GENERAL OVERVIEW
Through the years in accordance with the objective of providing education and training, the Center has conducted numerous workshops aimed at educating community residents about toxic exposure and potential threats to their health and safety, outreach activities and efforts to meet specific project goals, seminars and workshops to reach targeted populations including students at the primary, secondary and university levels, and health and safety training for workers in construction and environmental remediation.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKSHOPS & TRAINING
Pollution Prevention 101 Workshop 
This interactive workshop covers the gamut of pollution prevention information, techniques, and strategies that empower communities to influence decisions affecting the emission of toxic chemicals. It reviews actual case studies of communities successfully utilizing strategies that reduce pollution sources. Training includes:
- Using Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for pollution prevention
- Understanding environmental terminology (ie. Superfund, RCRA, The Clean Air Act, NPDES, TOSCA, etc.)
- Understanding the permitting process, permit intervention, and permit watching
- Developing Good Neighbor Agreements
- Incorporation as a pollution prevention strategy
Computer Ready Workshop
This workshop focuses on the use of computers and how to access environmental databases such as the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and the Community Right-to-Know (RTK-NET). Participants receive basic computer instruction on producing flyers, letters, and bulletins for information sharing within the community and professional letters to industry and agencies. They also learn what information is available by computer to assist them in pollution prevention.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Workshop
This workshop introduces community residents to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) via Arc View and the PC. GIS uses a visualization tool, issued to produce maps and identify multiple exposure sources and multiple pollutants, as well as, socio-demographic variables for the communities. Workshop participants receive basic information on the background, development, and use of Geographical Information System (GIS). They also receive hands-on experience on how to use the system on the computer. Community residents in attendance are able to access and view information on their communities.
Leadership Development Workshop
This workshop is developed to strengthen the ability of community leaders to effectively participate in decisions affecting the emission of toxic chemicals. This workshop assists community leaders in the art and skill of leading, inspiring, managing and most importantly, supporting others, as part of the process of working to achieve goals and objectives formed to rid their community of various forms of environmental contamination. Participants are also trained to use techniques and procedures to influence environmental decisions made by federal, state, and local entities.
Information is Power Workshop
This workshop will assist community residents in locating information on the environment, hazardous substances, and occupation safety and health. During this workshop the participants will be provided with an ever-expanding set of online database resources through the National Library of Medicine Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program.
Understanding the Permitting Process
This workshop will facilitate communication with local and federal agencies. The topics include an understanding of the permitting process and who is responsible for the process. Participants will also learn at what point the public should be involved and when and how the public should respond.
Relocation Process
This workshop focuses on the understanding of how the relocation process works. The participants will also be able to view real problems by using the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act as a Superfund Relocation Policy and the problems with the United States Army Corp of Engineer Implementation of the Relocation Program. A discussion will be held on issues concerning Equity and Fairness.
Community Empowerment: Legal Tools
This workshop first instructs community residents in choosing an attorney. The topics include the Environmental Justice Executive Order, Understanding Title IV, and Title VI. Nuisance lawsuits and community options will also be discussed.
Who's Protecting You
This workshop is designed to formally introduce local, state, and federal environmental agencies to community residents. Participants will learn the primary responsibilities of each agency as it relates to their environmental concerns. Procedural steps required in due process action is also reviewed. This workshop will prepare residents to be better informed when interacting with environmental agencies.
Face-to-Face
This workshop is developed to strengthen the ability of citizens groups in the Mississippi River Corridor to participate effectively in decisions affecting the emission of toxic chemicals. The residents meet and interact with local, state, and federal representatives during this workshop. Residents become familiar with the overall mission of local, state, and federal agencies responsible for environmental protection.
Lead Education
This workshop is developed to educate community residents in lead prevention and lead hazardous awareness. The focus is on presentation techniques and outreach plan development and implementation. A media campaign is also a part of the lead education package to instruct residents on how to reach the mass majority.
