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Thursday, April 5, 2018

EXXON Valdez WRECK


Unfold the Untold Story


April Fool’s Day, come and gone already. How soon we forget, as with the passing of another March 24th and with reinforcements of “Good Friday” heard knocking, in 1989 the EXXON Valdez wreck was center stage of attention - worldwide notoriety. Other wrecks squander our attention these days, so why care about old news? It takes time for the “Truth” to settle down and sink in, with today’s off course and inevitable wrecks time will tell in-between the two sides to every story. With the EXXON Valdez wreck, that was 29-years ago and there is still the “Untold” story. Likewise, I try to get the point across in my book titled “From the Fifth Floor”, wherein the executive offices of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company are located - up “North to Alaska”. My employer for many years, the company that operates the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline and found some middle-finger pointing its way due a poor “clean-up” response following that “wreck” of the century. Company personnel were threatened, as were family members and many dedicated workers accosted by angry citizens while standing in line at McDonalds just trying to order a damn American burger and Happy Meal for the kid! Alyeska was merely an agent for the most powerful oil companies under the Red, White and Blue - acting like a tax shelter, in this case a liability shelter. Point blank, this historical Bligh Reef wreck was not an accident with blame conveniently tagged to a sober then drunk captain - that Joe Hazelwood. Yes, sober at time of impact - part of this “Untold” story. It was sabotage, a planned “full steam ahead” wreck in efforts to retaliate against “Big Oil” that which basically owned the “Last Frontier”. I was there and can with pleasure point anyone to the evidence that supports this theory. But it is a story hard to swallow, hard to fathom but true that a fringed element would resort to such mean-spirited and destructive retaliation, hold that precious thought as it is all about the $money$. The Alaskan “Black Gold” was a $30-Billion dollar a year extravaganza and what was supposed to be but for a measly 10-year $9-billion gamble, well today pushing 40 and growing strong. As a member of Congress in good standing once quoted without exaggeration, “the cashist of cash cows”. Also finding notoriety this “wreck” was a well know “Whistle-blower” named Charles Hamel, an individual that had “beltway” politicians by the coat-tails - namely California’s George Miller and Michigan’s John Dingell. It was unwanted outside interference, with Congressional clout and Alaska should have been allowed to handle its own affairs without this fanfare. But even Alaska’s Congressmen Don Young couldn’t stop the oversight carnage as the “Whistle-blower” label along with the “Environmentalist” decree held preferential treatment, it was the best of both worlds as an attention deficit remedy. Erin Brockovich ring a bell? How about Jack Godell in China Syndrome? In a sworn deposition before the United States Congress in November of 1991, Mr. Hamel named an Alyeska worker as a credible witness in what was the precipice for a legal pursuit against the oil companies, that which owned Alaska and maintained control of Alaska’s politicians. This witness was known to big-letter chalkboard the word “NIGGER” in the control room of the Vapor Recovery system at the “Valdez Marine Terminal”, which was the terminus of the “Trans-Alaska-Pipeline”. Hamel also listed other pipeline workers as credible witnesses, but for the most part those listed held questionable employment histories - thus the Hamel motive was suspicious as it appeared he was grabbing from the bottom of the barrel. It seemed to align itself as a selfish like vendetta, and wasting precious time before the U.S. Congress. Bottom-line, anybody that worked for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company soon realized that Mr. Hamel was just a trouble-maker and was not the “Environmental Gadfly” many on the outside had portrayed him to be. Mr. Hamel was an “Oil Broker”, matter of fact a disgruntled “Oil Broker” with a personal vendetta to get even on a failed plan he thought would make him rich - when in reality it was making this wannabe broker “broke”. One man with limited resources competing against the biggest oil companies in the world, forget it! Especially in Alaska as this oil scene was owned by the “Seven Other Sisters”. Hamel has since passed-away and never did get his day in court, except the court of public outcry over this environmental disaster - like he was taking credit for “I told you so”! May he rest in peace, but the “Truth” first as then this “True Story” can also rest with peace, take it for what it’s worth. Also of interest during this testimony before Congress, it was made clear and convincing that the owners of the Alaska pipeline were purposely shipping copious amounts of water mixed with the oil - true statement and no-one familiar with how this beast manifested itself was trying to hide that fact. Like already mentioned, Hamel was wasting time before Congress and infringing on our time, with the workers on the pipeline. But his complaint, it wasn’t about “foreign” water that was in addition to the crude oil