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Success Story: North Denver, Colorado
Key Topics
The participating communities for the SuperJTI effort in North Denver, Colorado were Elyria, Swansea and Globeville, all located within the northern section of the city. This area is comprised of several large industrial facilities; four oil refineries, a coal-generated public utility plant, railroad lines, dozens of small business/industries, and multiple Superfund sites that could potentially support employment of participants in the SuperJTI effort.
The North Denver SuperJTI project originated in the
Office of Communication and Public Involvement (OCPI) at Region 8. The
Region 8 Community Involvement Coordinator (CIC) and a graduate student
interning at Region 8 established an arrangement whereby the student
would coordinate the project on a volunteer basis. While the Agency
fully supported the initiative, it was made clear that resources from
Region 8 to assist with implementation of the effort would be limited.
The project began in earnest in March 1998 when the Colorado People's Economic and Environmental Network (COPEEN), North Denver's well-established community organization, formally committed to the project. The project was presented to COPEEN with an explanation that it was an independent thesis project intended to help Region 8 establish a SuperJTI pilot, and a clarification that EPA was not funding the project.
That same month the student coordinator attended an NIEHS-sponsored Environmental Jobs Training Summit. There she discussed the Region 8 project with an NIEHS representative, and asked for her assistance in identifying potential partners that might be willing to train or fund the training for the North Denver residents. The NIEHS representative suggested contacting the Director of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW). After a meeting with the student representative, OCAW also formally committed to the project. With that commitment, OCAW was eligible to apply for an NIEHS grant specifically targeted to SuperJTI pilot projects. OCAW applied, and on August 14, 1998 received a $55,000 grant to support the North Denver SuperJTI project.
Once this strong partnership base was established for the North Denver pilot, the partners initiated the community outreach and recruiting phase of the project. Although the first attempt at trainee recruitment was unsuccessful, the partnership's aggressive response to its initial attempt resulted in the participation of 16 North Denver community residents. The partnership developed a training schedule for September 1998 that enabled the trainees who were already employed to attend the training without major disruption to their work schedules.
Throughout the recruitment and outreach process, the student coordinator had worked to identify employment opportunities for trainees once they completed the course. She learned that the Vasquez/I-70 site, located in the North Denver area, was preparing for a removal action affecting 19 homes, which could provide significant employment opportunities if the timing and content of the training was right. The Region 8 CIC briefed the EPA Remedial Project Manager (RPM) for the Vasquez/I-70 site on the status of the trainees in North Denver so that they could be considered for jobs at the site upon completion of the training.
Two days after the trainees graduated, the Senior Project Manager for EPA at the Environmental Chemical Corporation (ECC) called the student coordinator to explain that ECC had received a delivery order to begin the removal action at the Vasquez/I-70 site in North Denver; was interested in hiring a local workforce; and had been notified by the RPM that some local trainees were available. Early in the week of September 28, 1998, ECC interviewed the ten interested trainees. By the end of the week, eight had been hired by ECC and began work at a wage of $20 an hour. The remaining two trainees were not interested in the available positions.
As of December 1998, efforts also were being made to hire SuperJTI trainees at the Chemical Sales site, another Superfund site in the North Denver area that had recently initiated cleanup. Another round of training was scheduled for spring 1999, to build on these initial successes and make SuperJTI a sustainable program in North Denver.