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE EDUCATION CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING
This project was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was designed to develop curriculum infusion modules for elementary grades, Kindergarten through sixth grade that could be infused across disciplines. The modules provided culturally and developmentally appropriate activities that emphasized environmental justice issues. The modules included existing environmental science activities and environmental justice stories to help teach students about health threats and exposure within their own neighborhoods, and to provide the basis for making them environmentally aware and responsible citizens in the future. Toward this end, two hundred twenty-five (225) elementary school teachers in the New Orleans public school system were trained in a series of Saturday workshops and provided with curriculum guides, handouts, and stipends for materials.
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
 The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) has been implementing workforce development programs for the last thirteen years. The first 10 years was under the auspices of Xavier University. In 2005, the center began operating under the auspices of Dillard University. Funding for workforce development activities have been received from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Corps of Engineers, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Public Welfare Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Labor and numerous other foundations.
 The program administration, under the leadership of Dr. Beverly Wright, approaches workforce development training in a holistic manner, addressing the academic, social, psychological and physical needs of the trainees. The training program’s structure includes outreach and recruitment, basic and job readiness skills development, career training, job placement and tracking. The DSCEJ has managed to maintain a 75% to 90% job placement rate over the years. Several initiatives were developed to achieve this success rate including development of a Worker Training Advisory Board and fostering relationships with environmental remediation employers. An advisory board consisting of environmental community leaders and employers are active in outreach and recruitment, mentoring and job placement. Relationships are developed with potential employers to ensure placement of program graduates. Collaborations with community partnerships, resource agencies (Job1, Job Corp, Lion’s Eye Center, etc.), local churches, and local government offices were also developed to support various components of the program’s structure. Past training populations have included trainees who were unemployed and underemployed, and those lacking basic academic and soft skills. The center has experience in training the economically disadvantaged as well as those who have been incarcerated.
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TRAINING INITIATIVES
Xavier Triangle Community Worker Training & Construction Company
 The Xavier Triangle Project trained community residents in basic construction skills and hazardous materials abatement. The trainees received academic and life skills training to prepare them to successfully complete technical training, resulting in employment. Moreover, Xavier University, through its involvement in the project, improved its ability to service the academic and job training needs of inner city youth. This project represented a unique opportunity to link Xavier with the community and labor organizations in ways that improved the quality of life of residents of the Xavier Triangle Community and empowered community members through employment. Two cycles of this project were funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Brownfields/Minority Worker Training Project
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University (formerly at Xavier University of Louisiana) in collaboration with Clark Atlanta University’s Environmental Justice Resource Center has been conducting Brownfields/Minority Worker Training funded by The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences for the last thirteen years. Training has been delivered in the following cities:
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana in collaboration with Southern University at Baton Rouge,
- Shreveport, Louisiana in collaboration with Southern University at Shreveport,
- New Orleans, Louisiana,
- Dallas, Texas, in collaboration with New Start for Environmental Justice,
- Houston, Texas in collaboration with Texas Southern University,
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida in collaboration with Dillard-Bass Community-Based Organization,
- Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi in collaboration with the Center for Environmental and Economic Justice
- Detroit, Michigan in collaboration with Detroiter’s Working for Environmental Justice
- Atlanta, Georgia in collaboration with Clark Atlanta University and,
- Savannah, Georgia in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Justice.
Canal Lock Job Training Project 
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University (formerly at Xavier University of Louisiana) in collaboration with the Laborers-AGC structured a job training program that focused on preparing unemployed and under-employed persons residing in the targeted area to work on construction contracts related to the demolition of the Galvez Street Wharf, and levee/floodwall work on the west bank of the Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project in the 9th ward of New Orleans, LA. This program was funded for two cycles by the Corps of Engineers.
Hurricane Katrina Training Initiatives
Hurricane Katrina has been described as the worst natural disaster ever reported in North America. The Katrina Response Consortium consisting of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University (DU/DSCEJ) in New Orleans, LA in partnership with Texas Southern University’s Department of Sociology in Houston, TX, the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufactory, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW), minority-owned and institutional-based training  providers, and local, state, and federal agencies, to implement a Minority Worker Training Program in response to the environmental devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This project represents a unique initiative that links Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and small and disadvantaged businesses, unions with apprenticeship programs, and government agencies, with the overall goal of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, promoting community involvement, and creating a work force of trained community residents from the impacted areas ready to assist government, businesses, and contractors in the environmental remediation of the Gulf Coast states.
