HANOVER TOWNSHIP -- A nonprofit group serving the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton area is getting $800,000 to train and provide jobs to restore the environment.
Earth Conservancy, which focuses on the impact of coal mining in our area, received a $200,000 grant to provide training for people seeking jobs in areas impacted by hazardous waste. It is also getting another $600,000 to clean up mined-scarred land in Hanover Township and Nanticoke.
"Jobs and the environment go hand and hand, and cleaning up the environment. So not only are we cleaning up the environment, not only are we cleaning up properties that have been abandoned, but also those clean up grants will provide jobs," said Cecil Rodrigues, acting regional administrator EPA Region 3.
The group's goal is to train and place 35 people in jobs related to environmental surveying.