News Releases from Region 04

Free EPA Job Training Provides Skills, Job Opportunities for 13 Jacksonville, Fla., Residents

ATLANTA (Mar. 6, 2019) - On Wednesday, March 6, 13 area residents graduated from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund Job Training Initiative (SuperJTI) program. Many of the graduates will fill available jobs with the environmental contractors cleaning up contamination at the Fairfax Street Wood Treaters site in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Job training programs are a win-win for communities impacted by hazardous waste sites,” said EPA Acting Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker. “Graduates acquire skills necessary to gain full-time employment and help address the environmental challenges in their community.” 

SuperJTI is a national program that provides unemployed and underemployed individuals with the technical skills and specialized training needed to work on cleanup projects at Superfund sites, on other environmental remediation, and in a broad range of construction projects. The Fairfax Street Wood Treaters SuperJTI graduate earned certificates in:

• 40-hr Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
• OSHA-10 Construction Safety Training
• CPR/First Aid

Site Background

The Fairfax Street Wood Treaters site is in a predominantly residential area of Jacksonville owned by Fairfax Land Management, Inc., and was formerly used as a wood treating facility. From 1980 to 2010, the facility pressure-treated utility poles, pilings, heavy timber and plywood lumber products using the wood treating preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Some of the CCA preservative dripped onto the ground during the wood treating, which resulted in soil and sediment contamination.  

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a top priority to advance the Agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

More information on EPA's cleanup work at the Fairfax Street Wood Treaters (FSWT) site