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EPA Selects Southern University for $199,999 Grant

Release Date: 12/22/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     Southern University at Shreveport, La., will receive a $199,999 brownfields job training grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The grant will be used to train disadvantaged students in environmental remediation, place graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for a year.

     "I am glad to continue EPA's support of Hurricane Katrina evacuees with training that will help them contribute to Louisiana's recovery," EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene said.  "This grant builds on Southern's existing successful brownfields job training program and the city of Shreveport's commitment to help hurricane evacuees."

     A brownfield is a property where expansion or reuse may be complicated by pollutants or a perception that the property is contaminated.  The brownfields job training grant encourages tribal, local, state and federal agencies, communities, job training organizations, non-profit agencies and others to work together to develop and foster long term employment through environmental training.

     EPA has selected 12 communities in 11 states to receive a total of $2 million in brownfields job training grants.  To date, EPA has awarded 105 brownfields job training grants totaling approximately $17.3 million.  Since the program's inception in 1994, more than 2,600 people have completed training and more than 1,600 have obtained employment earning an average wage of $13.00 per hour.

     By providing residents in brownfields-affected communities an opportunity to obtain employment in the environmental field, EPA's brownfields job training program seeks to ensure that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain with affected residents.

     More information about EPA's brownfields program, Southern's job training program and other grant recipients is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.