extracted water from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Water is a natural by-product of crude oil extraction, along with natural gas. As “water-flooding” is incorporated to lift the oil so it can be more easily extracted, the water content naturally increases - just how it works down below ground “zero”. Now oil reservoir formation maintenance can reduce the amount of water that is subject to commingling with the oil, but very costly on a per capita producing well basis. And from the “Bean Counters” perspective, oil from Alaska’s North Slope had to be maintained and defined as “un-marketable” until it finished that 5-day 800-mile journey south to Valdez. Which meant leaving it alone when it came “top-side”, so very little infrastructure was available in Prudhoe Bay to condition the oil with water with natural gas mixture. Basically, leave well enough alone - all for the $money$. In the “Deep Water Horizon” there is a catchy scene before the rig blow-out, wherein some rough-necks chant, “Money…money money money…money” - what it is all about. So “Big Oil” found a novel solution in Alaska, pump as much oil with as much water as possible and don’t worry about it for now…which maintained its “un-marketable characteristic”. It was not a problem, as it was their oil, their pipeline and the additional water hurt no-one. It is like this for a comparison. Your vehicle owner’s manual stipulates the use hi-octane gas, but due costs you buy the cheap stuff - what harm is there as it still works? Now, once the oil and water mixture reached Valdez after an 800-mile journey, the “stuff” was stuffed into humongous storage tanks with a capacity of 550000-barrels and the “water” was allowed to settle out, another natural phenomenon due the density of oil “lighter” then that of water, by almost a factor of one-half - it floats freely above the water surface. Therefore, it was a very efficient process, the separation of oil and water without any added costs except “time”. And in Valdez at the end of the pipeline, one finds what is called the “Ballast Water Facility(BWT)”, which was designed to stabilize and clean miniscule crude oil constituents from “ballast hold” water and when within acceptable limits, this water was discharged into the ice-free Valdez bay which would find ocean currents that would sail it out to the Pacific Ocean. I guess in line with the “solution to pollution is dilution”. Now since many of the tankers that sailed into the Sound were designed with “segregated ballast tanks”, that water could be freely discharged before docking and cut down considerably the crude oil loading “Turnaround” time from 24-hours to 12-hours. Which meant more oil could be transported quicker and allowed the pipeline to ramp up to over 2-million barrels each day, sent to markets. By the early-80s, everything was working on over-time, with North Slope wells pushing out as much oil and water as possible and the pipeline was soon to be running at its maximum capacity and Alaskan residents benefitting by enjoying a $2000 yearly oil bonus, per family member! So there came all kinds of innovative ways to produce and transport this oil and instead of the “BWT” placed in a “standby” mode due “segregated ballast tankers”, it was utilized to condition the pipeline oil of its water, upwards 120000 barrels each day. Which meant that same amount of water comingled with the oil could be extracted yet count as…I will get to that, but it is all about the $money$. And that figure of how much water could be efficiently cleaned of any oil residue carryover before discharge, it was 3x that due the characteristics of North Slope crude oil. Because it was all about the $money$, that water was worth its weight in “Black Gold”, gaining the profiteers additional $Billions$ in revenue. It was a very foolproof system, as was the entire design of the TAPS. An engineering marvel that had stamp-of-approval after stamp-of-approval after…Now what became of interest all this water, infinite wisdom said let the flow-meters measure it as “crude oil”? Rotating turbine meters would never know the difference, as the motive force from the fluid flow is all it takes and as the wheel goes around and around, it represents a volume. Such meters cannot differentiate between water and oil. OK, Mr. Phineas J. Whoopee will assist in a tutorial of how to get blood out of a turnip seed. The so-called “TAPS Custody Transfer” point for oil receipts - the proverbial cash register -  was at the first pump station on this pipeline - up in Deadhorse, Alaska. This is wherein oil was tendered with very accurate measurement for the customer - like SOHIO, EXXON, ARCO, Amerada Hess, Unocal, Conoco - and the commodity owners would get a receipt for “their” oil that was transported from the Prudhoe Bay field for its journey south to Valdez, where an ice-free port would accommodate that oil going to markets on the West Coast of the U.S. For simplicity sake I have 1-barrel of “water-free” oil tendered and 5-days later when it gets to Valdez, it is allowed to take a nap in one of those humongous storage tanks, just incase some water lingered about. Now my EXXON Valdez can then take on board that 1-barrel and all is happy and when I arrive at the West Coast because I passed out and sailed clear of Bligh Reef without a fender-bender, I sell that 1-barrel and thus have revenue of record based on the going rate of West Texas Intermediate. OK, I pocket the value of a single barrel of oil and thus must report that as income for reasons of corporate tax returns. For goodness sake, 35% of that barrel belongs to Uncle Sam - the cost of doing business in America. So, if the measurement computers wherein this “stuff” is measured can be fooled to say whatever comes through the spigot is oil, is there an advantage to this? Said again, it was the “Big Oil’s” business so who really cared what they did, as long as in the end all was kosher-dosher and the State of Alaska received its fair share of the pie with a 12% revenue stakeout.  