Port of Newark, New Jersey - This morning, I had the privilege of observing the New Jersey Marine Terminal full-scale explosion exercise at the Port of Newark. Given the current threat environment, these exercises are vital and allow for multi-discipline and multi-jurisdictional planning and coordination.
The Department of Homeland Security does a lot to support these types of training exercises. This one in particular included the participation of both Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Department of Homeland Security also supports these exercises through grants. For this exercise in particular, around $200,000 of UASI grant money was spent, in addition to the numerous pieces of equipment deployed today that was previously purchased through DHS grants over the years. This equipment included a mobile emergency operations center, medical ambulance bus, mass casualty response unit, and marine vessels.
I'd like to thank the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for planning today's exercise, and thank and congratulate all of the participants. It is meaningful training like this that makes us stronger as a country and more prepared for when events require our quick response.