Security Briefs - June 14 - June 19
The Latest Headlines:
- Senate Passes Terror Insurance Package
- S.C. Gov. Hodges Won’t Block Plutonium Truck Shipments
- Hong Kong Protests Cargo Security Requests
- Operation Safe Commerce Completes Phase One Testing
- Logan Receives Federal Funding for Screening
- TSA Set to Complete Airport Security Screening Plan
- Mineta Announces $92 Million for Port Security
- Airline Fined for Multiple Security Failures
- Ridge Cites Security Agency Advantages
- Airports Chosen for Private Screening Test
- False ID, Hazmat Manual Land Man in Jail
- Qualcomm Presents OmniTRAC Security Features
- Customs Chief Endorses Security Revamp
- S.C. Gov. Hodges Won’t Block Plutonium Truck Shipments
Senate Passes Terror Insurance Package
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Tuesday to help defray some of the costs of terrorism insurance for companies, the Associated Press reported.After Sept. 11, many companies, especially in the transportation industry, had trouble getting insurance. The attacks forced insurers to make record payouts of between $30 billion and $50 billion and as a result insurance companies either raised premiums or dropped coverage to some companies.
The bill, which passed 84-14, will now be sent to a House-Senate conference committee to iron out differences with a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives last year, AP said.
S.C. Gov. Hodges Won’t Block Plutonium Truck Shipments
South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges said Tuesday he will abide by a ruling barring him from blocking a federal shipment of bomb-grade plutonium bound by truck for his state, the Associated Press reported.U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie banned Hodges from blocking the U.S. Energy Department's shipments from the Rocky Flats weapons plant in Colorado to South Carolina's Savannah River Site.
Last week, Currie said physical blockades of the plutonium shipments are illegal and present a possible terrorist target.
Hodges had dispatched state troopers to the site last week and had threatened to lie down in the road if necessary to block the trucks. Transport Topics
Hong Kong Protests Cargo Security Requests
As the United States continues to boost cargo security in order to thwart terrorist efforts, it has begun to look overseas to ask foreign ports to provide more detailed information about cargo before it heads for the U.S., the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.Cargo often travels in trucks after arriving in U.S. ports, so protecting it from terrorist tampering is important to the trucking industry.
Hong Kong, one of the 20 overseas ports the U.S. has targeted for increased pre-screening, says the labeling of cargo would back up operations at ports and the additional costs would be detrimental to shippers, the Post said.
The Container Security Initiative would place U.S. customs agents at the ports in question and eliminate the cargo category “freight all kinds” (FAK), the story said, which allows shippers to combine goods at the last minute but makes tracking the contents and insuring their uninterrupted travel difficult. Transport Topics
Operation Safe Commerce Completes Phase One Testing
Operation Safe Commerce, a joint public-private sector partnership to insure the safety of cargo entering the United States, wrapped up testing as part of its first phase Monday in Hillsborough, N.H.The program’s goal of pushing back U.S. border inspections to the point of origin of inbound cargo was put to the test as a container laden with tail lamps left Slovakia May 22 and was electronically sealed and tracked to its destination in Hillsborough, where it arrived June 7.
The next phase of testing is to expand the system to include other private sector partners and different supply chains, a release from Operation Safe Commerce said.
The program is being developed in response to concerns that arose after Sept. 11 that terrorists may try to use freight containers to smuggle weapons into the United States. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Logan Receives Federal Funding for Screening
The Transportation Security Administration has agreed to fund the explosives detective system Boston’s Logan International Airport will use to screen all checked luggage, news sources reported Tuesday.The installation of these new security measures may affect trucks carrying cargo to and from the airport, especially if this causes delays.
The scanners cost $1.5 million each, and the new funds will allow Logan to install several and train new staff to run them, the Boston Globe and Boston Herald reported. An additional $100 million has been set aside to design and construct space to house the security technology.
Logan was chosen as the first airport to receive the funding in part to restore its image after two of the hijacked planes departed from that airport on Sept. 11, the news sources said. Transport Topics
TSA Set to Complete Airport Security Screening Plan
The process of federalizing all airport screening will get underway the first week in July, John W. Magaw, under secretary of transportation for security, announced Tuesday.Airport security affects the delivery schedules of trucks carrying cargo to and from airports.
Magaw said the TSA is beginning to recruit screeners and deploy site assessment teams to up to 120 airports, including most of the largest in the country.
He credited lessons learned with partners at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and various pilot programs with providing TSA the tools to proceed with the federalization process.
