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Florida State College at Jacksonville, Florida
More than 100 graduates of Florida State College at Jacksonville's
environmental job training program have found positions supporting
cleanup efforts at the various Superfund ash sites in Jacksonville.
Graduate Alonzo Terrell completed the job training program in 2011 and
began working as a driver with ENTACT, removing contaminated ash from
the Lonnie C. Miller Sr. Regional Park Superfund site. He's been with the
company now for three years and, in between phases of the ash project
work, has traveled to Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas to lend a hand on
other Superfund projects.
Limitless Vistas, Inc., Louisiana
Granville Guillory is one of more than 400 at-risk young adults that Limitless
Vistas, Inc., has trained through its environmental job training program
since the organization's inception in 2006. Guillory was just 20 years old
when, after several personal hardships and dropping out of college, his
aunt told him about Limitless Vistas. After completing the environmental job
training program there and passing Louisiana's certification for wastewater
operators, Guillory went to work full-time for Veolia North America's
wastewater facility in New Orleans, earning a starting wage of $14.95
per hour. Thanks to his excellent performance as a State of Louisiana
Class III Wastewater Plant Operator, Guillory will be traveling to Tokyo
for six months to learn about a more efficient furnace that Veolia plans to
incorporate into the company's U.S. operations. He's also giving back to
the community by mentoring new Limitless Vistas participants, who stand
to learn from his experiences.
St. Nicks Alliance, New York
Within 72 hours of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center site on
September 11, 2001, Jessenia Rodriguez and more than 30 other
St. Nicks Alliance job training graduates quickly went to work to assist
in the response and cleanup efforts. Employed by Clean Harbors
Environmental Services, these graduates began working 12 hours a day,
seven days a week to provide environmental protection to workers at the
site and to help extract the remains of those who lost their lives. Graduates
staffed the decontamination zone for rescue workers, served as utility
technicians and drove
the vehicles transporting
human remains from
Ground Zero. For
more than 10 months,
Rodriguez and her fellow
graduates assisted with
the removal of more than
1.5 million tons of debris.
They also worked in
conjunction with the
U.S. Coast Guard to test
for anthrax contamination
at the nation's largest
<
federal mail sorting
facility in New York.
St. Nicks Alliance graduates at Ground Zero
decontaminating trucks hauling debris from the World
Trade Center site.
AGENCY CONTACTS
EPA Headquarters
EPA Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization: (202) 566-2777
EPA Region 1
Kathleen Castagna
EPA Region 2
Schenine Mitchell
EPA Region 3
Jeff Barnett
EPA Region 4
Kathleen Curry
EPA Region 5
Linda Morgan and
Craig Mankowski
EPA Region 6
Amber Perry and
Paul Johnson
EPA Region 7
Alma Moreno Lahm
EPA Region 8
Christina Wilson
EPA Region 9
Noemi Emeric-Ford
and Nova Blazej
EPA Region 10
Robert Tan
CT, ME, MA,
NH, Rl, VT
NJ, NY, PR, VI
DE, DC, MD,
PA, VA, WV
AL, FL, GA, KY,
MS, NC, SC, TN
IL, IN, Ml, MN,
OH, Wl
AR, LA, NM,
OK, TX
IA, KS, MO, NE
CO, MT, ND,
SD, UT, WY
AZ, CA, HI, NV,
AS, GU
AK, ID, OR, WA
(617)918-1429
castagna.kathleen@epa.gov
(212)637-3283
mitchell.schenine@epa.gov
(215)814-3246
barnett.jeff@epa.gov
(404) 562-8660
curry.kathleen@epa.gov
(312)886-4747
morgan.linda@epa.gov
(312)886-9493
mankowski.craig@epa.gov
(214)665-3172
perry.amber@epa.gov
(214)665-2246
johnson.paul@epa.gov
(913)551-7380
moreno-lahm.alma@epa.gov
(303)312-6706
wilson.christina@epa.gov
(213)244-1821
emeric-ford.noemi@epa.gov
(415)972-3846
blazej.nova@epa.gov
(206) 553-2580
tan.robert@epa.gov
ERA'S ENVIRONMENTAL
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
AND JOB TRAINING PROGRAM
?A
*2E
For more information about the EWDJT program, including a link to the
most recent Application Guidelines/Request for Proposals, FAQs and
other resources, please visit www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm.
Prospective applicants may also request technical assistance from the
Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute (HMTRI) at Eastern
Iowa Community College by contacting Glo Hanne at (563) 441-4081 or
ghanne@eicc.edu. HMTRI, through a cooperative agreement with
EPA, provides free technical assistance to prospective EWDJT grant
applicants and also manages the Brownfields Toolbox, which provides a
wealth of information on how to develop and successfully implement an
environmental training program (http://brownfields-toolbox.org).
oEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
EPA560-F-15-196 I August 2015 I www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm
f/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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Preparing Unemployed and Underemployed
Residents of Waste-Impacted Communities
for Full-Time Environmental Careers
Since 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) program
has helped put people to work, building a skilled environmental workforce
across the country. Each year, EPA awards competitive grant funding to
nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities in communities across
the nation to recruit, train and place unemployed individuals, including
low-income and minority residents of solid and hazardous waste-impacted
communities, for a wide range of environmental careers. Grant recipients
are provided the flexibility to design training curricula that meet local
employers' hiring needs. Through comprehensive, cross-disciplinary
environmental training, graduates develop wider skill sets that increase
their likelihood of obtaining full-time, sustained careers that advance social,
economic and environmental betterment.
