Workers at Two Louisiana Ports Begin Enrollment for Federal Port Security Credential
May 7, 2008
TSA Public Affairs:
(404) 460-2282
HOUMA, La. – Starting this week, port and longshore workers, truckers and others at the ports of Houma and Morgan City begin enrolling in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat.
"The start of enrollment is one more step in our effort to prevent persons who are a threat from gaining access to secure areas of port facilities," said Maurine Fanguy, TWIC program director for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). "We appreciate the support of our partners at the ports of Houma and Morgan City for helping to make one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality."
More than 1.2 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas are expected to apply for TWIC by the end of enrollment in April 2009. About 100 ports have begun enrollment in the nationwide program. Ultimately, fixed enrollment centers will be in place at 147 ports along with mobile enrollment centers at dozens of other locations as needed.
Enrollment at the Port of Houma begins today. The port's TWIC enrollment center is located at 1340 W. Tunnel Blvd., Suite 550, Houma, LA 70360. Enrollment at the Port of Morgan City begins Friday. The port's TWIC enrollment center is located at 512 Roderick St., Morgan City, LA 70380. The enrollment centers operate Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Workers are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic or the Coast Guard's Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil. Pre-enrolling speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This eliminates waiting at enrollment centers and reduces the time it takes to enroll each individual.
Workers are now able to enroll for TWIC at seven Louisiana ports: Baton Rouge, Houma, Lake Charles, Morgan City, New Orleans, Port Fourchon and South Louisiana.
For more information about TSA, please visit our Web site at www.tsa.gov.