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The Environmental Protection Agency today awarded one of 15 environmental workforce development grants to .

OTI was the only group from Oregon to receive a portion of the $3 million Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training funds. The program provides resources to train unemployed people in jobs that address environmental challenges in their communities.

鈥淲e couldn’t do the job training that we do without (the EPA),鈥� said OTI Executive Director Connie Ashbrook. This award marks the fourth cycle of support OTI has won from the agency.

The Portland Harbor, the lower area of the Willamette River, and the Columbia Slough all have land that is 鈥渞ipe for cleanup and redevelopment,鈥� Ashbrook said. OTI will offer two sessions in 2013 and two in 2014 to train at least 30 women in related jobs.

Approximately 71 percent of graduates from this training program find employment in environmental fields that serve local communities, according to Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

To date, the EPA estimates that 7,300 people who completed the training have found jobs in the environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.12.