EPA awards $600K to clean contaminated properties

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday the awarding of $600,000 in grants for environmental assessments and jobs training to help clean and re-develop contaminated properties in San Francisco.

The city's Department of the Environment received $400,000 for environmental site assessments while the San Francisco-based nonprofit Hunters Point Family received $200,000 for job training.

According to the Department of the Environment, the $400,000 grant awarded to the department will be used to inventory potentially hazardous properties, perform environmental site assessments in Bayview-Hunters Point and conduct community outreach activities.

With the $200,000 grant awarded to The Hunters Point Family, the organization will provide environmental workforce development and job training to low-income, minority residents in the southeast part of the city.

"EPA's generous grant support will enable San Francisco to identify and assess brownfield sites for potential redevelopment in support of increased access to the southeastern waterfront," Melanie Nutter, director of the city's Department of the Environment, said in a statement.

The investment by the EPA also supports the development of the Blue Greenway, a waterfront open space corridor along the eastern shoreline of San Francisco and into Bayview-Hunters Point.

The Hunters Point Family intends to use its funds to train at least 54 students, place at least 43 gradates into environmental jobs and track graduates for a year.

The training program includes 224 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction in areas such as asbestos and lead worker safety, wastewater management and habitat restoration.

Lena Miller, executive director of the Hunters Point Family, said the career-training program incorporates sustainability for people, the environment and the local economy.

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