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December 25, 2006

Safe harbors | A new federal law earmarks $400 million for maritime security grants. How could Maine spend some of the money to protect its busy ports?

Ports, porous waterways with near ceaseless traffic, pose significant challenges to homeland security. Cruise ships, yachts and fishing boats from around the world move in and out of U.S. harbors daily, while cargo ships each year deposit millions of shipping containers onto wharves. Last April, one of those containers arrived in Seattle containing 22 smuggled Chinese men and women.

In October, President Bush signed into law a port security bill co-authored by Sen. Susan Collins that attempts to address some of those vulnerabilities. It's being called one of the most significant pieces of legislation yet passed on the issue, and calls for $400 million in grants to help finance port security upgrades. If the president approves the measure and Congress funds the full amount for the 2008 budget, some high-risk ports ˆ— including Portland ˆ— could receive federal money to bolster security technology or tighten response plans for anything from a terrorist attack to a natural disaster, ship fire, oil spill, or the spread of a contagious disease traveling by ship. "Maine is a rural state. We don't have skyscrapers and some of the national landmarks or targets that way," said Bruce Fitzgerald of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. "We do have our own vulnerabilities, and the ports are something we're looking at."

Where those vulnerabilities lie ˆ— and how Maine could patch them ˆ— remains the question for port officials who might pursue a federal grant. Collins said she anticipated Portland would receive some funding from the program. Though not a major cargo terminal, Portland handles its share of shipping containers, the kind that Collins described as able to hold "a squat of terrorists or nuclear device or biological or chemical weapons."

Likewise, Collins pointed out in a telephone interview, "the port of Portland is a major distribution point of home heating oil, not only for Maine, but for Canada. If there were an attack on that port, it would have devastating consequences in New England and in Canada as well."

Local officials and members of the marine trades offered a grab bag of their own ideas for patching holes in seaport security. Capt. Jeffrey Monroe, Portland's director of ports and transportation and a member of the National Maritime Security Advisory Council, spoke in broad technical terms about what he would do with a grant, which, if approved, will be distributed by the Department of Homeland Security.

"I think first and foremost would be a technology-based platform that allows the integration of security and surveillance systems into a single network," Monroe said, adding that the system would tie in all local port computer networks nationwide so that someone in a command center in Washington, D.C., could press a button and observe Portland's port.

"The second thing that would be necessary would be to put in place all the new security requirements for the Ocean Gateway facility," he said, referring to the $21 million proposal that includes a marine passenger terminal, a new dock for international ferries and open space for the public along the waterfront. These two priorities would require several million dollars, Monroe estimated.

Going ashore
Others who have studied port security in Maine see soft spots on land. "There are issues about being able to see inside containers. If things were to get on land and explode, there are questions with evacuation plans," said Sen. Ethan Strimling, a Democrat from Portland who was co-chair of a homeland security task force that looked into Maine's overall safety status this year.

Collins' legislation requires the 22 largest ports to set up radiation-detection machines to scan imported cargo containers for explosives or dirty-bomb materials. That technology could be a ways off for Portland, because it is not one of the largest or busiest ports.
But Jack Humeniuk, coordinator of operations of P&O Ports, the company that runs the Portland container operation, says most of the 2,500 or so containers moving through Portland each year are pre-screened in New York of Halifax.

If the nation goes into high-level alert, all containers must be opened and inspected, but under normal conditions most are not. Instead, Humeniuk keeps watch by checking records and double-checking paperwork. If Portland were to land a port security grant, he would invest in better fencing and lighting around his terminal, which he estimated would cost $100,000 to $150,000.

Other experts say better shoreline defense means investment in better training for emergency personnel, such as the port-safety pilot program recently held in Maine by maritime security consulting company M-P.A.C.T and Maine Maritime Academy. The program brought together first responders, police, harbor masters, customs and border patrol officers and Coast Guard personnel ˆ— all those likely to be involved in a coastal emergency ˆ— to receive an overview of port activities, better preparing them to handle shoreline emergencies.

Daniel Walsh, president of Port Everglades, Fla.-based M.-P.A.C.T., recommended that more funding be channeled into training. "Most of the money that has been spent in port security in the last few years has been on technology and hardware, like the X-ray machines, and while that is appropriate, there is a certain amount of training that needs to go into it as well," he said.

Along with training, grant money could be used to develop preparations such as an evacuation plan the city of Portland is creating for the port area and the whole peninsula. Portland already has installed one piece of that plan ˆ— reverse telephone dialing that would allow the city to contact many people in minutes. "We have an ability to do mass dialing of an area, as well as go door to door," said Fred LaMontagne, Portland's fire chief.
But he was candid about the challenges of evacuating a densely populated area in an emergency. "It's a time-relationship thing," he said. "If we have three days, no problem. If we have 30 minutes to move 20,000 people, it's not realistic."

Maintaining smooth sailing
Any discussion of security upgrades, however, also must take into account the need to keep marine traffic ˆ— and marine commerce ˆ— moving. Tom Dobbins of Sprague Energy, which operates oil and cargo terminals in Bucksport, Searsport, Portland and South Portland, said port security has ramped up considerably in the past five years, but that those measures haven't yet impeded commerce.

In the past five years, there have been no major incidents in Maine's ports, save a few small fuel spills, issues with visas and other small security breaches. Commerce, officials say, stills sails on smoothly. "The secret of success is you want to make sure you develop and design systems that do not interfere with commerce," Monroe said. "You certainly don't want to come up with something that is so archaic or so gargantuan that you can't do business. It is something we are very sensitive to."

Ultimately, even with high-end technology, increased training and strengthened lines of communication, one of the best security forces for Maine's ports and coastline are its fishermen, experts say. The 700 commercial vessels and thousands of fishing boats, pleasure boats, kayaks and canoes coming and going all year can play a large part in a solid defense. "I think everyone plays a role in port security, especially those most familiar with individual ports, whether it is a lobsterman or a person who is part of a fishing fleet who recognizes an anomaly," LaMontagne said. "It has got to be a comprehensive effort from top to bottom."

Insurance program

The SAFE Port Act, authored by Sens. Susan Collins and Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 13, is designed to enhance the security of many of the nation's 361 ports. It includes a provision to issue $400 million in grants to pay for port-security upgrades at many ports; $435 million to put radiation detectors at 22 major cargo operations; and would send U.S. Customs officials overseas to inspect cargo headed to this country.

But Collins said funding the grant portion of the new measure will be a challenge, because the Bush administration has so far supported one grant program for all infrastructure, including rail, ports and mass transit. "The problem with that approach is it could result in seaports not getting any funding. Those of us who are strong proponents of this bill believe we need dedicated funding for ports," Collins said.

Collins has sent a letter to the president urging him to support the grant program in his 2008 budget, which will be unveiled in January. If approved, the $400 million appropriation would double the amount spent last year in port grants, and could be used to fix vulnerabilities, conduct training and establish new communications mechanisms.
All ports ˆ— even Maine's small ones ˆ— will be allowed to compete for the grants. "The funding will be based on the need for the money and the risk of the port," Collins said.
Rebecca Goldfine

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