Security & Safety Briefs — June 15 - June 21
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The Latest Headlines:
- Japan Set to Resume U.S. Beef Imports
- Oregon DOT to Raise I-5 Overpasses
- Port of L.A. to Spend $33 Mln. on Security
- S.F. Airport to Screen All Passenger Air Cargo
- Oregon DOT to Raise I-5 Overpasses
Japan Set to Resume U.S. Beef Imports
Japan and the United States said Wednesday that Japan was set to lift a ban on U.S. beef imports, pending inspections of American meat processing plants, the Associated Press reported.The ban related to mad cow disease concerns, in effect since 2003, was lifted briefly at the end of last year but reinstated in January when Japanese inspectors found banned cattle parts in a beef shipment. (Click here for previous coverage.)
U.S. beef exports to Japan are worth about $1.4 billion annually, AP said. Continued restriction of exports could hurt profits of U.S. trucking companies that haul beef. Transport Topics
Oregon DOT to Raise I-5 Overpasses
The Oregon Department of Transportation will raise overpasses on Interstate 5 between the cities of Salem and Cottage Grove to accommodate trucks up to 16 feet, two inches in height, the Associated Press reported.The overpasses are too low to accommodate trucks hauling modular homes manufactured in the area, forcing truckers to detour through small towns, AP said.
But the work won't start until after 2010 because of the state’s ongoing to effort to fix cracked bridges, AP reported.
The Oregon Trucking Association boosted the effort to raise the overpasses, AP said. Transport Topics
Port of L.A. to Spend $33 Mln. on Security
The Port of Los Angeles’ fiscal 2007 budget includes more than $33 million for safety and security initiatives, port officials said Thursday.The budget provides $2.5 million for the design of a container inspection facility, $8 million for a security surveillance system and $22.6 million in federally funded grants for other port-wide security deterrents. Transport Topics
S.F. Airport to Screen All Passenger Air Cargo
Federal officials plan to make San Francisco International Airport the first in the nation to screen all passenger aircraft cargo for explosives, the Associated Press reported.The Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration (part of DHS) and airport officials signed an agreement Monday to launch a $30 million pilot program later this summer, then expand it to two other unannounced airports, AP said.
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and several other national labs will help determine how best to apply existing luggage-screening procedures — such as bomb-sniffing dogs and X-ray machines — to cargo, AP said. Transport Topics