Now then, in the second example by Mr. Whoopee for simplicity sake once again, say we take 1-barrel of oil and 1-barrel of water and comingle this stuff and when it reaches the “Custody Transfer” delivery point, I get a legal receipt for 2-barrels and wait to see what happens in 5-days when it reaches Valdez. Wow, after settling down in that big tank, I still only recovered a single barrel of oil to load on my tanker as the settled water was separated from the bounty and discharged, so what was gained? It could be considered an energy sacrifice, as the “pumpability” characteristics could eat away at profits - it costs energy to run the pumps so why waste precious fuel for nothing gained? It’s an oil pipeline, why pump water? Wow, I can also claim a loss of a barrel because my cash register receipt claims I started off with 2-barrels, so I get to claim a 1-brarrel lose. Brilliant, as 1-barrel sold and reported as revenue reduced to no revenue with that 1-barrel lose. That was the theory behind the massive amounts of water in the crude oil OK, it made $money$ because of the “Revenue Lose Adjustment Factor”. The latter was an adjustment that was not of record and scribbled on a note and used to re-adjust the measurement computers. Water didn’t cost the oil boss a penny, in fact this “free-for-all let the sacrificial water flow” saved “Big Oil” bigtime because it meant less formation maintenance expenditures. While we are on this subject matter, wells that would have been shut-in in the late 70’s because of that water-to-oil ratio factor above good oil field practices, these wells remained in service - as water was making handsome $money$. And we performed all kinds of “water spiking” tests, wherein a known volume of water was purposely added to the crude to see if sophisticated analyzers and very expensive laboratory equipment could catch the water. It could not - but said again it was “Big Oil’s” business to do as it so pleased and that water made $money$. Now Mr. Hamel was on to this and wanted so bad a piece of the pie, this action. Somebody in the Alyeska organization was feeding out information that didn’t tell the truth, the whole truth so help me…This “water revenue stream” was like the icing on the gold carrot cake. And it was all based on the “lose factor” as a “Tax Shelter”. I talked with Mr. Hamel on several occasions and realized this early on, that in no way shape or form was he an environmentalist, but I was! I lived in Alaska and was raising a family - it was not oil first environment next in line after kin. Matter of fact, nearly all of my oil field buddies felt the same sentiment, why live here to wreck it? We did not come here to ruin it, neither did the EXXONs as that is just too costly these days! Another matter of fact, that Hamel witness that was too damn busy writing out loud disparaging remarks about co-worker blacks instead of doing his job, he would intentionally adjust the vapor recovery system to belch out acrid black smoke from unburned hydrocarbons, as an attention getter. In my book, a Class A troublemaker that should have been terminated for his prejudices against humans and the same upon his disrespect for the job, on how the equipment was to be operated in efforts to protect the environment - he was finally let go! He was also a trouble-maker and when that system wasn’t adjusted correctly, it allowed free-wheeling benzene to escape into the atmosphere. When the crude oil was allowed to settle in the tanks down Valdez for that water separation ritual, light hydrocarbons would off-gas, so that stuff was sucked from the tanks and annihilated in specially designed Zink furnaces - it is called “Thermal Oxidation”. And Valdez residents from across the bay would see these “smoke signals” when the system was out-of-whack and report it to the local environmental sheriff, who didn’t care! We tried to engage his service to get rid of the polluter, he did nothing with words to the effect it was out of his jurisdiction. Sad, when the snow-capped mountains had to contend with black billowing smoke - once pure blue sky in the background now hazed with cancer causing crap! This system worked as designed, when assholes left well enough alone. This was intentional abuse by a disgruntled old fart. We finally were able to take control away from him, with equipment modifications and set-up a sting wherein we recorded the pollution levels when he was on watch - he basically shit in his own wishing well as that evidence was used for his termination. But that did not stop Hamel from using this misfit as a witness his own mission. Hamel was trying to get me to act as a witness also, but I would have nothing to do with an individual that thinks