COLONIAL PIPELINE OUTAGE HIGHLIGHTED TERMINAL OPERATIONAL ISSUES

Cathy Landry at ILTA looks at the extent of the impact on US terminals of the DarkSide ransomware attack that brought down the Colonial Pipeline The recent ransomware attack that brought Colonial Pipeline – and nearly the entire East Coast petroleum product supply chain – to its knees highlighted operational issues where the terminal industry could help overall fuel supply resilience with assistance from regulators. It also made clear the need for greater emergency contingency planning and dialogue between terminal operators, US Coast Guard headquarters, local captains of the port, governors, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Two specific issues raised during the outage included the need for temporary air emissions waivers at terminals and more flexibility at facilities requiring Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC) during emergencies. ILTA engaged officials with both agencies during the Colonial Pipeline outage and the slow return to more normal operations. REQUEST TO EPA FOR TEMPORARY AIR EMISSIONS WAIVER ILTA pressed EPA for temporary air emissions waivers related to landing floating roofs. Terminals must land the floating roof if...