Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot Fact Sheet

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected Texas A&M University, Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) for a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. TEEX will concentrate its workforce development efforts in Dallas, Texas, which is a Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot.

The focus of the Job Training Pilot is to provide hazardous waste training and training in the operation of heavy equipment at environmental assessment and cleanup projects. The target population will be unemployed and other disadvantaged residents of the Simpson-Stuart neighborhood of southeast Dallas. More than 90% of the area's 34,000 residents are African American, and approximately half of the adult residents do not have a high school diploma. The neighborhood lies within the Dallas Enterprise Zone. The efforts of the City of Dallas to assess, clean up, and redevelop brownfields, combined with a State-wide shortage of heavy equipment operators with environmental skills, indicate a need for training.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

TEEX plans to train 64 students with the EPA grant, achieve a 75% placement rate, and track students for up to one year. Participants to be targeted will be unemployed and other disadvantaged residents of the Simpson-Stuart neighborhood. The Pilot training program will consist of 322 hours of instruction in a 10-week format, and will include training in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup methods. The training efforts of TEEX will be supported by organizations such as the Association of General Contractors of Texas, Dallas Workforce Development Board, and Mt. Tabor Baptist Church.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting hazardous waste training and training in the operation of heavy equipment at brownfields assessment and cleanup projects, including training in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies; and

• Conducting outreach to recruit unemployed and other disadvantaged residents of the Simpson-Stuart neighborhood.

CONTACTS

Texas Engineering Extension Service
Texas A&M University
(972) 222-1300

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 6
(214) 665-7382

Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

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