ERIE, Pa. -- A new U.S. Navy-type radar system, paid for with money from Homeland Security, will be closely watching Lake Erie in just a few months.

The surveillance system will allow officials to follow boat activity up to four miles from land. That's a significant improvement on the cameras currently in place, which are useless during a storm.

The $167,000 radar will be paid for from a $242,000 Homeland Security grant recently awarded to the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority.

"When you look at what we do on land here locally, we have police, fire, all kinds of law enforcement activities," Joseph Weindorf, Erie County public safety director, said. "Our major weakness is that we don't have some type of scrutiny of what happens out on the water. And we're an international border."

The new radar system will be accessible to other local, state and federal agencies through a secure Internet connection. It will have the ability to detect speeding or suspicious boats, assist in search and rescue activities and help analyze boating accidents.

A similar system is in use already on Chesapeake, Delaware and San Francisco bays.

First Published: June 16, 2007, 2:00 p.m.