I
I,
111
Brownfields 2007
Grant Fact Sheet
A/ort/7 Sfar Center for
Human Development,
Inc., Hartford, CT
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 contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George
W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the
Brownfields 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
The North Star Center for Human Development, Inc.,
was selected to receive a job training grant. North Star,
a non-profit service organization affiliated with the
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, will focus on the
Job Training Grant
$200,000
EPA has selected the North Star Center for
Human Development, Inc., for a job training
grant. North Star plans to train 60 participants,
place 54 graduates in environmental jobs, and
track graduates for up to two years. The training
program will consist of three, 322-hour training
cycles focusing on environmental health and
safety, industrial hygiene, remediation technolo-
gies, and lead and asbestos abatement. Successful
graduates will obtain certifications in lead and
asbestos abatement and HAZWOPER. A part-
nership of eight organizations will recruit students
from Hartford's brownfields impacted communi-
ties, with an emphasis on North End residents.
Primary trainers will be North Star and the
Hartford Board of Education. North Star will
work with local environmental employers 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.
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1305
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/
Grant Recipient: North Star Center for Human
Development, Inc., CT
860-246-3526
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
North End neighborhood (population 34,172) in Hart-
ford. The North End was the city's commercial and
manufacturing center until the 1980s and 1990s when
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-06-254
November 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
Hartford transformed into a corporate hub. The
transformation left the North End with dormant
brownfields, deteriorating industrial structures, and the
highest rates of poverty, unemployment, and crime in
the city. Poverty is as high as 50 percent and the
unemployment rate is as high as 9.6 percent in some
North End neighborhoods where nearly all residents
are minorities. The presence of former factories and
industrial sites, combined with deteriorated social
conditions in the North End, threatens public health and
has suppressed redevelopment in Hartford. In re-
sponse, Hartford has begun a comprehensive revital-
ization program to address the abandoned, blighted, and
potentially hazardous properties in the North End and
thus enhance the quality of life. Redevelopment
activities will significantly increase the demand for
environmental workers.
------- |