Training Helps Authorities Meet EPA Rules

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee Public Housing Authorities in several East Tennessee cities now have maintenance personnel certified in handling chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerators and air conditioning equipment following a two-day training session at the Department of Energy's Y-12 Natonal Security Complex. 

Certified instructors from the Manufacturing Skills Campus at Y-12 provided training to area housing authority employees under a program that allows educational institutions, private industry or other government agencies access to both facilities and expertise of personnel within Y-12 on a cost recovery basis. 

Jim Carson, executive director of the Oak Ridge Housing Authority, said, "Housing authorities all across East Tennessee are very excited about getting this important training through the Manufacturing Skills Campus." Carson is the leader of a working group that represents housing authorities in the middle portion of East Tennessee and helped organize the training program through the Skills Campus. 

"This training is an excellent example of the benefits that can be realized when governmental agencies work together to get the most for taxpayers dollars. We also know that the training is going to be top-notch and fully certified for Level 1 and 2 maintenance personnel who will have to handle the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration equipment in housing authorities all over this portion of the state. 

"We got the idea when we saw Y-12 was a certified provider of the testing and recognized it as an opportunity," Carson said. 

Housing authorities whose maintenance personnel received their certification through the training were the towns of Jellico, Athens, Loudon, Crossville, Rockwood, Harriman, Sevierville, Etowah, Dayton, and Knox and Grundy counties. 

Using the Oak Ridge Housing Authority as an example, Carson said 35 apartments that have central air conditioning units and all 128 apartments have refrigerators. Maintenance personnel who service these units must be certified in how to capture, store, replace, and recycle the CFCs in such equipment. 

Certification in handling these ozone-depleting chemicals is required by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act. That certification had to be in place by Nov. 14. 

The Manufacturing Skills Campus is a training facility at Y-12 that provides hands-on training in precision machining, electronics, metrology, industrial maintenance and problem-solving. Courses at the Skills Campus are taught by skilled craftspeople and are designed to complement existing education available through local colleges and are being offered in partnership with educational institutions. 

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