Some 50,000 vessels each year traverse the 465-mile Columbia-Snake River system, winding from the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco, Wash., past Portland, Ore., to Lewiston, Idaho. The waterway carries nearly half of U.S. wheat exports as well as other farm products grown in America’s heartland. That makes the Columbia-Snake one of the nation’s most important waterways. It also makes the river system a potential target for terrorists. With that in mind, the Transportation Security Administration is giving the Portland-based Regional Maritime Security Coalition $1.62 million to develop a prototype, multijurisdictional, multiagency cargo information network linking nearly two dozen ports, businesses, governments, and first responders along the waterway. The network will employ an interoperability model developed by the Regional Alliance for Infrastructure and Security Network, known as RAINS-Net. If successful in the Pacific Northwest, similar system could be deployed throughout the nation. Full Story
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