Alex Mills
By Alex Mills
Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter recently raised the warning flag to federal authorities that they need to increase security of oil and gas facilities, especially pipelines and refineries in Texas.
Porter, who is one of three members of the regulatory agencies that oversees the oil and gas industry in Texas, points out that the federal government’s failure to protect our border with Mexico has resulted in “pathways for illegal immigrants and cartel activity.”
Porter sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection following recent reports that pipeline easements have become a corridor of choice for smugglers and their clients.
The RRC is also concerned about the safety of RRC staff and oil field workers who are inspecting pipelines along the border.
Porter’s letter stated that the RRC “has dozens of inspectors and field staff in the South Texas area whose lives are put in danger on a regular basis each time their job calls them to perform duties in areas mad unsafe by cartel activity.”
Pipeline companies keep pipeline right-of-way clear of brush, which makes a pathway away from thorny Mesquite trees.
Porter also points out that terrorist organizations could use the routes to damage the state’s pipelines. If that were to happen, there would be damage to the economy as well as the national security.
“The oil and gas industry makes up more than a third of the Texas economy,” he said. “If we don’t have strong border security in these energy producing areas, they will become too dangerous to occupy, and oil and gas production will come to a halt in one of the most productive areas of the state.”
Porter’s concerns have been raised by the oil and gas industry for decades. Pipelines are obvious areas that need protection because they are located in remote areas.
Refineries along the Gulf Coast also are important to our economy and national security and should be a top priority for protection.
The increase in illegal immigration across the Texas-Mexico border raises new concerns about the federal government’s failure to protect our southern border.
Alex Mills is President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The opinions expressed are solely of the author.
If you ask the Fed’s to protect you, they will wrest control of the pipelines away from you. Then they can shut down the pipelines whenever they want to destroy the fossil fuels industry.
If the RRC employes are in danger, the RRC should protect them. If oil company employees are in danger, the oil company should protect them. We have a second amendment. Use it.
I would never trust the Fed’s with control over our oil & gas pipelines.