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Environmental News
Belinda Young(913) 551-7003
young.belinda@epa.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2004
EPA AWARDS $125,000 GRANT TO ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has awarded
grant funds of $125,000 to St. Louis Community College for their Brownfields
Job Training and Development Demonstration Grant.
St. Louis Community College’s assessment grant partners are East
St. Louis, Ill., and St. Louis. The community college plans to train an
estimated 30 participants in the job training program, achieve a 75 percent
placement rate, and support career placement of graduates for one year
after training is completed. Participants will be recruited from low-income,
welfare-to-work, and unemployed residents.
The grantee training program will consist of 190 hours of classes over a six-week period, including courses on environmental technologies, health and safety, lead and asbestos abatement, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). It also includes 30 hours in general construction and ecosystem restoration, including training in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies. OSHA-approved instructors will conduct the training for general construction.
Properly trained environmental technicians are in high demand by St. Louis employers. EPA’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and reuse brownfields.
The community college’s training efforts will be supported by the
organizations such as Work Link, St. Louis University Center for Education
and Training, Employment Connection of St. Louis, East St. Louis Father’s
Center, Youthbuild St Louis, St. Patrick Partnership Center, St. Louis
Development Corp., and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Learn more about brownfields at
http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/index.html
