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Chattanooga to Receive EPA Grant to Assist in Environmental Assessment and Redevelopment

Release Date: 01/20/2009
Contact Information: Laura Niles, (404) 562-8353, niles.laura@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – January 20, 2009) The City of Chattanooga, Tenn. is among 13 communities nationally that are receiving EPA brownfields job training grants geared toward cleaning up contaminated properties and turning them into productive community assets. The grant will teach environmental assessment and cleanup job skills to individuals living in areas near brownfields sites.

The City of Chattanooga was selected to receive a $200,000 job training grant. Chattanooga plans to train 30 students, place 18 or more graduates in environmental technician jobs, and track students for one year. The training program will consist of two training cycles, including a brownfields redevelopment overview; courses on environmental assessment, sampling, and analysis; safety and health training; lead and asbestos abatement; and heavy equipment operator training.

Since 1998, EPA has awarded more than $25 million in brownfields job training funds. The program is designed to ensure that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain in the affected communities. Grant recipients include non-profit organizations, workforce investment boards, and state and local governments.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites.

EPA's brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since the beginning of the program, EPA has awarded more than 1,400 assessment grants totaling approximately $337 million, 240 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $233 million, and 530 cleanup grants totaling approximately $99 million. EPA's brownfields assistance has attracted more than $12.7 billion in private investment and helped create more than 53,000 jobs.

Information on January 2009 grant recipients: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/09jtgrants/index.htm

Information on brownfields job training grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm