Radioactive Wooden Tables?

Yes, the attempted importation of radioactive tables made out of contaminated wood cut from a forest near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine was but one of the anecdotal stories shared during my recent visit to the Port of Newark. It is the second largest port in the country (if you combine the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports which come in at #1) and the largest port on the east coast of both North and South America.

Typically, 1.5 million containers (those stackable boxes on cargo ships) come through the port each year, although with the economic downturn, container traffic is down 30% this year. I went with a group of OWIT-NY members and we agreed that with all of the multiple activities occurring, many of us felt like kids out on a field trip!

Arriving at the port’s container terminals, you can’t help but notice all of the activities and in particular, all of the trucks. Hundreds of trucks come in and out of the port dropping off “stuffed” (loaded) containers, returning empty ones, and departing with those that have been “unladen” from (taken off of) a vessel.

At first glance, it seems to be a bustling city of funky looking objects including piles of chassis (the two-wheeled physical frame that a container connects to for transportation on a truck), stacks of empty containers, including refrigerated ones, also known as “reefers,” and most notably, “straddle carriers” (these giant, ridiculously tall, fast moving, wheeled contraptions that were as tall as the height of 4 containers, and which reminded me of one of the Imperial Stormtrooper “vehicles” out of the Star Wars Episode IV movie) which, among other things, takes a container and drops it onto the chassis of a truck.

Of particular interest were the risk detection devices, including the radiation detection machines in the form of an archway that all of the exiting trucks drove under as they departed the terminal. We got a personal inside look at a mobile detection unit, known as a VACIS (Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System) exam machine, and the imaging retrieved from it. It showed what was essentially an x-ray image of a container of “personal effects” which in everyday language simply means, household goods.

Once the image zoomed in to see the cargo in greater detail, we could see that there were numerous rifles inside! As US Customs put it, it was a “good call” to pull the container for scanning, and we certainly thought it was exciting that weapons had been found (as silly as that may sound!).

On a more serious note, we did learn about US Customs Cargo Security Strategy having had the Chief of Seaport Enforcement, Kevin McCabe, sharing compliance and other priority trade issues, inc. ISF/10+2 (see 9/29 blog post) and counter terrorism initiatives.

If you’re curious to learn more about those initiatives or would like to send me your comments, feel free to do so at clark.deanna@gmail.com.