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EPA Gives $200,000 Brownfields Grant to Brockton for Job Training

Release Date: 05/18/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the City of Brockton has been chosen to receive $200,000 of Brownfields assistance so that the city can set up a Brownfields job training program.

Brockton is among 15 recipients in New England and 102 nationally that have been chosen to receive a total of over $35 million nationally in Brownfields grants. The funds are being used across the country for site assessments, revolving loan cleanup programs and Brownfields job training programs.

Brockton will use the funds to launch a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration project that will include training 40 to 50 local residents as environmental technicians who can work on site assessments, cleanups and other Brownfield activities. Students will be recruited from low-income residents of the city's Economic Corridor, which includes many of the city's 100 identified Brownfield sites.

"This job training grant will open the door for more Brockton residents to take advantage of jobs created by assessments and cleanups of Brownfields sites," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "This grant will help ensure that Brownfield projects in Brockton have the trained personnel they need and that local residents have an opportunity to compete for these jobs."

"I am particularly pleased that Brockton's workforce development efforts are being supported by EPA today," said U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. "Not only will this grant help to remediate contaminated properties, but it will help with the training of residents in skills needed in the growing environmental field."

"These grants provide tremendous capital resources to cities striving to address the most pressing issue facing many urban centers," added U.S. Senator John Kerry. "I congratulate the EPA on its commitment to the Brownfields issue and look forward to working with Brockton in the future on such initiatives."

"This grant is great news for the City of Brockton and its young people," said U.S. Congressman Joseph Moakley. "This job training program will enable us not only to clean up the Brownfields sites but also teach our young people valuable skills that will help them to compete in today's competitive job market."

"Economic development and environmental protection go hand in hand when you have effective leadership and community participation," said U.S. Congressman William D. Delahunt. "By combining Brownfields cleanup and job training, Mayor Yunits and the EPA again show the power of creativity and collaboration."

A total of $5.4 million in Brownfield grants were awarded today to 15 New England recipients, including $1.34 million to four Massachusetts communities. Other grants went to New Bedford, North Adams and Gloucester in Massachusetts; Providence and two Rhode Island state agencies; Westbrook and Lewiston in Maine; the Windham Regional Commission in Vermont; and New London, Berlin, Danbury, Naugatuck Valley and Middlesex Community College in Connecticut.