Pipeline reveals leaky security
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published November 15, 2007
Six years after 9/11, and billions of dollars in new security spending later, a teenager with a drill and a screwy idea can shut down part of the fourth-largest county in America's fourth-largest state. A host of people need to answer why a 16-year-old was allegedly able to break into an unsecured pipeline of anhydrous ammonia, forcing hundreds of Hillsborough County residents to evacuate their homes and creating a public safety and environmental hazard. In this day and age, it is unacceptable for the government and private industry to be so blind to the basics of security.
Authorities said the teen drilled into the line Monday, after hearing rumors that cash was stuffed in the pipe. The pipeline runs from the Tampa port eastward 30 miles to Polk County, where the ammonia is used to produce fertilizer. While most of it is underground, a section surfaces under the U.S. 301 bridge at the Alafia River in Riverview. While most of that portion is covered in a second layer of steel, an 8-foot segment from underneath the bridge into the riverbank is not, because, as a company official said, "there's no requirements" and "never been a reason for it."
That mentality - closing the barn once the horse gets loose - was supposed to change years ago. This incident shows the public can be threatened as easily by an act of vandalism as terrorism. Winds blew the chemical vapors toward thousands of homes, forced people to evacuate for days, closed schools and community centers and disrupted travel and commerce across fast-growing south Hillsborough. Federal and local environmental agencies are assessing the ecological impact; road closures caused major backups and the cleanup reportedly has cost taxpayers at least $250,000.
State Sen. Ronda Storms, who represents the area, said the right thing Wednesday - companies that pipe hazardous materials through our communities are responsible for securing them. While the crisis was not the disaster it could have been, it was luck and hard work that contained the damage. With the leak capped Wednesday, and life returning to normal, the Tampa Pipeline Corp. should show the community it has learned some lessons. It should reimburse public agencies for mopping up the mess and pick up the costs of lodging, meals and gas for those ordered from their homes. Aside from securing its pipes, the company also needs a plan for resolving any other crisis more quickly. The fallout could have been worse, but the cause and the response are well below the level of preparedness the public expects.