News
Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New
England Regional Office
July 3, 2012
Contact: David Deegan, (617)
918-1017
EPA Awards $317,000 for
Environmental Grants in Providence, R.I.
Brownfields job training grant & urban
water protection grants
(Boston, Mass. – July 3, 2012) – EPA is
providing a total of $317,000 to three Rhode Island organizations. One grant
will provide job training for environmental work, and two grants will help
address urban water quality issues, all of which will contribute to cleaner,
healthier communities.
Groundwork Providence, Brownfield Job Training
Grant, $200,000
Under EPA’s Brownfields “Environmental Workforce
Development and Job Training” program, a $200,000 EPA grant will assist
Groundwork Providence to train 54 students, and place at least 45 graduates in
environmental jobs. Groundwork Providence will track graduates for at least one
year to assist students’ transition to the workforce.
The training program includes 40-hour HAZWOPER,
Underground Storage Tank leak prevention, solid waste management and recycling,
wastewater management, lead abatement supervisor, innovative treatment
technologies, construction safety and innovative technologies for water issues.
In addition, supplemental training in integrated pest management, wastewater
treatment operator, or underground storage tank operator will be offered to
select students. Participants who complete the core training program will earn
six state or federal certifications.
Groundwork Providence is targeting
unemployed and underemployed residents of Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls,
and Pawtucket, and will partner with the Providence Housing Authority, Workforce
Solutions of Providence/Cranston, Family Success Centers, and the West Elmwood
Housing Corp.
“EPA’s Brownfield Job Training grants can be a
real catalyst helping to change peoples’ lives for the better,” said Curt
Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “Investing to
provide people with the skills to earn a good living are also helping to protect
the health of the local community by targeting historically disadvantaged
neighborhoods where environmental cleanups and jobs are often most
needed.”
Since 1998, EPA has awarded more than $42
million nationally under the Environmental Workforce Development and Job
Training program. As of June 2012, approximately 10,300 individuals had
completed training and approximately 7,300 obtained employment in the
environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.12. The
development of this green workforce will allow the trainees to develop skills
that will make them competitive in the construction and redevelopment
fields.
Graduates of the program are equipped with
skills and certifications in various environmental fields including lead and
asbestos abatement, environmental site sampling, construction and demolition
debris recycling, underground storage tank removal, ecological restoration, and
green building techniques. Graduates use these skills to improve the environment
and people’s health while supporting economic development in their
communities.
More information on EPA environmental workforce
development and job training grants:
(http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pilot_grants.htm)
Urban Water Quality Improvement
Grants
In two separate grants, EPA is awarding
$117,000 to two organizations working to address water quality impairments in
urban areas of Rhode Island.
Environmental Justice League of Rhode
Island, Providence, $60,000
The Environmental Justice League of
Rhode Island will team up with Urban Pond Procession and Groundwork Providence
to creatively engage residents of the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood through
educational and training initiatives to generate citizen energy for restoring
water quality in Mashapaug Pond, the last remaining natural pond in
Providence.
The project will involve community assessments
to understand stormwater impacts to the pond. Homeowners and school children
will learn about stormwater pollution sources at home and receive hands-on
education about residential and neighborhood stormwater practices that
homeowners can employ. Residents will be invited to participate in neighborhood
tours to identify locations and opportunities to craft rain gardens, disconnect
drain spouts and capture rain, etc. Project partners will also work with
green-job graduates on community assessments to locate potential landscape sites
designed to treat runoff, and train residents on basic practices that reduce
runoff into the pond.
"On behalf of the Environmental Justice League
of Rhode Island, I am thrilled to receive this EPA Urban Waters grant. The
project this grant will fund is less of a "project" and much more a continuation
of years of foundational work we have done in the Reservoir Triangle
neighborhood, along with our partners, to reclaim Mashapaug Pond and create a
vibrant, safe, and restored natural area for Providence residents. We could not
have done this without the steady support of the EPA, from our early days with
the CARE grant, through today,” said Amelia Rose, Director of Environmental
Justice League of Rhode Island.
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program/Wood-Pawcatuck
Watershed Association, Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket and Central Falls,
R.I., $57,000
The Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association and
the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program will lead an effort to develop an “Urban
Waters Fish Community Monitoring Program” to target restoration actions to
improve water quality for Providence’s urban environments. Narragansett Bay
Estuary Program will lead an effort to develop an “Urban Waters Fish Community
Monitoring Program” to target restoration actions to improve water quality for
Providence’s urban environments. Under the project, they will develop a fish
community monitoring program for three wadeable urban rivers and tributaries:
the Moshasshuck River, Woonasquatucket River and the Blackstone River, flowing
through urban areas around Providence, R.I. Existing historic fish and water
quality data will be assembled and analyzed to establish baseline data, develop
urban river habitat assessments and identify areas where no previous information
is available. The project will identify issues and related urban conditions and
then target locations for water quality restoration actions. It will engage the
urban community to provide citizen-scientist education program(s), develop a
monitoring protocol for volunteer monitoring procedures and to hold workshops to
provide volunteer training for long term monitoring. Data and assessments will
strengthen community and watershed organizations and enliven communication with
city and state officials to support restoration efforts.
“For the past year, the Narragansett Bay
Estuary Program has been working with watershed organizations and state agency
representatives to develop indicators that will describe the condition of the
rivers and streams in the Narragansett Bay watershed. Although we were
interested in describing the health of the fish communities in the rivers, we
did not have the necessary information. We are excited to use the EPA funding to
develop an urban waters fish monitoring program that will help us understand how
fish communities are impacted by water quality. We will use the data we collect
to identify restoration actions that can be taken to improve water quality and
restore urban fish communities,” said Meg Kerr, Watershed Program Manager of the
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program.
The two Rhode Island grants are part of $2.7
million EPA awarded nationally to 46 organizations in 32 states and Puerto Rico
to help restore urban waters. Funding from EPA’s Urban Waters program supports
communities’ efforts to protect and restore water quality so they can access,
improve and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land.
“We are very proud to provide funding to help
these groups address urban water quality issues in Rhode Island,” said Curt
Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “These funds will
help restore urban waters and support community revitalization on and near these
rivers.”
Many urban waterways have been polluted for
years by sewage, runoff from city streets and contamination from abandoned
industrial facilities. Healthy and accessible urban waters can help grow local
businesses and enhance educational, economic, recreational, employment and
social opportunities in nearby communities. By awarding these small grants to
restore urban waterways, EPA will help communities become active participants in
restoring urban waters while improving and protecting their
neighborhoods.
More Information on EPA’s Urban Waters program
(http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/index.html)
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