Mom & Pop Fatal Flaw

On May 24th, Texas based Pioneer Natural Resources delivered to appropriate State & Federal officers a response to allegations of illegal “dumping” at its Oooguruk oil exploration and production facility located in Harrison Bay, on Alaska’s North Slope – in the still pristine Colville River delta. This report, the company’s 2nd response to such allegations, no longer denies the “dumping” concerns and admits that a “fatal flaw”- not by any means a mechanical breakdown but through human error - allowed 48,000 gallons(>1000BBls) of used glycol to be “dumped” down-hole in a production reservoir to which no permit was on hand to allow such, therefore a candidate for “sham” recycling - when there is no other way to get rid of un-wanted used fluids. Accordingly, the “fatal flaw” concept is based on operators that knew not the laws, according to the attorney writing the report. That is pure Bullshit! They were told to do it by senior representatives of the company. In the same report, it does not deny the possibility that it was more likely than not humanly possible on several occasions to allow non-exempt Class I waste to enter the production stream and end up being transported down the TAPS – measured as “crude oil”! Waste for a profit. Class I waste shipped to Valdez! Again, the report attributing yet another “fatal flaw” upon the operation’s operators, as the cause behind this no longer deniable scenario. Again, pure cover-thy-corporate-ass Bullcrap! There are also weak responses to dead bird allegations, a “Trust Us” cover-up try with respect to the “100-year flood” hitting the man-made exploration and production island after a single season along with allegations denied of sick caribou and admittance of un-accounted for gas venting at this project, the 1st Independent to brave where no “Independent” has braved before. The same entities that U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is trying to defend by denying increased liability caps for environmental damages! The same type of “mom & pop” entity that was so welcome by state Representatives Meyers and Samuels, welcoming in the “Independents”, wherein “Alaska is at the beginning of this transition period and the success of a company like Pioneer will demonstrate to others that a smaller company can succeed in Alaska.” Sure looks like it, but at what expense? When a company takes sides to atrocities, by taking the side of management that made un-clear and stupid decisions based on economics over ethics, and the low-life operators take the blame, this kind of organization has no right to operate or work in this state! But who is watching what goes on? And it appears as though intimidation has entered the picture, as somebody is not telling the truth. When the outside State & Federal investigation delivers subpoenas wherein operators will have to testify under oath, then maybe they will not be afraid to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me….

BP - Good Corporate Citizen

On February 18th, this year, British Petroleum on its own accord and through recommendations from the BP “Office of the Ombudsman”, filed a complaint of “Potential Violations of Environmental Regulations” based on received “credible information” that “Non-Exempt Class I Waste” may have been introduced into the crude oil stream that makes its way into the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline. This possibly illegal activity was not from a BP owned, operated or affiliated facility, but from a “mom & pop” operations that is basically operating on Alaska’s northern coast-line without the slightest bit of regulatory on-site over-sight, or for that matter, any care upon its operation in efforts at following the rules and regulations that govern such disposal. As 51% owner of the TAPS, BP intervened and as stated, as a “good corporate citizen”. An investigation by the authorities is on-going? Why the authorities with jurisdiction have not closed down this operation until it is proven it cannot happen again is another piece of evidence that “Drill Baby Drill” is out of control, wherein regulations are just a suggestion. So kudos to BP! BP gives its employees, its contractors all the tools to do things right, like the "Office of the Ombudsman", avenues to voice concerns without retaliation. But when people are afraid to speak up, when workers are afraid to voice a concern fearing their jobs, when low-life scum-bag contractors make it impossible for workers to use what is available, we end up with disasters that could have and should have been avoided.

Limited Liability Lisa!

Date April 16th, 2010

Dear Pam,

Thank you very much for contacting Senator Murkowski’s office suggesting we look at the report pertaining to Oooguruk oil development policies. Staff at the Senate Energy and Natural resources Committee will do so at the Senator’s request. Again, thank you for bringing this report to our attention.

Sincerely,
Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski202-224-6665.

Note to the interested: The report was filed with the AOGCC on March 12th, 2010

"Mom & Pop" Alaskan Style

If you are asking yourself and others what MoanaLisa MurCowski is talking about with this “mom & pop” oil business, she is referring to the “Independents”! If you want to learn about the “Independents” in Alaska, it is recommended that you take an interest in an essay titled, “Alaska’s Deadliest Sin”, on record and accessible through the State of Alaska’s “Open Records” statute and available at the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission’s library. Copying costs apply. By the way, get the colored re-copy, as the “blood on the tundra” really gets the point across to what is happening when low budget outfits with not so deep pockets infiltrate where “Big Oil” has maintained some semblance of environmental stewardship…..Or as a U.S. Taxpayer, call MurCowski and request a free copy of the “Sin” along with the Independent’s rebuttal upon environmental concerns, as her office has a copy and according to the following letter of response:

Dear Pam,

Thank you very much for contacting Senator Murkowski’s office suggesting we look at the report pertaining to Oooguruk oil development policies. Staff at the Senate Energy and Natural resources Committee will do so at the Senator’s request. Again, thank you for bringing this report to our attention.

Sincerely,
Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski

202-224-6665.

If no luck from the Senator’s office:

AOGCC Library

333 W. 7th Ave., Suite 100

Anchorage, Alaska 99501

Contact: 907-279-1433

PS: Even though the Independent named in this essay has responded to allegations of environmental problems, “nothing substantiated”, they are now trying to come up with a good excuse to amend the original response to the agencies, as everything called out in the “Sin” was true to some extent. Back-tracking is the name of the game now…..Bottom line, if it can happen in the Gulf, it can happen anywhere!