TSA, which has responsibility for civil aviation security, is in the process of establishing federal security operations in the nation's commercial airports. TSA is to deploy federal personnel, including passenger and baggage screeners, law enforcement officers and others to all airports by Nov. 19, 2002. Transport Topics
Mineta Announces $92 Million for Port Security
U.S. ports will get $92.3 million in federal security funding set to increase lighting, fencing and security staffing at 51 ports and add new security technology like cargo screening, Bloomberg reported Monday.Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced the grants, which include $9.3 million for new screening technologies like electronic seals.
Cargo security is important to trucks that are likely to transport the cargo once it has entered the U.S.
According to Bloomberg, 95% of U.S. international trade goes through ports, so bolstered security following the Sept. 11 attacks is imperative.
The ports receiving the most funding are New York/New Jersey with $9.33 million, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. with $6.84 million, Miami with $6.42 million and Norfolk, Va. with $5.29 million, the story said. Transport Topics
Airline Fined for Multiple Security Failures
The Federal Aviation Administration has fined American Airlines $536,000 for multiple instances of failing to comply with cargo screening standards almost two years ago, the Journal of Commerce reported on its Web site Monday.Trucks often carry cargo to and from airports, so security hazards regarding cargo on airplanes are a concern to the trucking industry, also.
The FAA has accused the airline of failing to meet security standards concerning the acceptance and screening of cargo, the training of screening personnel and record keeping regarding those matters, the JoC said.
An American Airlines spokesperson in the story did not deny the failures, but did say the airline will negotiate to have the fine reduced or eliminated considering the vast differences in its security standards and practices now, two years later. Transport Topics
Ridge Cites Security Agency Advantages
The new proposed cabinet-level agency responsible for homeland security will help local officials gather information and pool resources in the war on terrorism, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told the nation's mayors Monday.Ridge, speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Madison, Wis., said the new cabinet office would eliminate waste and overlap of government agencies, the Associated Press reported.
Ridge said he doesn't want to make 100 phone calls to check on how the terror war is progressing; he wants to make one, AP reported, and Ridge said he supposes the mayors all feel the same way too.
Under the new proposal, the Secret Service, Coast Guard and immigration and customs officials will be consolidated under the plan, AP reported.
Ridge said the FBI and CIA should remain separate from the new agency and the department should work with them but not control them, AP said.
The mayors used the event to press for more federal funding of their anti-terrorism efforts and to ask that Washington save a program that provides federal money for local police. Transport Topics
Airports Chosen for Private Screening Test
Five airports have been chosen by the Transportation Security Agency for a test of the feasibility of using federally supervised private contractors do passenger and property screening, TSA said Tuesday.Trucks engaged in cargo pickup and delivery at airports are vulnerable to delays caused by security screening.
John W. Magaw, under secretary of transportation for security, said the five airports selected are San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester International in New York, Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming and Tupelo Airport in Mississippi.
Factors involved the choices included the willingness of the airport, balanced representation, areas with variable costs of living and the availability of existing screening resources. Transport Topics
False ID, Hazmat Manual Land Man in Jail
A Senegalese national accused of carrying false identification and a training manual for hauling hazardous materials will remain in jail until a hearing in Atlanta next week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported June 14.After Sept. 11, fears arose that terrorists may try to use trucks, particularly ones hauling hazardous materials as instruments of terror.
The FBI arrested the man, identified as Papa Mamour Keita, June 11 and charged him with fraudulently obtaining a Social Security number. At the time of his arrest, the paper said, Keita had two fake Georgia commercial driver licenses.
The man said he has worked and lived in Atlanta for nearly three years before leaving in July 2001, he returned after Sept. 11.
He had been previously detained in Texas on immigration charges, but was released in April, the paper reported. Transport Topics
Qualcomm Presents OmniTRAC Security Features
Emergency notification panic buttons, driver I.D. authentication systems and tamper detection alerts within a truck, were demonstrated for congressional leaders and members of the U.S. Department of Transportation Friday, Qualcomm said.The company also showed prototype technologies for disabling a truck in case of emergency from inside the truck or from a remote location via satellite.
These security features are already used on many trucks by military and government agencies shipping hazardous loads and sensitive cargo, Qualcomm said in a release.
Government officials hope to employ smart technologies like the OmniTRAC system, Qualcomm said, to secure the transportation of more hazardous materials.
(Click here for full press release.)
Customs Chief Endorses Security Revamp
Inclusion of the Customs Service in the new Department of Homeland Security will be good the trade and enforcement functions of the service, Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner told a media briefing Thursday, the Journal of Commerce reported.Bonner said he wanted to address the “myth” that, under the new setup, trade concerns will not be heard.
rade will be heard, Bonner said.
Bonner also hailed the concept of having both Customs and the Transportation Security Administration in one agency, saying the two agencies will speak with one voice on security issues, JOC said. Transport Topics
