For Immediate Release
Contact: Ashley Hartman
Ashley.Hartman@ettp.doe.gov
(865) 574-7231
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, April 5, 2017 – Students from three Morgan County high schools are now trained in hazardous waste emergency response thanks to a 40-hour class offered by the United Steel Workers in partnership with URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR).
Participants in the class, commonly called HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response), were from Coalfield High School, Sunbright School, and Wartburg Central High School. Twenty students attended the training, which was held at the Morgan County Career and Technical Center in Wartburg from March 27 to April 3.
“We were very excited to participate with USW and UCOR to offer this hazardous waste training class,” said Dr. Joseph Miller, Director of the Center. “As a result of this training, our students have earned a credential that will allow them to more easily transition from school to the work force.”
Instructors for the class, who are all UCOR team members, included Billy Edington, USW Local 9-288 president, and Bobby Griffith, USW Local 9-288 Vice-President, along with Gary Chitwood, Phillip Eddinger, Pam Gray, Jake Hawes, and Samantha Stout.
“It’s gratifying knowing we are having a positive influence in these students’ lives and are offering them a unique opportunity that will help develop a new generation of safety-focused hazardous waste workers,” Edington said.
UCOR is the Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park (former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant) and other sites on its Oak Ridge Reservation.
