FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2007

(GALLIANO, LA, DECEMBER 4, 2007) –The Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program opened its enrollment center at Port Fourchon last week allowing Port workers, truckers and others at Port Fourchon to begin enrolling in the program. The TWIC 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 Port Fourchon for helping to make one of the world’s most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality.”

Port Director Ted Falgout stated, “Establishing a TWIC Center at Port Fourchon is a service that we have worked diligently to achieve, and we are very pleased to accommodate. Having this service provided locally will make this required security measure less burdensome to our local workers.”

Port Fourchon is among the first 20 ports to begin 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. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply for TWIC during the rest of 2007 and 2008.

If you want more information on how to enroll, please visit the TWIC Enrollment Center located in the Port Commission’s Operations Center in Fourchon from 8a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or please call the Enrollment Center at (985) 396-2437.

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