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Babin: Watch out for drones
Beaumont Enterprise
By Brandon Scott 
February 13, 2016
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With plants and refineries fearful of safety and espionage threats posed by drones, a Southeast Texas congressman wants strict new guidelines for operating unmonitored aircraft near those facilities.

U.S. Rep. Brian Babin has offered two amendments to the Aviation Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization Act to address a mounting security concern and help safeguard chemical facilities, representatives with American Chemistry Council said Friday.

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the amendments this week.

More than 50 large chemical plants in Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties risk exposure of trade secrets, though no cases have been reported by law enforcement officials.

The unease is based on a concern that freelancers will take aerial photos at plant sites and try to sell them to competitors, John Durkay, legal counsel for Southeast Texas Plant Managers Forum said previously.

A smaller concern is that a drone operator could lose control and the aircraft could crash into a valve or hit an electrical wire.

"That can't possibly be good," Durkay said of those scenarios. "I think all of the industrial facilities are going to welcome (the law)."

The provisions, which still need approval from the full House of Representatives, carefully target the potential misuse of drones for illicit purposes without interfering with their growing use by the public both recreationally and commercially, the ACC wrote in a statement.

ACC spokesperson Scott Jensen said the organization has not tracked complaints, but drones at chemical plants have become a growing concern among its members.

Security teams at these facilities are tasked with identifying potential risks.

"A year ago I don't think this was necessarily on anyone's radar," Jensen said. "I think they have recognized it, even though it may not have occurred on their facility yet. Of course, you'd rather identify it before it happens, but I think there have been some facilities that might have had those issues."

Durkay called the drone business "a tremendous opportunity for industrial espionage," which he said facilities worry about.