Two Puget Sound communities will gain a workforce with environmental cleanup skills thanks to two $200,000 grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today, Elin Miller, EPA’s Regional Administrator, announced that the City of Tacoma and King County have been awarded Brownfields Job Training Grants.
“Brownfields Job Training Grants deliver double benefits to these two communities,” said Miller. “First, these grants provide valuable job training, then skilled workers make their neighborhoods safer by sampling for and removing environmental hazards such as asbestos, chemicals, lead, and mold.”
The City of Tacoma is targeting their grant to benefit disadvantaged neighborhoods with concentrations of former gas station sites. The grant will train 60 students over two-years and place at least 42 students in environmental jobs.
King County, which includes the City of Seattle, will use their grant for low-income adults living in the Duwamish-Tukwila Manufacturing Industrial Center neighborhood, an area with many contaminated properties. The grant will train at least 72 students and place 60 students in environmental jobs.
Tacoma and King County have identified a strong and growing local demand for trained environmental technicians. Both communities will work with local agencies and organizations to recruit and screen students and ensure their graduation and placement.
The Tacoma and King County grants are two of 13 grants awarded nationally by the EPA.