Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet

Durham, NC

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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. 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.

JOB TRAINING GRANT

$200,000

EPA has selected the City of Durham for a job training grant. Durham plans to recruit at least 60 residents, train 48 students, place at least 65 percent of graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for a minimum of one year. The training program will consist of three four-week, 160-hour training cycles that will include training in HAZWOPER, field testing and equipment, lead worker awareness, and soil and water management. The primary trainer will be Durham Technical Community College. Students will be recruited from unemployed and underemployed residents of Northeast Central Durham, primarily from the Pettigrew Street Corridor. The city will work with the Durham JobLink Career Center, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and North Carolina Department of Labor’s Bureau of Apprenticeship to place graduates in environmental jobs.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Durham was selected to receive a job training grant. Located in central North Carolina, Durham (population 187,035) is focusing its job training recruitment efforts on residents of the Pettigrew Street Corridor of Northeast Central Durham. Once a thriving residential and business community, Northeast Central Durham has suffered from neglect as residents moved to the suburbs and industrial facilities closed. The area contains a number of brownfields, including scrap yards, garages, and vacant and abandoned industrial facilities. In this community, more than 36 percent of residents live in poverty, and the unemployment rate is 15 percent. Eighty-eight percent of residents are minorities. The Durham community has designed a revitalization strategy for this 96-block area that includes brownfields redevelopment. A labor market survey has shown that there will be a demand for program graduates with training in solid waste management, field testing and equipment, and other environmental technician skills.

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.

Kathleen Curry, EPA Region 4
404-562-8660
EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site

Grant Recipient: Durham, NC
919-560-4965, ext. 224

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.