By Mark Edward Nero
More than two dozen ports and marine terminal operators throughout Washington, Oregon and California have been awarded a total of millions of dollars in grant funding from the US Department of Homeland Security through the Fiscal Year 2014 Port Security Grant Program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said July 25.
The security grant funds go toward helping protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhancing maritime domain awareness, improving port-wide maritime security risk management and maintaining or reestablishing maritime security mitigation protocols that support port recovery and resiliency capabilities.
Among the larger grant recipients for FY 2014 were the Port of Long Beach, which received about $4 million; the Port of San Diego, which was awarded $2 million; and the San Francisco and Oakland ports, which received $1.4 million and $1.3 million, respectively.
Numerous other grant recipients received between $100,000 and $600,000, including the Long Beach Container Terminal, the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles-Long Beach, Pasha Stevedoring, the Port of Everett, the Port of Port Angeles, the Port of Tacoma, the Port of Grays Harbor and the Port of Astoria.
Also among the awardees is the Port of Hueneme, which is to receive $409,410.
“This funding comes at a critical time as we continue to partner with our community law enforcement partners to ramp up security and maximize the safety of the citizens we serve,” Port of Hueneme CEO & Port Director Kristin Decas said.
In all, the FY 2014 Port Security Grant Program provided about $100 million for transportation infrastructure security activities throughout the United States. A full list of the grant recipients and amounts is available at https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/dam-production/uploads/1406300071406-69f388acb175b5226b828476d462a5ce/GPD%20IB%20Allocation%20Announcement_Final.pdf.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