a credible witness is one that discriminates against men of different color. And to re-iterate, Hamel was a wannabe “environmentalist” and castrated that label as a get even motive. The important factor herein, Mr. Hamel was not a shipper with respect to how oil was owned when in that pipeline, so any brokering he accomplished through a contract was with oil already stabilized, considered “Marketable” with a “zero” lose factor. And any oil lease ownership or partnership, in that case it was by virtue of a sideliner - as Big Oil tendered the goods on their own accord as the majority stockholder. Basically speaking, Hamel was busted with his first shipment of oil which was NOT based on that lucrative value added product - H2O. There was no way this venture could compete with “Big Oil”, it was their domain best just stay away. But Hamel went to court, trying to convince a jury that there was too much water in the oil - totally an untrue statement, as it wasn’t “too much”. Matter of fact, before approaching the court of public opinion to tarnish the Alaskan oil scene not yet tarnished by the Exxon Valdez wreck, when he complained to the pipeline boss the option of “tight-lining” his brokered oil was available as a remedy - that if he wasn’t getting what he thought was legally his by contract, we can fix it. By “tight-lining”, the oil coming down the pipeline would be sent directly to his tanker, without any nap “settling time” in the settling tanks so water and oil was his to contend with. Then he could transfer that oil mixture to a facility that maintained storage tanks, separate the water and evaluate the “lose factor”. But this was cost prohibited for a Podunk broker. Else, his only option was to accept “marketable oil”, wherein the water had settled out and no longer part of that pursuit of happiness a lucrative “tax shelter” for any investment and investors. And if he used “tight-lining” to fill his tankers and tried to sell that commodity right out, of course the buyers would complain about too much water! He was out of his league this venture, way off course like the EXXON Valdez. I believe through a confidante, Hamel wanted me to sink cash into his venture early on early 80s, the reason the communications and somebody in his chain knew I understood what was going on behind the scenes because of my knowledge base and close affiliation to the out-of-the-ordinary involvement with the “water”. He did not have full coverage what was going on behind that scene and outside the regulators realm, as there was nothing wrong going on, which means his venture was “domain” doomed. I reiterate the fact his witness base was not knowledgeable to the “Truth in the Matter” what was really going on. I worked at the Valdez facility and was also the “Custody Transfer Lead” wherein all the ownership of oil was recorded and manipulated to disguise water from oil. Basically speaking, Mr. Hamel was one big pain in the ass as he had no idea what or who he was dealing with. In ending, his romance to take on “Big Oil” demonstrated a willingness to skirt the truth, as his witness base and his following, well somewhat “deplorable”! It was one big freaken headache for those that knew better. Now come about the spring of 1985, the fishermen that made a living harvesting the bounty from Prince William’s Sound, there came “chatter” that the herring returns seemed depressed and distressed. Something of concern that started to show up during the mid-80s and seemed to be getting worse. By now, the pipeline had been in operation for about 8-years, so was there something suspicious about our activities that contributed to this decline? It wasn’t at the critical stage, just something to be concerned about. At the same time, workers at the Valdez Marine Terminal were beginning to find some grotesque like growths on sea creatures that were making a home by the “Ballast Water” outflow basin. It didn’t appear to be from “residue” oil activity, as the water discharged at this point in the process was “safe”. At the same time, several incidents in Prudhoe Bay sounded an alarm of concern. Was there a common cause? And then came an “overnight” about face, as that concern rested its case in the fact that the water that was comingled with oil had a higher than normal “NORM” component, for “Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials”. This isn’t supposed to scare oil men, as it is common in the industry and the reason up in Prudhoe Bay one finds a “bone yard”, wherein today off limits as it contains used drilling pipe that must rest until it is neutralized. The “decay” timeout “half-life” cycle well known to radioactive isotope contamination. The steel pipe gets bombarded with nuclear fallout when the oil and water mixture utilizes that pipe as a conduit to reach top-side. Said again, this “NORM” is common in the industry, and for the most part out-of-sight out-of-mind meaningless as a hazard. Time for Phineas and another tutorial. In Alaska, sea-water is used for tertiary recovery wherein tens-of-thousands of barrels of such are sucked from the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea each day and sent down-hole to lift the oil - wherein that “commingling” phenomenon takes place. Oil and water do indeed mix, as the physics and chemistry thousands of feet below the surface of the earth “behaves” differently. If you