Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot Fact Sheet

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected Miami-Dade Community College for a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. Miami-Dade Community College will concentrate its workforce development efforts in the City of Miami and Dade County, both of which are Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots.

The Job Training Pilot will target Miami's distressed Wynwood and Model City neighborhoods. Wynwood residents, who are 23% African American and 55% Hispanic, suffer from a 38% poverty rate and an 11% unemployment rate. Approximately half of Wynwood residents have less than a high school education. Wynwood is within a State Enterprise Zone and a Federal Enterprise Community. Model City residents are 97% African American and 3% Hispanic, and suffer from a 44% poverty rate and 15% unemployment rate. More than half of Model City residents have less than a high school education. Almost 80 brownfields have been identified in the two neighborhoods. The efforts of the City of Miami and Dade County to assess and clean up brownfields and alleviate economic distress in the Wynwood and Model City neighborhoods indicate a need for environmental training.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Miami-Dade Community College plans to provide basic training for 100 students and advanced training to 40 of these students with the EPA grant, achieve an 80% placement rate, and track students for one year. Participants to be targeted are residents of the Wynwood and Model City neighborhoods who are on public assistance, unemployed, or from disadvantaged populations. The Pilot training program will consist of a 14-week basic brownfields assessment and cleanup training series and a 6-week advanced brownfields assessment and cleanup series. The training program will include courses in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies. The training efforts of Miami-Dade Community College will be supported by organizations such as the Miami-Dade Department of Resource Management, Jobs and Education Partnership, and South Florida Association of Environmental Professionals.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Developing a curriculum for brownfields assessment and cleanup;

• Conducting basic and advanced assessment and cleanup training, including courses in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies; and

• Conducting bilingual outreach to recruit disadvantaged residents of the Wynwood and Model City neighborhoods.

CONTACTS

Miami-Dade Community College
(305) 237-1361

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404) 562-8661

Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site.