The Poisoned

I was burned out from exhaustion buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile ravaged in the corn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".

 

Wow, what the hell is this stuff labeled “XYSOL”? I can't even pronounce it's name and identity, maybe I don't want too. Maybe my handicap for correct pronunciation is consumed by the “jaw bone twitch” and lingering “hacker's cough” that I have never recovered from, since I came in contact with this stuff. I don't smoke! What in hell is this “XYSOL” used for, out on this little man-made drill for oil prospect owned and operated by Texas based Pioneer Natural Resources? Probably enough in that tote to kill us all! It sounds scary, I wish I had that Material Safety Data Sheet. And how come there was no accompanying MSDS? Look, even Walmart follows the law and has a list of detergent MSDS's available for viewing by the public – once again it's the law! But it doesn't faze me that this two-bit outfit would have this stuff on-board and not give a damn about the workers' health or safety. They don't want workers to know or question anything, that “fear me I'm the boss hog” routine. I voiced my concerns, to the corporate side and the state of Alaska regulators – what a joke. I ended up with egg on my face and just where they wanted me – terminated by my own accord. I wasn't stupid and refused to go back to the “Rock”, Oooguruk Island. Besides a human cesspool, it was a waking time-bomb environmental atrocity. I tried in vain to get the point across, to take care of the workers health and safety at any expense. Why give a rat's ass about the environment, even though this place in Harrison's Bay of the Colville River delta was pristine, just a few years ago – before this hunk of dirt arrived. Yes I am bitter, so should the workers or anybody that gives a hoot about the health and welfare of not only the workers, but the wildlife that roam these inhospitable places way up north in Alaska. Maybe it worked, my bullish concerns attacking this operation and the management, but I really don't know but let's hope so. But I didn't go away. See, I concealed away enough information that if someone's health is compromised from chemical attacks, I can cover for them – from an evidence standpoint. Maybe I'm the victim that now suffers, from nerve disorders, some shortness of breath and this irritating “hacker's cough”. Once again, I don't smoke and this condition has been with me for about 3-years. So there is a connection. In fact, I probably keep Ricola in business. I am not one for modern science, that which corrals modern medicine, so I live with the ailments as I believe the body can consume to a certain extent foreign matter detrimental to a healthy immune system. Time will tell! Yes, I remember stumbling into this stuff, now that I have found the MSDA and recognize what it was I was disturbing. Yes, trying to do my job as a Pioneer operator and protecting the environment. See, there was a breach between the well-head conduits and the island landscape, one that was supposed to have a barrier of protection - by the inflation of a tire tube and a redundant tube for backup, should the primary get compromised. But with frozen ground underneath, it appeared this became a convenient disposal site – that out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality. It was a well hidden opportunity to dispose away the nasty stuff. But this stuff was so nasty, it had deteriorated the rubber gasket, not one but both rubbers and allowing this nasty brown goo to leach away – how convenient. And something stunk real bad, which is what alarmed me to something rotten. Damn, I remember that night coming across this stuff, talk about messing with a hornet's nest. When it went disturbed, all hell broke loose and I was hit with a vapor cloud of something so nasty it still brings on nightmares. And when I brought this to the attention of the local management, I was told it was my duty to clean it up. Yes, that was part of my job description, but only if the substance was safe. But management refused to perform a test, to see just what the hell it was that had been dumped. In fact, the on-site environmental guy wouldn't even go near it, as he was probably told to stay away. And when I asked him what he thought, he had one hell of an excuse, that he was too busy with other things – what like staying in the comfort of the camp office and eating donuts all day? There was NO excuse! It's a 2-minute walk away. It's a small island, maybe two-football fields in size! Get off your ass and do something! Look, a test would have confirmed my suspicions, that it was a cesspool of toxicity that would have aroused the EPA and the lawman – had it been reported. And after that, I refused to go near it again, and since it was disrupted, it was now rapidly leaching away, into the ground beneath the island. And with rain causing puddle swelling, guess what? Flood control means overflows into the bay. But hopefully by then even though not correct by any stretch of the imagination, a candidate for the old reliable “solution to pollution is dilution”. But what about those workers that may have been exposed to this stuff. I guess I may have been the only victim! Yes, it was leaching away, and I am sure this dwindling out-of-sight and out-of-mind let the bastard hornet worrier settle down, it was their wishes coming true. I quit soon after that incident, as I have been in this business a long time and know what a “Love Canal” is when I see one. It was cleaned up, but never was there performed an analysis of what the cesspool contained. I guess in time an autopsy will tell the truth. In fact I would bet a dead seal pup could point the finger! Look, this is exactly what happens when the regulators are told to go soft on the oil industry and let them police themselves. Of course this is what's going on, especially with the “Independents” moving in to fill the void left by “Big Oil” fading away upon the North Slope oil scene. I feel sorry for those that were given the task to clean up this mess, then again it may have all just conveniently disappeared, and if a smoker did have something to do with the clean-up efforts, good luck in a court of law. So now I suffer, but hope for the best in my health and recovery. And I have the evidence that supports my distrust this operation and maybe someday I can piss off the shareholders, by winning it big in a court of law.