Posted on 01/20/2004 8:51:07 AM PST by Dbdaily
WASHINGTON -- Federal officials told some Houston-area energy facilities to stay on high alert after the national threat level was lowered last week because of specific intelligence that the Texas energy sector was being targeted by terrorists, officials said.
"Some energy infrastructure sites in Texas have been advised that (heightened) security measures should remain in place," said a federal official.
"Part of that, too, is that we are entering the Super Bowl period. The Super Bowl hasn't been designated a special security event, but it is something we are aware of," he said.
The Super Bowl will be played in Houston's Reliant Stadium on Feb. 1.
Last month, as the threat alert level was elevated nationally, intelligence agencies contacted 134 energy facilities in Texas, many in the Houston and Galveston area, and told them to restrict access to visitors and beef up security, the official said.
That was done after overseas sources used by intelligence agencies had specifically named Houston and Galveston energy facilities as among the targets being discussed by persons believed to be affiliated with terrorist organizations.
"As part of the threat stream that was being assessed, there were reports that concerned Houston, and some oil and gas facilities in the Houston area," the official said.
As in most cases, the intelligence was not complete or precise.
"The intelligence wasn't that specific. But there was reason to be concerned about multiple, simultaneous attacks on the oil and gas industry," the official said. "Al-Qaida doesn't tell us where or when they plan to attack."
The Houston region, known for its petrochemical industries and pipelines, is home to four of the 10 largest refining facilities in the country.
Along with the Texas energy facilities, suspected terrorists had discussed targeting oil facilities at the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline in Valdez, Alaska, the official said.
Most Houston public safety organizations, including the Houston Police Department, were told to lower their security from the elevated orange alert status last week to yellow, officials said.
But the threat level for many oil and petrochemical facilities was kept high and is being reassessed on a daily basis, officials said.
Some companies with facilities in the Houston-Galveston area have been told in the past two days that they can return to a more moderate level of concern, officials said.
Maurice McBride, director for security at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said that members have reported what appeared to be frequent attempts to stake out energy facilities and test their security measures.
"There seems to be an ongoing series of attempts by unidentified persons to do surveillance at refineries and petrochemical plants, including those in the Houston-Galveston area," he said. "There have been a number of reports of people taking pictures, of unidentified people spotted at loading docks."
That has created a near-perpetual state of alert at energy facilities, McBride said. "I can safely say our industry is pretty much operating at an `orange' (elevated) level of alert all the time," he said.
Mary Rose Brown, a spokesman for Valero Energy Corporation in San Antonio, said the company's security officials were notified by the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday that it could relax its heightened alert. That came five days after the level was dropped nationally.
"They put us back on yellow," she said. "But after 9/11 we are staying on heightened alert all the time."
Since terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the petrochemical industry has embraced a number of security measures, and members trade intelligence and ideas through a security committee at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said trade association president Bob Slaughter.
Among the standard measures implemented have been beefed up patrols, a greater awareness of who is coming and going at facilities, and a closer coordination with local law enforcement authorities, officials said.
But local energy companies were not eager to talk about security measures Thursday, or to discuss whether their plants and facilities had been asked specifically by Department of Homeland Security to remain on high alert.
"We're just not going to discuss our security measures at all," said Kristi DesJarlais, a Houston spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips. "The safety and security of our facilities are a top priority, but we are not going to talk about the details."
Valero spokeswoman Brown said, "We had a wake-up call on 9/11. We realized we needed to step up security and surveillance. Without talking about details, we are spending a lot more on high technology security and surveillance equipment."
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced last week that most of the country was returning to a "yellow" or moderate threat level from an "orange" or elevated level, but noted that some specific sectors of the economy remained on alert.
The nationwide alert had been elevated on Dec. 21.
"There will be certain locales in certain areas within the private sector that, for the time being, we will maintain added vigilance and security," Ridge said last week, declining to identify those areas. He added, "Those areas and elements within the private sector, they've already been contacted and they understand that for the time being, we want to maintain a similar level of security at these sites."
FBI Director Robert Mueller said the rise of the threat level just before the holidays was based on specific intelligence, and the fact that no attack occurred then shouldn't be seen as diminishing the danger.
"Al-Qaida is known to be fluid in its setting of the timetable," he told reporters at a Washington luncheon Wednesday. "We are still in a position where we have substantial concern about an attack from al-Qaida. Without a question of a doubt al-Qaida would like nothing more than to replicate in some fashion, some way, that which occurred on Sept. 11. ... ."
Asked if al-Qaida was looking for a massive attack that could have an impact on America's economy, Mueller said, "If you look back at the attacks al-Qaida has undertaken over the years, they tend to be spectacular."
I would hope that during times such as these they would choose a more senior member of the NCA to be absent, or more than one member, just in case.
It has nothing to do with Al-Queda. Its way outdated and assumes we live in a world where an entire building cannot be demolished by a single weapon/person.
Its negligent in my opinion. They lead 300+ million people.
They obviously don't read much Tom Clancy.
I'll be getting out of town that weekend, primarily because of the additional congestion/crowding in Houston (as well as price gouging) but I've acknowleged that we could be a target. 1 billion people watch the Super Bowl. This time it is on President Bush's "home turf" (Texas) and his father has a home here.
I don't think we'd see a radioactive, biologiocal, or chemical strike. There may not even be any attack on the stadium proper. Hitting the refineries would impact the economy and American's fuel production. The national media would still be here to cover the event/tragedy.
Then again, Houston was one of the first cities destroyed in the movie Independence Day and it wasn't a "big deal". New York and LA will always generate more attention and sympathy. If it happens in flyover country, it's a "regretable loss". If it happens on the coasts it's a "national tragedy".
The media denies that the LAX counter shooting was "terrorism". Anthrax is still tagged the work of a "lone nut". Charles Bishop was a "troubled teen" (who pledged his support for Osama and called his acts "terrorist"). You don't hear the word "terrorim" tied to the DC sniper duo. The shoe bomber barely was stopped in the act.
We HAVE been getting terrorist attacks. I don't need to hear from the security experts about the actions they stopped (it would give information to the underground). It is foolish to believe that we have been perfectly safe since the 9.11.2001 attacks.
It is even a mistake to believe that 9.11.2001 was the first domestic strike. In 1993 there was an attempt to blow up the WTC (and the poison gas used in that attack incinerated). There was a muslim sniper outside of the CIA entrance in the 1990s too. Again, many other attacks may have been attributed to lone nuts (and not just some controversial attacks like OKC).
"There seems to be an ongoing series of attempts by unidentified persons to do surveillance at refineries and petrochemical plants, including those in the Houston-Galveston area," he said. "There have been a number of reports of people taking pictures, of unidentified people spotted at loading docks."
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