Published: July 08, 2009 06:19 am      

Getting there safely

Transportation officers keeping an eye on the river

FRANKLIN FURNACE — Maybe you drove by the rest area on U.S. 52 across from the Greenup Locks and Dam on Tuesday and saw the Ohio Highway Patrol’s tour-bus-sized mobile response van.

Or maybe you saw dozens of police cruisers and scores of uniforms. Or the Coast Guard boats with their oversized orange bumpers and twin outboard motors cruising up and down the river.

Good. You were supposed to see them. You and every other passer-by, including, perhaps, the one who may be harboring thoughts of mayhem toward vital transportation assets.

The confluence of federal, state and local agencies at the lock and dam site was organized by the federal Transportation Security Administration.

Representatives of 13 agencies joined the TSA to toughen security in the area, a crucial hub of transportation and utility traffic.

Their job was to evaluate and enhance security measures on the river, rail and highway corridor through which move uncounted tons of essential commodities, according to TSA federal security director Don Barker.

It was all part of a program the TSA calls Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, which boils down to the pithy acronym VIPR.

At first glance it appeared similar to disaster simulations that emergency agencies stage to test their capabilities. However, the TSA conducts the operations at diverse locations, hoping the high visibility will deter terrorist activity.

“This is not an exercise, it’s a real-world mission,” Barker said.

The region, and the lock and dam area specifically, are critical because of the volume of commodities that pass through, Barker said. Many of the strings of coal barges, for instance, are bound for power plants downstream. Stop the barges and the grid goes dark.

The Coast Guard brought along two of its 25-foot patrol boats and ferried representatives of the agencies up and down the Ohio to give them a river view of the assets they want to protect — which include pipelines and heavy industry in addition to the transportation corridor.

“We’re showing them the critical infrastructure,” said Todd Childers, a Coast Guard civilian port security specialist working out of the Barboursville office. “It all ties into our maritime traffic. What affects one system can affect the river system.”

Bringing diverse agencies together can pay off if there is a real crisis. Rob Howard, for instance, is the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Department’s Greenup conservation officer. “This brings to light a lot of issues that need to be addressed, like communication and jurisdiction,” he said.

Homeland security is a routine part of their patrol duty, said Mike Fields, a Fish and Wildlife Department captain from Frankfort. “We’re trying to learn something so if and when something happens on the Kentucky side we’ll be better prepared.”

Other agencies that participated included the FBI, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Department of Homeland Security, Kentucky State Police, Lawrence (Ohio), Scioto and Greenup county sheriffs’ departments, Columbus Fire Department bomb squad and Columbus Airport Authority canine team.

Also participating were representatives of Norfolk Southern, CSX and Tennessee Gas, which owns the nearby pipeline that spans the Ohio.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.