The US Dept. of Homeland Security has awarded more than $97 million in grants to various seaports, port-related public agencies and private companies for various projects, including helping protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism.
The $97 million in grants, which was announced June 29, is part of a total of $1.3 billion in preparedness grants awarded by the DHS during the 2012 fiscal year. In addition to the port security, grants were awarded in the categories of transit security, intercity passenger rail, tribal homeland security and other categories.
The largest share of the $97 million went to the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department, which runs the Port of Los Angeles. It received $6.9 million, which it says it’ll use to buy two police boats and upgrade communication and computer systems.
The neighboring Port of Long Beach received $2.8 million for various projects.
Among the other West Coast ports receiving major grant funding were the Port of Oakland, which was the recipient $3.5 million and the Port of Stockton, which was awarded $1.7 million.
Seaports receiving lesser funding included the ports of Olympia, Grays Harbor, San Diego and Everett, which received $299,000, $265,650, $153,750 and $55,725, respectively.
Grant recipients also included numerous port-related businesses, including Long Beach Container Inc., which received $3.3 million; the Seattle Fire Dept., which received $1.5 million; and container terminal operator and vessel stevedore TraPac Inc., which was awarded $1 million.
The full list of awardees and amounts can be seen at http://www.joc.com/joc_inc/pdf/FY_12_PSGP_Recipients.pdf .
