Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet

King County, WA

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 King County for a job training grant. The county plans to train a minimum of 72 students, place at least 60 graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for one year. The training program will provide 238 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction, including certifications in HAZWOPER, industrial spill response and hygiene, and lead and asbestos abatement training. Primary trainers will be Cole and Associates and TCB Industrial. Students will be recruited from low-income county residents, with an emphasis on residents living in or near the Duwamish-Tukwila Manufacturing Industrial Center. King County will work with labor unions, construction companies, environmental cleanup companies, and government agencies to place graduates in environmental jobs.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

King County was selected to receive a job training grant. Located in northwest Washington, King County (population 1,808,000) includes the City of Seattle, which is a federally designated Enterprise Community that is home to numerous potentially contaminated properties. The county’s poverty rate of 10.4 percent has increased by more than 40 percent during the last two years, and 30 percent of residents are minorities. This grant targets low-income, disadvantaged adult residents of King County, with an emphasis on individuals residing within the Duwamish-Tukwila Manufacturing Industrial Center neighborhood. In the targeted community, the poverty rate is 12.5 percent, and almost 50 percent of residents are minorities. This community is one of the principal areas of contaminated properties in the county and is surrounded by low-income, minority, and health-sensitive populations. In recent employer surveys, the state found a strong local demand for environmental technicians.

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.

Laura Caparroso, EPA Region 10
206-553-6378
EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site

Grant Recipient: King County, WA
206-263-9022

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