Niagara Gazette

Local News

December 8, 2009

HOMELAND SECURITY: WNY awarded $6.5M in federal funds

Staff Reports

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security will allocate $6,578,313 to the Buffalo-Niagara area under the Urban Areas Security Initiative and port security programs.

The UASI grants are designed to enhance the ability of state, territory, local and tribal governments to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters. Funding is awarded to select high-threat, high-density urban areas that are at a higher risk for terrorist attack. Port security funding will be used for the protection of infrastructure from potential terrorist attacks.

“Western New York has extensive security needs and the burden shouldn’t be placed on local taxpayers to foot the whole bill,” Schumer said in a press release. “This funding will help reduce the financial burden and allow our local law enforcement to deal with terrorism and at the same time deal with equally important day-to-day duties. Providing anti-terrorism funding to the Buffalo-Niagara area is essential to deterring a future terrorist attack.”

Schumer noted Western New York contains numerous assets that are vulnerable to attack, including the Rainbow and Whirlpool bridges in Niagara Falls and the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in Lewiston and the Niagara Power Project.

The funds announced Tuesday will be administered as follows:

• $5,544,750 through the Urban Areas Security Initiative awards program, which focuses on enhancing regional preparedness in major metropolitan areas. The UASI program is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated regional systems for prevention, protection, response and recovery.

• $1,033,563 through the Port Security Grant Program for the protection of critical port infrastructure from terrorism. The funds will help ports enhance their risk management capabilities, domain awareness, training and exercises, and capabilities to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from attacks involving improvised explosive devices, and weapons of mass destruction and other non-conventional weapons.

 

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