are interested, challenge yourself to an understanding of what “Retro-grade Condensation” is all about - it’s happening in Alaska today and an entire subject unto its own and makes Stephen Hawking’s PVT physics obsolete. Now due the fact this sea-water finds an affinity to “down-hole radionuclides”, it packs these constituents away and then is eventually carried topside with the oil component and shipped down the pipeline and then when the settled water is conveniently discharged into the Valdez bay, so are the “NORM” wastes. If drilling-pipe can become infected by direct contact with a commingled oil and water mixture which means indirect contact with “Thorium”, it doesn’t take much to elevate this “NORM” - but the intensity culprit is the “water” side of the equation. Yes, oil men deal with stuff contaminated with radiation. It is one of those things that is “un-regulated”, so wasn’t required to be measured or monitored. This pipeline sees the regulators on a regular basis, upwards twenty-two Federal and State oversight commissions with police authority - yet not a single agency has jurisdiction with respect to “NORM”, it is all on a volunteer basis. But by 1987, this was now 10-years into “Big Oils” Alaska venture, and formations were entering the maturity stage. Which meant historical records were being broken for “Production along with Pipeline Throughput”. The oil companies went seriously proactive on this “NORM” concern when it was discovered. And the discovery originated in Prudhoe Bay when some exploratory devices used to monitor down-hole nuclear sources started acting weird. Hand held Giger counters were going into alarm, when in close proximity to a process that contained water laced with “NORM” - it was the water in the oil that was the culprit, tainted with “NORM”. Said again, the levels were over-excited due the copious amounts of water that were being extracted that was cause for concern. Take a well that is within the “NORM” limits, now multiply that times over 1000-wells - it means a whole lot! Now the levels were still not any where close to deadly for humans, regardless the push was on to limit the amount of water in the crude, due this “NORM activity. In late 1988, it was rumored that “Big Oil” was going to bring this to the attention of the State of Alaska Environmental Conservation officers. But the state oversight agent in Valdez, he seemed to have a too close for comfort an association with Mr. Hamel and some thought he was also involved in the Hamel venture to broker oil. Now there was still only speculation that this “NORM” was causing the depressed herring stock returns, which is the bottom of the food chain and any problem with that species could warn of more serious problem to come and would encompass all parties if it warranted a legal or criminal battle, which now included Mr. Hamel. OK, there would be NO criminal fallout with any “NORM” falling out, it wasn’t regulated! It appeared that Hamel was merely interested in that “lose factor” in his brokerage portfolio, which meant he may have been guilty from a contract perspective. Basically speaking, any legal fallout from this would be based on contributory negligence. So there came speculation in the Alaska oil scene that Mr. Hamel could have been facing some serious legal challenges, as he could not now turn around and say he didn’t want what he was promised. What he was fighting for, it was now opening up a can of worms. If Hamel did win a legal battle against EXXON for something he wanted but didn’t get, any legal battle by the fishermen could hit Hamel’s wallet. “Big Oil” decided to wait until the herring returns of 1989 to access the “NORM” predicament, but by this time had plans in the works to decrease considerably the amount of water commingled with the crude oil. Then on March 24th, it all changed. All good intent to tell the truth…well there was no way the health of the “Sound” could be…the true wreck was with this “NORM” now being just a juxtaposition reality, as the “Sound” was dying due the presence of oil and that contamination would have dire consequences many more times disruptive then any radionuclide fallout. And could have this wreck of a lifetime been a premeditated and conscious decision to get even, with respect to retaliation? OK, I tried to tell my side of the story with the regulators and was sued by an environmental organization that had come across some of my stolen testimony, after being subpoenaed to tell what I knew about the water spiked crude oil. Take that back, state regulators breached my confidentiality and free-loaded my sworn testimony because they wanted to go after the biggest fish, and that wasn’t some Podunk oil broker, but the EXXON giant. They allowed the environmental officer from Valdez to knowingly steal away my confidential information and confidentiality - which caused me a whole lot of pain and suffering. Why so the state regulators acting just like a disgruntled oil broker? Like stated already, “NORM” was not regulated and the State of Alaska was remiss in its duty to protect the environment, protect the fisheries - it failed so needed a scapegoat because of lame oversight in Valdez. Had the local authorities not been in bed with crookedness, maybe the entire incident avoided. This was a cover-up, through sabotage - to reiterate, it is all about the $money$. There existed