachusetts
May 1999 EPA500-F-99-105
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