Washington - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded New Jersey a $300,000 grant for job training, as part of their Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program.

With this funding, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection plans to train 72 students in Camden, place all graduates in local jobs, and track graduates for one year.

By completing coursework on diverse topics including solar panel installation, mold and mildew remediation, underground storage tank leaks, and solid waste management, these students will gain professional environmental certifications. Camden County College will lead these courses and local organizations, including the Camden Redevelopment Agency and the Salvation Army, have committed to require the hiring of local certified environmental professionals in all their environmental work contracts.

"This funding will make it possible for New Jersey students to gain marketable skills to help protect and improve our state's environment," said Menendez. "Green industries are among the fastest growing in the nation, so it is great that students in Camden will have this opportunity to gain professional certification and get their foot in the door."

The EPA's job training program works to equip unemployed people all over the country with skills that can help them secure environmental jobs in areas like cleaning up toxic chemicals, advancing the country's clean energy projects and overall support for other vast environmental initiatives. Twenty-one groups in 20 states are receiving funding for training. For more information on environmental workforce development and job training grants, check out http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm.

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