information floating around town that individuals, some with checkered employment issues with the oil companies in Alaska and some with bad investment miss-guidance, may have banned together and engaged the assistance of an individual that could assist in damaging one of the “Big Oil” players. In the end it was EXXON as the target. Hamel was in litigation with this oil giant, wherein his allegations were eventually dismissed by the court for no merit. As the finale, in the mid-80s I had been called to a private home in Valdez wherein I was shown firsthand how an individual with remote access could navigate a tanker’s navigational systems - today it is called “hacking”! I was witness to this behavior, but never thought it would be used in such a manner to cause one of the worst environmental disasters of our time. From a home in Robe River outside of the city proper of Valdez, I watched as an individual who had been terminated from Alyeska and lost all security privileges be allowed employment with an outfit that serviced shipboard radar equipment. Now finding unlimited access to the main guidance components aboard modern day super-tankers, and if need be “adjust” the Alaskan tanker fleet’s onboard navigational system’s electronic compass points - from the comfort of a basement while surrounded with radio and radar like gizmos and drinking a beer! A simple radio-shot all that was required and unabated access to perform…well I guess “skew” what hazards a drunken captain would see in the Sound. The EXXON Valdez was on “auto-pilot” the night of the wreck - a system that requires careful coordination and if somebody intentionally compromised that system, without warning a well-known navigational hazard can knock at that front door. The shipping channels in and out of the Valdez Bay are somewhat “narrow”, and a few clicks off kilter during a nighttime voyage, it was soon a nightmare. The EXXON Valdez was completely “off course”? And it was not through human error. With the “NORM”, a disgruntled oil broker bent on retaliation against EXXON along with disgruntled workers and an environmental oversight agency asleep at the wheel - March 24th found a reckoning in the history books. And I had an acquaintance that lived in Perkins Cove just south of the city, a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the city of 2500 residents. One morning, back in the spring of 1988, we were alarmed by what sounded like heavy equipment straining with anger against the incoming tide. Sure enough, stuck in the shoreline “eco-protective” flats was some asshole that was wrecking-havoc to the marine eco-system - upon approach with our anger we were treated to a shotgun aimed our direction, it was an environmental officer that worked for the state - the same guy that manned the 24-hour complaint line and the same guy I had become accustomed with and a care-not attitude when dealing with air quality concerns - that vapor recovery system being purposely adjusted out-of-control by a disgruntled bigot. Honestly, here was an officer of the law that thought he had the privilege to wreak the shoreline, because he was the guy that would receive any complaints? It is all connected, what went on in 1989 that allowed a fully laden tanker to crash “full steam ahead” into the well-known navigational hazard named after Captain Bligh. Something we teach our 3rd graders about in classrooms in Valdez, before the wreck that is. It was not an accident, it was sabotage. Call it a conspiracy, but evidence should silence the lambs. EXXON was the target of this sabotage, and my opinion with evidence points the finger to the possibility it was so planned by some disgruntled individual heeding the Mayday call of a faction that was also disgruntled. But it backfired…well maybe it didn’t backfire on EXXON! Look, EXXON made a very good profit in 1989 following a “Wreck” of undeniable environmental consequences and of economic devastation proportion like never before unleashed upon a pristine ecosystem. Yes, this giant corporation benefitted more in that particular year than in the past, so there was no need to look into the possibility of a “sabotage” - as it is all about the $money$, all that counts. See, Lloyd’s of London was the insurer, and was not privy to the evidence of what really went on. Case in point: The first blood-alcohol test performed on Captain Joe was a negative, I know the officer that said so because he was one of the first officers on the deck of the stinking sinking ship that was spewing thousands of barrels of toxicity in an area that was once a treasure chest of bird and sea life. And a test performed hours after, well maybe Captain Joe was toasting the end of his career. Then again, maybe somebody spiked the test. The bottom-line, things just didn’t add up to what we were told and what really went on. Here is my take. Once and oil broker, always an oil broker $money$ first, environment…it is a rat’s race. Better yet, how about a Ponzi scam? It comes in different flavors. EXXON and Charles Hamel, as the “NORM” tainted water made lots of extra $loot$ for the oil tycoons and with the EXXON Valdez “wreck” a blame game changer, well somebody saw to it that an EXXON tanker from a company that was on Hamel’s hit list would find a disaster - and this plan worked! True story.

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