OGDENSBURG — Federal identification cards needed for employees to gain access to the Port of Ogdensburg could cost the public authority more than $13,000.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential program requires all port employees, longshoremen, shipping agents, rail workers, truck and delivery drivers and other people in maritime trades to undergo an extensive background check. The application deadline is Oct. 31.

The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority will pay $132.50 each to cover its employees and other workers who utilize the port. An estimated 100 port workers, not including private truckers or rail workers, will be affected.

The identification card program was created in 2002 by Congress to improve security at ports nationwide. Those with TWIC cards can walk around secure areas in the port without an escort.

"It's part of the mandatory cost of doing business at the Port of Ogdensburg," OBPA Executive Director Wade A. Davis said.

OBPA officials are finalizing plans to bring a mobile TWIC booth to the Port of Ogdensburg to make it easier for port employees to enroll in the program.

Individuals without the identification cards can still get into the port, but only with a TWIC-approved worker escorting them.

A resolution to cover the TWIC costs should be presented at the OBPA's board of directors meeting for consideration at its September or October meeting, Mr. Davis said.

The federal background check will be the second for many port employees this year. The Ogdensburg Foreign Trade Zone, which was reactivated in mid-April, required port employees inside the secure area to undergo the background checks.

The zone was reactivated to allow Canadian Renewable Energy Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, to unload and store wind turbine parts destined for Wolfe Island, Ontario, on the St. Lawrence River. The Wolfe Island project calls for installation of 86 turbines by year's end. The zone allows companies to import and export supplies without paying U.S. Customs.