This initiative attempts to implement a Worker Health and Safety Training program designed to address the needs of displaced workers, residents and small and disadvantaged business owners. This project will address the environmental training needs in the aftermath of Katrina of individuals who reside in impacted areas and/or were displaced by the hurricane and live in the Gulf States of Louisiana and Texas. . In addition, funding has been provided by the Department of Labor to train New Orleans residents in technical areas that will support the rebuilding efforts in the city. That program is slated for completion in the summer of 2007.
Department of Labor
Initially the Department of Labor Worker Training Program was funded to train the un- and underemployed population returning home Post-Katrina. Due to an acute shortage of affordable rental property in the city and the closing and planned demolition of public housing complexes this population was not currently present in the city. This result was that many of New Orleans’ poorest and most needy citizens cannot afford to return home. The recruitment efforts resulted in identifying contractors, work-ready or work-experienced individuals, and college graduates or individuals with college training who are interested in becoming contractors. Therefore, the format of the original worker training was modified to include technical training only in Hazmat, Asbestos and Mold Remediation.
 The modification of the program’s scope of work entailed the elimination of the basic skills training. This component of training is designed to address academic and life skills deficits that prevent trainees from being work-ready. With the population that had been recruited early on in the process, it became evident that this component of training would not be needed. The modification in the scope of work also involved providing technical training in hazardous waste work (40 hours) and mold remediation (24 hours), the two most important courses and certifications needed to get people employed in the cleanup and rebuilding effort. To this was added a 4 hour course entitled “Health and Safety for Devastated Communities”. This course, developed and presented by the United Steel Workers, is a special course designed to address the specific needs of post Katrina New Orleans, and to prepare residents for future devastating events.
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TECHNICAL TRAINING /CAREER TRAINING
In the past, the Laborers-AGC, Carpenters and various other for-profit vendors have provided technical training within DSCEJ’s training programs. The DSCEJ has recently developed its own capacity to deliver technical training. The training institute delivers:
- Asbestos Abatement (Worker, Supervisor, and Refresher)
- Lead Abatement (Worker, Supervisor, and Refresher)
- Hazardous Waste Worker (Worker, Supervisor, and Refresher)
- Mold Remediation (Worker and Refresher)
A mixture of classroom instruction, hands-on techniques and technology are used to deliver health and safety training.
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OUR WORKER EDUCATION AND TRAINING SUCCESS
The DSCEJ has been instrumental in training over 800 individuals in the southern region of the United States in various fields of environmental remediation. They have delivered over 20,000 hours in environmental remediation training and over 20,000 hours in Basic Skills Training. Training initiatives began in 1995 and funding has been acquired from NIEHS to continue training through 2010.
YEAR |
TRAINING CITY |
NUMBERS TRAINED |
1995 |
New Orleans |
15 |
1996 |
New Orleans |
14 |
1997 |
New Orleans |
17 |
1998 |
New Orleans |
10 |
1999 |
New Orleans, Dallas |
35 |
2000 |
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Dallas |
54 |
2001 |
New Orleans, Atlanta, Shreveport, Baton Rouge |
109 |
2002 |
New Orleans, Atlanta, Shreveport, Baton Rouge |
83 |
2003 |
New Orleans, Atlanta, Shreveport, Baton Rouge |
71 |
2004 |
New Orleans, Atlanta, Shreveport, Baton Rouge |
92 |
2005 |
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gulf Port, Savannah |
85 |
2006 |
New Orleans (Including Katrina Small Business Training), Baton Rouge, Gulfport/Biloxi, Savannah |
149 |
2007 |
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Detroit, Savannah, |
82 |
The center has a training completion rate of 85% to 95% of its required target population. The success extends to the placement of these individuals with a rate of 75% to 90%. The center has developed a database of 100 environmental remediation companies in which program graduates have worked and earned as much as $32.00 per hour. Some graduates who had not previously left their city of origin have traveled all over the United States and to exotic locations such as the Virgin Islands and Hawaii to work in the environmental remediation field.
