[12/11/03]Ergon Refining Inc. of Vicksburg is one of two ports and two companies in Mississippi to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to add fences and lighting, said Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

Cochran said Mississippi received $2,245,740 in Port Security Grants and the Ergon Refinery, located at the E.W. Haining Industrial Center, received a grant for $550,000.

The Mississippi State Port Authority in Gulfport received two grants totaling $829,740 for security measures, lighting and communications. The Port of Pascagoula received a grant of $100,000 for waterside pier access prevention measures and $116,000 for command and control. Chevron Texaco NAP Refining received one for $650,000 for physical barriers, Cochran said.

Paul Young, vice president of environmental health and safety for Ergon Inc., the refinery’s parent company, said the grant is the result of a security vulnerability assessment required under homeland security regulations.

“We will use that money to improve our security such as improved fencing, lighting, access control, those kinds of things,” said Young whose duties also include security.

He said the grants are only for equipment and may not to be used for employing people.

Young said the refinery has received no threats and that the work will be preventive. He said the company will probably begin the process of upgrading refinery security in the spring of 2004 because they must complete detailed planning and receive approval for those plans from the U.S. Coast Guard.