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EPA Selects Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma for $200,000 Grant

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

     The Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma will be the first tribe in the region to receive a $200,000 brownfields job training grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The grant will be used to train students in an eight week "Remediation Worker Certification" course.

     "I am glad to continue EPA's support of the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma's environmental programs.  This grant follows on previous awards for brownfields assessment and tribal response," EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene said. "The tribe's commitment to responsible redevelopment makes it a leader in tribal brownfields programs."

     A brownfield is a property where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The brownfields job training grant encourages federal agencies, local communities, job training organizations, community colleges, labor groups and non-profit agencies 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, the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma's program and other grant recipients is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.