Port of Moses Lake signs security deal

MOSES LAKE — In a 2-1 vote, the commission overseeing the Port of Moses Lake approved a deal with Herndon, Virginia-based Centerra Group to provide security at the port.

According to Port Executive Director Don Kersey, the company will patrol the fence-line around the airfield from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to provide an extra deterrent at night.

“All we have right now is a fence,” Kersey told commissioners at the meeting Monday. “It’s an added deterrent, and if they see something, they will call the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.”

The one-year contract, which can be extended another year if the port approves, will cost the port roughly $152,000 per year for Centerra’s regular patrol services, plus an additional $38.60 per-hour if the port needs any additional security “for VIP stuff,” Kersey said.

Port commissioners have talked off and on for more than a year about the security situation and have examined solutions from hiring a contractor to paying the GCSO to hire an additional deputy to help with security at the port.

Commissioner David “Kent” Jones was the sole vote against the measure, and said he wondered exactly what the port was getting for its money.

“I’m still not sure what I’m buying, but you guys look like you want to buy it,” Jones said.

Centerra Group is a subsidiary of international security firm Constellis, which owns a number of smaller companies, including Academi — formerly known as Blackwater. The company has offices in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, and runs six training centers, including a “corporate team building” facility, in North Carolina.

According to the Constellis web site, the company provides security, training for law enforcement and the military, independent investigations, construction and logistics, disaster and emergency services, and mine-clearing and surplus ordnance handling in former war zones.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].