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Civic Works to receive $200,000 EPA brownfields job training grant

Release Date: 01/15/2009
Contact Information: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov (215) 814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (January 15, 2009) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the Civic Works in Baltimore will receive a $200,000 brownfields job training grant to help train low-income residents for environmental jobs.

Civic Works, a non-profit AmeriCorps program, will use the funding to train 40 students and place at least 30 graduates in entry-level environmental jobs helping to clean up abandoned and contaminated properties in Baltimore. This is the fourth EPA brownfields training grant awarded to Civic Works since 2000. Three other grants for $200,000 each were used to train 165 people and place 122 graduates in jobs.

"This grant will help ensure that brownfields cleanup projects in Baltimore have the trained workforce needed to revitalize contaminated properties and provide local community members with the opportunity to compete in the economic mainstream," said Donald S. Welsh, administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic region.

The EPA grant in Baltimore is one of 12 grants announced nationally today which will teach environmental clean-up skills to people living in low income areas near brownfield sites. The Brownfields Job Training Program gives people in brownfields-affected communities skills to obtain employment in the environmental field, so that they benefit from brownfields redevelopment.

EPA’s brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since the beginning of the brownfields program, EPA has awarded more than 850 assessment grants totaling approximately $220 million, and more than 200 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $183 million. More than 230 cleanup grants totaling approximately $42 million also also been awarded. EPA’s brownfield assistance has leveraged more than $7.2 billion in private investment and attracted more than 34,000 jobs nationwide. More information on EPA's brownfields program and brownfields grants can be found at http://epa.gov/brownfields .