South Louisiana port awarded FEMA funds to boost security

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded the Port of South Louisiana $955,339 in grant funding to bolster port security.

The funds will be used to enhance the port's cyber security framework, as well as the geographic information system (GIS) that will provide up-to-date spatial information to port security personnel and public safety agencies in the port’s 54 miles of jurisdiction along the lower Mississippi River, port officials said in a press release.

The cyber and terrorist threat landscape is evolving rapidly and protecting against potential external threats requires rapid monitoring and response, they said.

"The commerce that happens along the lower Mississippi River at the Port of South Louisiana is intertwined with the national security of the United States," said port CEO Paul Matthews.

CN, Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific Railroad serve the port.

The facilities located within the port's district consistently handle over a quarter-billion short tons of cargo annually, making it one of the largest tonnage ports in the Western Hemisphere.

The port received $695,389 in federal funding for the cyber security framework project, and will make a 25% match for a total project cost of $927,186. That project calls for the following integrated layers of cyber security technologies: installation configuration, initial and continuous assessment, 24/7 monitoring, management and vulnerability scanning, real-time detection, network remediation, quarterly penetration testing, advanced training, troubleshooting and decryption of ransomware encryption.

The port received $259,950 in funding to improve the GIS, with the port making a 25% funding match for a total project cost of $346,600. The port currently uses GIS as a tool for business development to depict available sites within the district along with adjacent and/or transportation infrastructure such as rail lines, pipelines and water lines.