In Durham, North Carolina, Environmental 

Training Prepares Residents for the Jobs 

Created by Area Revitalization

JUST THE FACTS:

• Durham’s Brownfields Job Training 

Program was designed to ensure 

that local residents can benefit 

from the jobs created through area 

revitalization.

• The city was able to apply a proven 

recruitment strategy developed by 

a neighboring EPA Brownfields Job 

Training grant recipient, the City of 

Winston-Salem, NC.

• The Program has trained three 

rounds of students—66 in all—with 

a graduation rate of more than 86 

percent.

In addition to their 

environmental and 

HAZMAT courses, students 

received job skills training 

to prepare them for their 

professional careers.

continued 

Students in Durham, NC undergo classroom training.

Located in central North Carolina, the City of Durham, like 

most cities, has a number of brownfields that have had adverse 

economic impacts on their surrounding communities. In particular, 

Northeast Central Durham’s Pettigrew Street Corridor was once 

a thriving residential and business area before residents moved 

to the suburbs and industrial facilities closed. Today, the corridor 

contains multiple brownfields including scrap yards, garages, 

and vacant and abandoned industrial facilities; and more than 36 

percent of residents live in poverty. 

Having received a Brownfields Assessment grant in 2006, the City 

of Durham designed a revitalization strategy for this 96-block 

area, including cleanup and reuse of the corridor’s brownfields. 

To ensure that the demand could be met for area workers with 

training in solid waste management, field testing and equipment, 

and other environmental technician skills, Durham applied for and 

received a Brownfields Job Training grant in 2008.

The city worked with its Brownfields Advisory Panel—a 

network of community, public, and private partners—to assist 

with recruitment and screening activities. These included local 

informational meetings; mass emails targeted toward local 

entities that could inform potential candidates; and use of the 

“JobLink” Career Center network (including the local WorkFirst 

Program, Veterans’ Employment & Training, Ex-Offender 

Program, Adult/Laid Off Worker Program, and the Youth 

Employed and Succeeding Program) to reach individuals in need 

of brownfields training and employment opportunities. Durham 

was also able to use a “Best Practices Recruitment Technique 

Framework” developed by another EPA Brownfields Job Training 

grant recipient in North Carolina, the City of Winston-Salem. 

Ultimately, this framework helped Durham surpass its screening 

and retainment goals and graduate work-ready, easily employable 

individuals.

Durham Technical Community College was chosen to deliver the 

environmental training course, titled “Brownfields Environmental 

Response Training.” The curriculum for this comprehensive, 

Durham, North Carolina
200-hour course included HAZWOPER training and certification, OSHA Health 

and Safety training, lead and asbestos abatement techniques, soil and water 

management, first aid/CPR, and in-the-field equipment training. In addition, 

students received job skills training that featured a “Day in the Life of an 

Environmental Employee” course to prepare them for their professional 

lives.

Training began in the Spring of 2009, and the first class graduated in 

April of that year. Since the course’s inception, 

the College has trained three rounds of 

students—66 in all—with a graduation rate 

of more than 86 percent. While placement is 

ongoing, more than half of the Program’s graduates have already 

found jobs, with wages ranging from $10-$15 per hour. One of 

those graduates, Antonio Snell, credits the Program with not 

only preparing him for a career, but providing him newfound 

motivation to better himself. “The Program helped me better my 

skills, and helped me improve on a lot of weak points that I had,” 

he explained. “I learned that if you really set your mind to something, 

you can get it done.” 

Another success of the Program is Antoine Freeman, a father who found 

himself unexpectedly laid off in 2007. Recognizing Durham’s Brownfields Job 

Training as a way to make a difference in his community and become marketable to local employers, 

Antoine applied and was accepted. He was hired immediately after graduation as a Hazardous Waste 

Coordinator for the City of Durham, where he coordinated a paint consolidation and reuse program 

and prepared hazardous materials for safe transportation. He has since transitioned to the private 

sector and is now a site supervisor at a hazardous waste facility.

In recognition of the Program’s successes, EPA awarded the City of Durham an additional 

Brownfields Job Training grant in April 2010.

CONTACTS:

For more information on the 

Durham Brownfields Job Training grant, 

contact EPA Region 4 at (404) 562-8660

Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More than 

half of the Program’s 

graduates have already 

found jobs, with 

wages ranging from 

$10-$15 per hour. 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA-560-F-10-204

In Durham, North Carolina, Environmental Training and Emergency May 2010

Prepares Residents for the Jobs Created by Area Revitalization Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/