PORT ANGELES — Port users must write a security plan by December and have it in place by July 1, 2004, or they won’t be able to conduct international commerce.
Coast Guard Lt. Patrick W. Clark informed Peninsula port officials and operators of the new homeland security requirement during a port security seminar Tuesday at the Coast Guard Station on Ediz Hook.
“It’s a huge task, and you have a very short time to get it done,” Clark said. “The major goal is to identify a bad thing that could happen to us, then put a plan into place to reduce the probability that it will happen.”
Failing to comply could lead to prohibitions on ferry service to Victoria and topside and wooden boat repairs on foreign vessels.
Tuesday’s seminar was a prelude to the first port security committee meeting for the North Olympic Peninsula — one of four sub-areas in the Puget Sound region.
The local sub-area will wrap around the North Olympic Peninsula, including Clallam and Jefferson counties.
The port security committee meeting will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Pease Support Building at Coast Guard Group Port Angeles on Ediz Hook.
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