Tampa Prep 2009-2010 Impact Defense File
TSA pipeline security measures are working now
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- 3. Even if the pipeline is vulnerable, terrorists will not attack it because it can be repaired easily.
- Ext 2 – Pipeline Safe
- The pipeline is safe – Alaska is too cold for terrorists
- AT: Grid Terror (Cyber Terror)
2. TSA pipeline security measures are working nowPaul Parfomak 2004 Specialist in Science and Technology Resources at CRS [“Pipeline Security: An Overview of Federal Activities and Current Policy Issues.” CRS Report for Congress. February 5, 2004. fas.org/sgp/crs/ RL31990.pdf] TSA’s Pipeline Branch is implementing its plans with respect to pipeline security inspections, standards development, and critical asset analysis. According to TSA, the agency expects pipeline operators to maintain security plans based on the OPS/industry consensus security guidance circulated in 2002 and subsequent revisions.61 In 2003 the agency visited 24 of the largest 25-30 pipeline operators to review their security plans and inspect their facilities. The agency plans to complete the remaining large operator inspections by April 2004, and then begin inspections of major gas distribution systems. During the reviews, TSA evaluates whether each company has followed the intent of the OPS/industry security guidance, and seeks to collect the list of assets each company has identified meeting the criteria established for critical facilities. According to TSA, nearly all operators visited by the agency have met the minimum security guidelines, and some have gone “way beyond” the minimum requirements. All but two of the 24 operators have provided TSA with copies of their security plans and system maps, as well as critical infrastructure information. The two operators declining to provide this information did not believe they had adequate assurances the information would be protected from public disclosure. The OPS joined TSA on approximately one-third of its operator inspections in 2003.62 TSA seeks the OPS’ participation in these reviews, but does not require it.63 3. Even if the pipeline is vulnerable, terrorists will not attack it because it can be repaired easily.USA Today ’06 (Mary Pemberton, “Official: Alaska pipeline not that vulnerable”, February 12, http://www.usa today.com/news/nation/2006-02-12-pipeline-threats_x.htm) While the pipeline would be easy to blow up, it is not an attractive target for terrorists, said Henry Lee, director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. The center focuses on international security. Lee said terrorists blow up pipelines more as an irritant, pointing to a pipeline in Colombia blown up more than 100 times by rebels. "Pipelines can be blown up, and they are fairly easy to blow up," Lee said. "The day they did it, it would get headlines in all the papers. The problem is you would have it fixed in a matter of days." Chris Kendall, a petroleum geologist at the University of South Carolina who is an expert on the impact of war on oil supplies, described the pipeline as a "soft boundary" target. "Of course it is vulnerable," he said. Ext #2 – Pipeline SafeThe Alaskan pipeline is safe – it is well supervised, easy to fix and hard to get near with weaponsUSA Today ’06 (Mary Pemberton, “Official: Alaska pipeline not that vulnerable”, February 12, http://www .usatoday .com/news/nation/2006-02-12-pipeline-threats_x.htm) ANCHORAGE — The trans-Alaska pipeline looks like it would be an easy target for terrorists intent on destroying a valuable American asset, but those responsible for its safekeeping say looks can be deceiving. The 800-mile pipeline — which carries nearly 17% of domestic crude oil production — snakes north to south across Alaska, from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez, where tankers are loaded for delivery to West Coast refineries. About half of the 48-inch diameter pipeline lies underground. The other half is visible — a huge silver cylinder that parallels two Alaska highways and sits nearly in the backyards of some Fairbanks homes. The Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the company that operates the pipeline, even has a visitors center outside Fairbanks where tens of thousands of people have gone to get an upclose look at the pipeline. "You can walk right under it," said Alyeska spokesman Mike Heatwole. Terrorism experts say pipelines in general are easy targets, but tend to be low priority because they can be repaired so quickly. And officials with an intimate knowledge of the pipeline say it's far less vulnerable than it appears — in part because of the difficulty a saboteur would have getting any weapon capable of serious damage into Alaska. The pipeline has state, federal and local agencies keeping an eye on it, said John Madden, deputy director of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. When Madden was asked what would keep someone from, say, firing a shoulder-mounted rocket at the pipeline, he cited the difficulty of getting such a weapon near the pipeline. "The very act of a shoulder-fired weapon suggests transport of that weapon," he said. Agencies including customs, immigration, border control and state troopers, work to make sure that such a weapon would never make it into Alaska, he said. "There are quite a bit of those layers of defense and observation which the public will never see," Madden said. The pipeline is safe – Alaska is too cold for terroristsUSA Today ’06 (Mary Pemberton, “Official: Alaska pipeline not that vulnerable”, February 12, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-12-pipeline-threats_x.htm) However, the pipeline's isolation in Alaska probably works to its advantage, Kendall said. Terrorists need a certain amount of "internal synergy" to be effective, he said. "They need each other socially," Kendall said. He doubted terrorists had that much interest in Alaska. "Fortunately these idiots, the nihilists, are preoccupied with other focuses. They're probably running away from people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are preoccupied with surviving and fighting in Iraq," Kendall said. AT: Grid Terror (Cyber Terror)
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