LEWISTON – Orientation meetings for a two-year training program designed to train local workers as qualified environmental cleanup technicians are scheduled Thursday at the Lewiston Career Center and the B Street Community Center.

The classes, scheduled to begin in September and October, are being offered through Central Maine Community College and Women Unlimited.

The classes are funded with a $200,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency grant that Lewiston recieved in March. The city was one of 16 across the country to get Environmental Protection Agency job-training grants.

Classes will cover basic construction skills, lead and asbestos abatement, Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety guidelines, and hazardous material handling. Advanced tracks will teach commercial truck hazardous waste hauling and property redevelopment.

The local wage range for those jobs is between $12 and $13 per hour.

Both orientation sessions are scheduled Thursday. The first runs from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Lewiston CareerCenter, at 5 Mollison Way. The second runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the B Street Community Center, at 57 Birch St. To register for either session, phone Ray Cook at 786-4209.

– Scott Taylor