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.
