The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) held a tabletop exercise with the Chevron Salt Lake Refinery and other state and local partners to test plans for responding to a potential emergency at the refinery.

“CISA routinely partners with industry and government to plan and practice a wide range of possible scenarios,” said CISA Regional Director for the Rocky Mountain region, Shawn Graff. “Our goal with tabletop exercises is centered around uniting partners and stakeholders to practice how we as a community respond to an emergency. This is an important part of maintaining the security of our national infrastructure.”

Critical infrastructure, which includes industry; government; and commercial operations and systems, like refineries and communications, forms the backbone of the American economy. The exercise, which was planned over the past two months, included several objectives related to response procedures at the refinery, including evacuation and shelter-in-place decision-making; roles and responsibilities during investigations; communication with first responders; and public messaging before and following an incident.

“This type of training is a critical measure of how well we design and activate our emergency response and security plans. It evaluates our overall preparedness, highlighting both what we’ve done well and where we can do even better,” said Chevron Salt Lake Refinery General Manager, Bryon Stock. “We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with national, regional and local leaders in public safety and security and to partner with CISA on this exercise.”

The tabletop collaboration brought together operational leadership, security, and first responder teams from several groups in addition to CISA and Chevron. North Salt Lake Police Department, Davis County Sheriff’s Office, South Davis Metro Fire, Davis County Emergency Management, Utah Department of Public Safety, Utah Statewide Information and Analysis Center, Federal Bureau of Investigation also joined the exercise.

“We all dialed in virtually and talked through the progression of a fictional security incident,” said Chevron Salt Lake Refinery Emergency Services Team Lead, Jake Barlow. “It was a very valuable exercise, helping us all improve our emergency response, evacuation, and shelter-in-place plans and notification processes.”

More than 40 participants and observers participated in the tabletop exercise over the course of several hours. The exercise demonstrates the commitment of CISA, Chevron, state and local partners to ensure a secure and safe environment for everyone.

“The security and resilience of our national infrastructure is a responsibility shared across the public and private sectors,” said Graff. “When we practice together, we improve our ability to respond together. You can never be too prepared.”