The program was created to help build a skilled workforce in communities
where EPA brownfields assessment and cleanup activities are taking
place. Rather than seeing local jobs filled by contractors from distant
cities, EPA created its environmental job training program to offer an
opportunity for unemployed residents historically affected by environmental
pollution, economic disinvestment and brownfields to gain the skills and
certifications needed to secure local cleanup work in their communities.
Since the program's inception, EPA has funded 256 job training grants
exceeding $54 million; more than 14,100 individuals have completed
training; and of those, more than 10,100 have secured employment in the
environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.18. This
equates to a cumulative job placement rate of 72 percent. Graduates of
the program include individuals who have overcome significant barriers to
employment, including single mothers, dislocated workers, ex-offenders,
veterans, minorities and individuals with little to no income, as well as
homeless individuals.
Whether cleaning up
contaminated properties in their
own neighborhoods, working
at wastewater treatment plants,
removing leaking underground
storage tanks or responding to
oil spills, graduates of EPA's
environmental job training
program are gaining the
know-how to solve today's most
challenging environmental
problems. Graduates have
also secured employment in
the response and cleanup at
sites of national significance,
including the site of the former
World Trade Center in New York
City, along the U.S. Gulf Coast
following the Deepwater Horizon
rig explosion and along the U.S.
coastline following hurricanes
Katrina, Rita and Sandy.
"A key aspect of the
success of the program
is the partnership
between grantees and
the private sector to
design curricula based
on local markets with
an eye toward hiring
graduates, which is why
there is a 72 percent job
placement rate."
Gina McCarthy
U.S. EPA Administrator
Types of Training
Each grant recipient develops and delivers its own unique environmental
training program based on local employers' hiring needs. Training may include:
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 40-hour
Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
Superfund and brownfields site-specific assessment and cleanup
Environmental health and chemical safety
Mold remediation
First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Lead and asbestos abatement
OSHA disaster site worker, emergency response and
National Incident Management Systems certification
Leaking underground storage tank removal
Wastewater treatment facility operations and
stormwater management
Green infrastructure installation and maintenance
Green building design and Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design certifications
Hazardous materials transportation, commercial driver's license,
forklift and machine operations
Integrated pest management
Geographic information systems, global positioning systems
and site surveying
Oil spill response
Ecological restoration, including coastal restoration
Landfill operations
Construction and demolition debris recycling
Radiation safety, including training in the cleanup of
uranium-contaminated mine tailings
Wildlife hazing and climate adaptation
Vapor intrusion testing and mitigation, and radon testing
Energy auditing and weatherization
Solar panel and wind turbine installation
Grantees also help participants build skills to deal effectively with
the demands and challenges of everyday life, including effective
communication and decision-making, interpersonal relationships and
other life-skills training leveraged through non-EPA funding sources.
Success Stories From the Field
Civic Works' Baltimore Center for Green Careers, Maryland
Aisha Dorn graduated from Civic Works' B'more Green program in 2011.
The next year, she co-founded Lifeline Environmental, LLC. The company
offers asbestos, lead and mold remediation and demolition services. Dorn
knows exactly where to look for qualified contractors for jobs: to date, she
has hired seven B'more Green graduates. "I know they're certified and
responsible enough to complete the program, which is stringent," she
says. "Now I can give back to Baltimore by helping its residents find work,
which feels great."
Grant Facts at a Glance
Every year, EPA awards EWDJT grants of up to $200,000
each with 3-year project periods.
Generally, 15-17 grants are awarded each year.
Grant funds cannot be used to pay for administrative or
indirect costs, including overhead costs. These costs must be
leveraged through in-kind assistance or through commitments
from partnering organizations, such as Workforce Investment
Boards or One-Stop Centers that have access to Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act funding.
For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply.
Applicants must have partnerships in place with local
employers that will interview or hire graduates and with
community-based organizations that will provide social
services support for trainees.
Grants must target unemployed or severely underemployed
residents of local communities and are not intended to serve
individuals who already have an advanced education.
Grant funds may not be used to pay for training in the trades,
such as training in construction or plumbing.
City of Tacoma, Washington
U.S. Navy veteran Andrew Shuckhart completed the City of Tacoma's
environmental job training program and secured a job as a Regulatory
Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "Adjusting to
life outside the military can be difficult," Shuckhart says. "Training like
this helps make veterans more marketable, not just because of the
certifications, but also because of the professional development.
You learn how to write a resume, succeed in a job interview and build
a professional network."
Zender Environmental Health and Research Group, Alaska
Zender's Rural Alaska Community Environmental Job Training (RACEJT)
program serves small, remote Alaska Native communities where the
unemployment rate can be as high as 19 percent. Joshua Melton
graduated with the RACEJT
class of 2014. Melton is
President of the Tribal
Council in Noorvik, Alaska,
a village in the Northwest
Arctic Borough whose
population of around 668 are
90 percent Ihupiatan Inuit,
Alaska Native people. Upon
graduation from the RACEJT
program, Melton became
the Lead Landfill Operator
in Noorvik, supervising a
summer crew of 10 and
earning $19 per hour.
Zender trains Alaska Native residents to properly
manage solid waste in remote communities, like this
one off the state road system.
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