Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet

Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

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 Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (AST) for a job training grant. The AST plans to train at least 75 students and anticipates placing 53 in environmental jobs. The tribe plans to provide a four-module, eight-week training course entitled “Remediation Worker Certification.” Coursework will include HAZWOPER; confined space entry and rescue; asbestos and lead abatement; clandestine drug laboratory awareness and cleanup; air, soil, and water quality sampling; and courses on environmental equipment and safety. East Central University and Gordon Cooper Vo-Tech will partner with tribal staff to provide the environmental and safety training. Recruitment will focus on unemployed or underemployed Native Americans and non-tribal residents living within commuting distance of the tribe’s brownfields assessment project in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. Primary partners in facilitating this project and placing graduates in environmental jobs include the AST Workforce Investment Program, Pottawatomie County Workforce Investment Center, Love Link, Inc., and several environmental consulting and engineering firms.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (AST) was selected to receive a job training grant. This grant targets underemployed and unemployed tribal members (tribal population 3,057) and non-tribal residents living within commuting distance of the AST’s brownfields assessment site in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. This includes residents of Pottawatomie County and another six surrounding counties in central and south central Oklahoma that have a combined population of more than 1.1 million. Approximately eight percent of Oklahoma residents are Native American, as compared to the national average of one percent. They are among the state’s most socio-economically disadvantaged populations. The poverty rates in the targeted counties range as high as 15.3 percent. When businesses left the area, the tribal community was left with environmental problems and limited resources with which to address them. The tribe plans to hire graduates of the program to work on its brownfields assessment and cleanup projects, as well as to conduct outreach to potential area employers. Contacts in the state and industry indicate that there is a shortage of qualified workers in the environmental field.

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.

Dorothy Crawford, EPA Region 6
214-665-2771
EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site

Grant Recipient: Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
405-273-9966

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