 The DSCEJ has successfully collaborated with over 50 agencies including, non-profit, government agencies, for-profit companies and specialists in the environmental arena to help program graduates develop careers and a better the standard of living for them and their families. A few recent program graduates include Chadrick Buchanan of Baton Rouge, Peter Nguyen of Biloxi/Gulfport, Terrie Richard of Savannah, Georgia.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Chadrick Buchanan of the Baton Rouge program exhibited both leadership and compassion by tutoring a fellow trainee in mathematics during basic skills. Chadrick began working as a cart pusher at Wal Mart for $7.00 an hour after dropping out of Second Chance Academy in the 11th grade. After graduation from the program, Chadrick was able to get a job with the New England Industrial Engineers at $22.92 per hour. He has since referred several people to the program.
Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi
Peter Nguyen of the Biloxi/Gulfport program, was born in Vietnam, and was particularly challenged in English, mathematics, and life skills. He had never interacted with African Americans to any extent, but his determination to succeed won him friends and popularity as the program progressed. He became an ambassador of the program within the Vietnamese community. Peter abandoned his former life’s work as a fisherman and is now working with the State of Mississippi’s Sea Grant Consortium.
Savannah, Georgia
Terrie Richard is employed as a brick layer with D. Stanley Mason and now makes $15.00 an hour. During the time she was enrolled in the program in Savannah, she experienced serious life issues, ranging from living in a Salvation Army shelter that had a mold problem to having difficulty reading and writing. As a matter of fact, at each weekly staff meeting she was constantly bought up when discussing trainees. It was thought that she would not make it through the program because of her low level of basic skills. Terrie worked hard to improve her skills. She received extra instruction from our basic skill instructors, and the program also helped her with her housing problems. Eventually, she was able to obtain housing (a room). It was evident that her self esteem and confidence were boosted by the changes she was making in her life.
New Orleans, Louisiana
 For the five years that the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice conducted the Brownfields Minority Worker Training Programs (2000- 2005), the center was under the auspices of Xavier University (XU) and was housed on the fringes of its campus. One of the trainees in year two’s program, Tracy Johnson, walked daily from the off-campus site to the student center at XU to have lunch with his fellow trainees. He observed the Xavier students on campus, and noted the zeal and focus they brought to their pursuit of higher education and a better way of life. Tracy resolved then to use the certifications he was working toward to guarantee himself and then fiancée, Shannon, a better way of life.
Little good can be said of the ill wind, Katrina, and its devastating after effects on the population of New Orleans. But, it is indeed an ill wind that blows no good. Katrina has brought about good things for Tracy Johnson. Tracy returned to New Orleans as soon as he could and went back to work in the burgeoning environmental remediation industry. As a native of New Orleans, he realized that he had a golden opportunity to really get ahead of contractors from all over the nation that were converging on New Orleans and snatching up contracts, big and small, from local people. Tracy decided that the time had come for him to make a move and make his mark on the rebuilding effort.
Tracy applied for and received his contractor’s license and formed his own company, Shantra, LLC and Cut Masters, LLC, hiring some of his fellow trainees to make up his work crew. He began to solicit work and to compete for contracts. One of the contracts he secured was for the cleanup of a local university’s campus – Xavier University, where his dream for a better life began. Tracy put his effort into making that job one of his best, and it was with great pride that he informed his former instructors at the DSCEJ that he had performed that work for Xavier.
Tracy’s crew is still out there and will be for some time. The work in the city of New Orleans has just begun. The DSCEJ is proud of Tracy and of the many other young men and women who were certified through our worker training programs and who are now contributing their efforts to the clean up and rebuilding efforts of our great city.
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