Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet

Heritage Health Foundation, Inc., Allegheny County, PA

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. The brownfields job training grants provide residents of communities impacted by brownfields with the skills and training needed to effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and environmental remediation. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

JOB TRAINING GRANT

$197,051

EPA has selected Heritage Health Foundation, Inc. (HHFI), for a job training grant. HHFI plans to train 60 students, place 45 in environmental jobs, and track graduates for one year. HHFI plans to conduct two sequential training sessions: a six-week, 240-hour construction technician track, followed by an eight-week, 320-hour engineering technician track. Courses will include HAZWOPER, OSHA 10-hour health and safety, materials handling, confined space entry, and asbestos and lead abatement worker and inspector training. The training program will be developed and facilitated by the Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Participants will be recruited from among the low-income, unemployed and underemployed residents living in the brownfields-impacted neighborhoods of southwestern Pennsylvania’s Monongahela Valley. HHFI will partner with the Allegheny County Housing Authority, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny County East Career Link, and several environmental employers and community organizations to place graduates in environmental jobs.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

Heritage Health Foundation, Inc. (HHFI), was selected to receive a job training grant. HHFI will recruit residents of the communities of the Monongahela Valley (combined population 79,000) in southwestern Pennsylvania. The decline in the steel industry has negatively impacted the economic, social, and physical well-being of Allegheny County communities surrounding Pittsburgh. The poverty rates in some of these communities are as high as 45 percent, and some towns have unemployment rates of up to 14 percent. Each of the communities lies in close proximity to one of 25 brownfield sites throughout the valley. There are more than 1,000 vacant acres of brownfields within or adjacent to the targeted communities. According to a recent county report, there is a shortage of qualified local workers, especially in skilled technical fields. HHFI will work directly with local potential employers and cooperative partners to place program graduates in environmental jobs.

CONTACTS

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

Jeff Barnett, EPA Region 3
215-814-3246
EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site

Grant Recipient: Heritage Health Foundation, Inc., PA
412-351-0535

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.