Hours before she addresses the national fishermen's rally on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Mayor Carolyn Kirk will be lobbying the federal government to add Gloucester to its list of high-risk urban terrorist targets.
If successful, the change in threat level would make Gloucester eligible for some part of what is now an $832.5 million pot of federal homeland security funds set aside to protect the 64 highest risk communities from a foreign attack or other catastrophe.
Of those 64 high-risk communities, 11 — including Boston — are considered the greatest risk and receive the majority of those security dollars.
In her case for raising the city's threat level, Kirk is pointing to the presence of two liquefied natural gas terminals just off the coast, including one that is expected to receive some shipments from the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen, a current security hot-spot.
That terminal, named Neptune and owned by French energy giant Suez, is in the process of final testing is expected to soon be receiving its first shipments.
"With Yemeni tankers unloading off the coast — I believe that alone should get their attention," Kirk said Friday of her upcoming meetings with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Fears about the safety of receiving natural gas from Yemen — suspected of being a base of operations for al-Qaeda — increased this year after a Nigerian man trained in Yemen tried unsuccessfully to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day.
Shipments from Yemen to Suez' LNG terminal in Everett were subjected to a security review by the U.S, Coast Guard and hearings by politicians after the failed airliner bombing. The Coast Guard recently cleared the shipments.
Suez ships natural gas to the United States from plants in several countries including the new facility in Balhaf, Yemen and Neptune is expected to receive shipments from that mix of sources.
Although no shipments are scheduled at this time, Carol Churchill, a spokeswoman for Suez, said the Coast Guard had put no restrictions on which countries Neptune can off-load from.
The other LNG terminal, the Northeast Gateway port, which is closer to Salem, has been open since the summer of 2008. It receives gas from Egypt, Trinidad and Qatar.
Liquefied natural gas is not the only security concern Kirk sees in Gloucester.
In a letter sent to state and federal officials including U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy in February of 2008, Kirk listed 11 potential local security concerns including the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge, Cruiseport Gloucester, Americold's three ammonia-powered cold storage sites and the fact that seafood is shipped from the city all over the world.
The letter says that the city has unfunded expenses related to security of at least $1 million.
The problem, Kirk said yesterday, is that Gloucester is classified for security purposes along with other suburban and rural communities in northeast Massachusetts, not with Boston or major cities.
"We are captured in a suburban region where our profile includes leafy suburbs like Hamilton and Wenham," Kirk said. "Gloucester is underfunded."
Kirk is scheduled to meet at least three officials from the Department of Homeland Security, including a chief of staff for the FEMA National Preparedness Directorate, an acting administrator for the grants program, and the agency's Massachusetts analyst.
Kirk described this homeland security visit as an opportunity to get a "lay of the land" to see what funding opportunities are possible and may try to enlist officials from Suez on the city's behalf in the future.
"They have been a good corporate citizen, but they need to step up proactive," Kirk said about the energy company.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or via e-mail at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
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