Houma, Morgan City TWIC centers kick into high gear

Louisiana ports are playing their role in keeping American infrastructure secure with Port Fourchon leading the way.

Since last November, more than 5,700 port employees have registered in its Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) Enrollment Center.

TWICs are tamper-resistant biometric cards that are issued to workers who require unescorted access to secure areas of ports, vessels, outer continental shelf facilities and all credentialed merchant mariners.

“A port worker goes to an enrollment center, is fingerprinted, sits for a digital photo, and provides personal information and identification forms,” said Paula Schouest, Public Relations Coordinator at Port Fourchon. “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) runs a background check and issues a card in about six to eight weeks.”

All ports will eventually have a TWIC reader, where employees can swipe the card and all the information on anyone who comes into the facilities is recorded.

It is anticipated that more than 1 million workers nationwide including longshoremen, truckers and others will be required to obtain a TWIC by the April 15, 2009 deadline.

“It’s a way for us to conveniently help our employees enroll in this program that eventually will be mandatory,” said Schouest.

“The companies operating from the ports determine which employees need to have a TWIC card and who doesn’t depending on their security plans,” said Coast Guard MSTC Matthew McCrystal of the Marine Safety Unit in Morgan City.

The Coast Guard is responsible for TWIC enforcement.

“We’re going to enforce it on regulated vessels, inshore facilities and offshore platforms,” said McCrystal. “Because they’re not all regulated, they all don’t need TWICs.”

The enrollment center in Morgan City opened May 9.

There are also centers in Houma, Laplace, New Orleans, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and a site will open this summer in Lafayette.

While the 5,700 registered at Port Fourchon, it is only about one-third of its employees, according to Schouest.

“One any given day, we have about 5,000 employees at the port, but in the Gulf of Mexico, we may have 15,000 people working on rigs,” she said.

Port employees are encouraged to pre-enroll at www.tsa.gov/twic to fill out biographical information, schedule an appointment at an enrollment center and cut the time needed to enroll.

The fee for the credential is $132.50 and it is valid for five years.

Workers with current, comparable background checks will pay a reduced fee of $105.25. The cost of a replacement TWIC, if the original is lost, stolen or damaged is $60.