Last spring,11-year-old Q’yaron Gadsonrode his bicycle up to a neighbor mowing his lawn to ask if he could assume the job that summer to gain work experience.
There aren’t many production facilities in the country more secure than refineries. Leaders in the fuel and petrochemical industries pride themselves on workplace safety and security, which is evident based on even a cursory glance at any AFPM member’s annual security report.
What comes next for returning service members varies greatly. For McNeill and Harbin, both found rewarding work that instilled pride in them not too dissimilar from what they felt serving their country - in the fuel refining and petrochemical industries.
Over the past two decades, as the HollyFrontier Navajo Refinery has more than doubled its output, the surrounding community of Artesia, New Mexico has developed its local business district to support this unprecedented growth.
Though it is largely unseen, cybersecurity permeates most, if not all, aspects of fuel and petrochemical manufacturing, ensuring our industries can function efficiently and without disruption.
Mowing lawns is a summertime rite of passage in America, providing young people with experience pitching their business to neighbors, keeping a work schedule, and making and managing money—from purchasing the gasoline that fuels the operation, to budgeting for the oils and lubricants that keep a mower’s engine and blades running smoothly.
In late July, Congress allowed a valuable program that enhances security at chemical facilities across the country to expire. The program is called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), and its primary mission is to protect chemical facilities from potential terror threats by addressing a wide range of possible vulnerabilities, including cyberattacks.