US Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge announced a revamped national alert system Mar. 12 that the oil industry finds to be a welcome improvement from how the federal government issued past terrorist alerts following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and outside Washington, DC.
The new system "will permit oil and natural gas facilities to have a simple and uniform way of knowing how to evaluate any report of a threat to their facilities and the surrounding communities," the American Petroleum Institute said.
When it unveiled the program, the White House said it "will provide a comprehensive and effec- tive means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terror- ist attacks to federal, state, and local authorities and to the American people."
Color-coding
The new alert system is color-coded to correspond to the security level that may be applied if a threat is issued. Green is a "low level" of risk indicating that ongoing protective measures may need refining or updating; blue, yellow, orange, and red represent sequentially higher risks that require more action to be taken: blue is "guarded," yellow "elevated," and orange "high" risk. Red is the most extreme condition federal authorities can issue, indicating a "severe" threat may be imminent. Under red conditions, the Department of Justice may direct state and local law enforcment officials to close public and government facilities and increase or redirect personnel to address critical emergency needs.
Federal officials will hold a 45-day public comment period; the White House is then expected to finalize it before fall.
Industry approval
According to API, "the new color-coded warning system announced... by Gov. Ridge is a sensible, common-sense approach to making sure that all Americans are quickly informed of any threat of a terrorist attack."
Other trade associations also are expected to endorse the White House proposal. API and other oil groups have been coordinating security procedures with the Department of Energy since last fall to protect critical infrastructures such as refineries and pipelines. A similar coordinated effort already existed for nuclear plant operators and the electric utility sector.
"The industry has long assigned a high priority to protecting its facilities from attack. Since Sept. 11, we have taken thousands of actions designed to further enhance the security of pipelines, refineries, oil and natural gas platforms, and other facilities," API said.
"We recommend quick adoption of the new warning system by all levels of government. We will eventually incorporate the new system into our industry security guidance and suggest that our companies adopt it for their own security plans."
Since Sept. 11, US officials have issued four warnings urging the oil and gas industry to be on "high alert" for possible terrorist strikes. But some industry executives, along with state and local law enforcement, complained that the warnings were too vague and confused the message that industry was remaining vigilant (OGJ, Dec. 24, 2001, p. 31).
