CITGO Lemont Refinery and FBI-Chicago Host Joint Public Safety Exercise

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Jun 17, 2024, 12:24 ET

LEMONT, Ill., June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 13, 2024, CITGO Lemont Refinery and the Chicago Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) hosted a full day, live tabletop exercise (TTX) to analyze and enhance the coordinated crisis response between private and public partners across Illinois. The large-scale training event consisted of a site-specific exercise scenario in which all stakeholder organizations could identify and analyze their own actions through the lens of the greater, synchronized effort to control a fictional Weapons of Mass Destruction incident.

"It's our culture to be safe, secure and reliable at the CITGO Lemont Refinery. We're always identifying ways to improve our facility for a more secure environment for our employees and the community," stated Jim Cristman, CITGO Lemont Vice President and General Manager. "Continuous improvement and identifying gaps in performance is what this drill represents, and we're excited to be partnering with FBI's Chicago Division on this effort."

"Today's exercise was an excellent example of the type of proactive, collaborative training that is integral to assuring our readiness in the face of a crisis," said Dennaris Coleman, Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the FBI's Chicago Division. "These types of exercises are critical in understanding our partners' capabilities, resources, and procedures and having that intelligence helps us to better respond in the unlikely event of a real incident."

Today's training event included ninety-seven attendees from thirty local, state and federal agencies. Local agencies that were in attendance included members from the CITGO Lemont Refinery Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) Council. The council is made up of local and county leaders, police, fire, emergency management, along with refinery leadership. It continues to share information and increase understanding and cooperation between CITGO, community leaders and communities regarding safety, the environment and emergency response. Other attendees represented are state, federal and international law enforcement and local community agencies.

About CITGO
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry and operates under the well-known CITGO brand. CITGO owns and operates three refineries located in Lake Charles, La.; Lemont, Ill.; and Corpus Christi, Texas, and wholly and/or jointly owns 42 active terminals, six pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,600 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 807,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), CITGO ranks as the fifth-largest and is one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products, and supplies a network of approximately 4,000 locally owned and independently operated branded retail outlets, all located east of the Rocky Mountains. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc.

About the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Program

The FBI established the WMD program on July 26, 2006 to create a unique combination of law enforcement authorities, intelligence analysis capabilities, and technical subject matter expertise. Creation of the WMD program enabled the FBI to bring its WMD preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities into a single, focused organization. The program uses a strategic approach to address emerging threats and risk-based vulnerabilities with other federal agencies, Congress, private sector companies, and the American public, affording all groups opportunities to collaborate on ensuring the safety and security of our country.

SOURCE CITGO Petroleum Corporation