Thanks to EPA's Brownfields Job Training and Development Pilot Program,
low-income and minority citizens from brownfields neighborhoods get
valuable training and field experience while working on clean-up and
redevelopment projects. This training and experience helps qualify them
for better-paying jobs and careers in the private sector, as well as
in state, local, and Federal governments - - jobs and careers that are
available because of the economic prosperity created by the boom in
brownfields clean-ups and redevelopment projects. The cycle is a win-win
for everyone: citizens, neighborhoods, and employers.
"Most of these trainees are disadvantaged young adults who would otherwise be disenfranchised," says Antonio Perez, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Community Service Corps (MCSC). Thanks to the Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative and its training programs, these young people have a world of opportunities ahead of them, from low-skilled minimum-wage jobs to high-paying professional and management careers.
A veteran of many Milwaukee area clean-ups, Rhonda Sapp, 22, confirms that she is "getting a solid base for a variety of environmental jobs that I had never even heard of before. And, solving real environmental problems sure beats just talking about how green the grass is."
For more information about job training programs at clean-up sites,
visit the EPA Internet site.
To learn more
about cleaning up abandoned industrial sites, contact:
Brownfields Program
US EPA-OSWER
Outreach and Special Projects Staff
401 M Street, SW (5101)
Washington DC 20460
(202) 260-4039
3/30/00
