A new jobs training program is coming to Wilmington in September that aims to place participants in jobs that will clean up the environment.
The EPA announced Wednesday it’s giving the Brownfields Workforce Development and Job Training Coalition a grant of nearly $200,000 to train and place minority and unemployed residents in green jobs.
The Coalition is made up of West End Neighborhood House, DNREC, Del Tech and Brightfields Environmental Services.
Its program, which trains unemployed Wilmington area residents in cleaning up old industrial sites and former brownfields, is a win-win, said Paul Calistro, Executive Director of West End Neighborhood House.
"You have people who have lived for years and decades with brownfields. There’s a lot of money in the cleanup, and they had not shared in this before. So this gives them an opportunity to have some of the economic stimulus from cleaning up these fields," said Calistro.
The workforce program will train 70 participants at DelTech to get jobs in wastewater treatment, hazardous materials removal and lead and asbestos abatement. The goal is to train students in six months and see that they receive gainful employment after their coursework.
The program is open to all residents over 18, even if they have a criminal background.
Marjorie Crofts, the head of DNREC’s Division of Hazardous Wastes, said the program will revitalize the Wilmington area both economically and environmentally.
"It does enable people who live in this neighborhood, live in this area to be able to get a living wage job, and be able to go on and further help the revitalization of these areas," she said.
