(CNSNews.com) - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that his department will do everything it can to reduce the impact of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown on Americans along the East Coast while the company works towards full restoration of the pipeline by the end of the week.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to reduce the impact that some Americans could see at local gas stations in some areas until the pipeline is brought back online. Colonial has announced that they’re working toward full restoration by the end of this week, but we are not taking any chances,” he said at the White House press briefing alongside EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
“We are doing everything that we can in the interim to make it easier to move fuel to the places that need it,” the secretary said. He added that the transportation department “has been working across our different modes of transportation to help make sure that fuel can get to the communities that need it as safely and efficiently as possible.”
“Importantly, this incident also reminds us that infrastructure is a national security issue, and the reality is that investing in world-class modern and resilient infrastructure has always been central to ensuring our country’s economic security, our national security, and as we’re seeing right now, that includes cybersecurity,” Buttigieg said.
As to what could or should be done to prevent something like this from happening again, Buttigieg said, “This is part of what we have in mind when we talk about resilience. We need to make sure our infrastructure is resilient to climate security issues caused by the increased frequency and severity of weather events, but we also need to be sure that we are resilient in the face of cyber threats and certainly in the kinds of the things the American Jobs Plan will be funding and supporting.
“I think part of the expectation for local authorities or states or other bodies seeking to get funding is that there be robust cybersecurity resilience and planning written into that,” the secretary said.
“This is not extra. This is not a luxury. This is not an option. This has to be core to how we secure our critical infrastructure, and that includes infrastructure that was not owned and operated by the federal government. We’re being reminded that private companies and often local authorities own and operate so many of the critically important utilities and other infrastructure we count on,” he said.
When asked whether the fact that one ransomware attack could take down half of the fuel supply for the East Coast means that additional pipelines should be built going forward, Buttigieg said, “In this case, this was an issue about how a cyberattack impacted a pipeline that’s there. I’m not sure it really speaks to the number or quantity of pipelines or their throughput.
“I do think it reminds us that we need to make sure that we have the most resilient and flexible infrastructure for the future, especially when it comes to something like energy. We’ve now had, you could argue two major wakeup call experiences - one, in Texas, now one here, each with a different cause, but both reminding us about the work that we have to do as a country,” he said.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday that she expects the issue to be resolved by the end of the week. When asked whether that was still the expectation, Buttigieg said he would “defer to announcements from the company on their process.”
“I would emphasize that there is a lot that is involved in getting a pipeline up and running again, so there is the announcement, and then there’s the actual process, and then some times for that to be fully up and running, which is one of the reasons why we’re not wasting any time and haven’t been since even over the weekend in taking the steps that we need to mitigate any shortages, even things that could happen while the pipeline is getting fully online but before that’s completely taking place,” he said.
As for what message he has for Americans who are worried about how the price of gas - now above $3 a gallon for the first time in seven years - will impact their wallet as well as how long it will last, Buttigieg said, “My message is that we understand these concerns that we’ve seen that in a lot of the impacted geographies that this is a real issue, and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been working with every lever of government that’s available, and not the federal government as an island but interacting with states and with companies to address this.
“So I can’t speak to long-term energy markets. Obviously, this is a very specific and acute issue, but we recognize the concern that’s out there, and that’s why we haven’t wasted any time to get into action, and it’s why the president has directed us to be really thorough in examining all of our different authorities and all the different pieces of our respective agencies to be helpful,” he said.