Brunswick Port Workers Begin Enrollment for Federal Port Security Credential
December 12, 2007
TSA Public Affairs: (404) 460-2282
U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs: (202) 372-4620
BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Today, port workers, long shore workers, truckers and others at the Port of Brunswick will begin to enroll 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.
Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply for TWIC during the rest of 2007 and 2008.
"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 Port of Brunswick for helping to make one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality."
Enrollment began Oct. 16 and by the end of the week 32 ports will be actively enrolling workers. Ultimately, fixed enrollment centers will be in place at 147 ports along with mobile enrollment centers at dozens of other locations as needed.
"A tremendous amount of planning and work has been done collectively by TSA, the Coast Guard, port owners/operators, employee groups and other stakeholders in preparation for this critical phase of the TWIC program." said Coast Guard Commander David Murk. "The Coast Guard is committed to working closely with TSA and our local industry partners during the enrollment and compliance phases of the TWIC program to assure a successful transition with minimal disruption to port operations."
Workers at the Port of Brunswick 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.
The Port of Brunswick TWIC enrollment center is located at Georgia Power, Plant McManus at 1 Crispen Island Drive, Brunswick, Ga. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8a.m. – 5 p.m.
