This week, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $6.2 million in workforce development and join training grants.
EPA made the announcement in Atlanta, just one of 21 grantees in 20 states to be awarded money to help train low-income residents in environmental jobs and clean up contaminants from homes and abandoned properties in the local area.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says the goal of this effort reaches beyond just creating jobs for one or two cleanup projects.
“The workers trained under these grants will be strengthening the conditions needed for healthy, sustainable job growth in their own communities. Rather than sitting idle and posing threats to the health of local residents, the revitalized sites can be safely transformed into parks or new economic developments,” said Jackson.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed thanked Jackson for her commitment to revitalize the Atlanta area and provide new job opportunities for its residents. Atlanta will receive $300,000 in Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training that will be awarded to Center for Working Families in Atlanta. The Center will be charges with recruiting and training over 40 individuals in five targeted Atlanta communities struggling with environmental issues.
“The EPA’s focus on developing more green jobs is in lock-step with my administration’s priorities, and will help us to build a green workforce and create sustainable jobs,” said Reed.
For more on the environmental workforce development and job training grants, visit the EPA website.
