^ Brownfields 2002 Job Training Pilot Fact Sheet
City of Gary, IN
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Gary for a Brownfields Job
Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. The
City of Gary also is a recipient of a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. The Job Training Pilot will focus on
the Empowerment Zone Development Site (focus of the
Gary Empowerment Zone) and the Airport Development
Zone (focus of the Brownfields Assessment Pilot).
Neighborhoods near these sites are characterized by
low-income households, old housing, and vacant
buildings. Unemployment in these neighborhoods is 14%
and the poverty rate is 25%.
A former industrial center, the City has declined along
with the decline of the steel industry. The City contains
many abandoned factories and mill sites. Through the
efforts of the Empowerment Zone and Brownfields
Assessment Pilot, redevelopment activities are now
occurring at major sites within the Empowerment Zone,
Airport Redevelopment Zone, industrial parks, and other
areas throughout the city. Local environmental
contractors have expressed interest in hiring residents
trained as environmental technicians to participate in new
redevelopment opportunities.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 12/01/2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 160 students as
environmental technicians. Students will be recruited
from unemployed, underemployed, and other
disadvantaged residents in the areas of the
Empowerment Zone Development Site and the
Airport Development Zone, which contain many
brownfields resulting from the decline of the area's
steel industry.
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
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Gary,IN
(219) 882-3000
Objectives
The City of Gary plans to train 160 students, achieve a
60% graduation rate, achieve a 70% placement rate
among graduates, and support career placement of
graduates for one year after the training is completed.
Students will be recruited from unemployed,
underemployed, and other disadvantaged residents in
the areas of the Empowerment Zone Development Site
and the Airport Development Zone. The 220-hour Pilot
training program will consist of: 1) environmental and
technical skills (1TAZWOPER, lead abatement, asbestos
abatement, introduction to brownfields and
environmental justice, confined space, open space,
pollution prevention, remediation options, innovative
treatment technologies); and 2) construction trades
(general construction, OSHA construction safety and
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-01-358
Dec 01
-------
health).
The training efforts of the City of Gary will be
supported by organizations such as Ivy State Tech
College, Northwest Indiana Building Trades/Indiana
Plan, Indiana Department of Environmental
Management, Indiana University Northwest,
Empowerment Zone, Gary Housing Authority,
Diversity Consultants, and environmental business
partners. Field demonstrations of operating remedial
projects will be conducted by environmental business
partners. The City of Gary has a first-source hiring
ordinance that requires environmental contractors to hire
residents from the City.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit unemployed,
underemployed, and other disadvantaged
residents in the areas of the Empowerment Zone
Development Site and the Airport Development
Zone;
• Conducting training for entry-level positions as
brownfields technicians, including courses in the
use of innovative assessment and cleanup
technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for one
year after the job training is completed.
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-01-358
Dec 01
------- |