NORM’s Deepwater Horizon

From deep down from under the earth’s crust wherein oil men sink “completion” drill pipe along with pumping “mud” so the Mother Lode pimple doesn’t unexpectantly pop - a.k.a. kick - and cause havoc on the derrick deck, when that oil comes topside it is somewhat confined out of reach direct human intervention. Praytell the “mud-slinging” doesn’t get out of control, as then there would be another lame excuse for another Deepwater Horizon movie on the “horizon”. So confinement of the gusher is justified, as besides flammable it is a toxic soup concoction, keep out of reach the children! Normally it is not a problem, any direct contact consequences, as what happens in a pipe stays in a pipe. And that holds true along the way to a refinery and finally you pump your tank - it is a somewhat closed loop system as every drop counts, including the fumes! From a formation “pool” through drill string top-side pipe to a pipeline to a “cracking tower” then through a finished products pipeline, it remains hidden away and most people have no idea when “black gold” turns to “ever-clear” at twice the cost based on the octane/proof dissertation dissection. See, oil has a toxicity embedded in that hydrocarbon chain - from benzene and cyclo-hexanes and along for the ride a whole lot of man-made chemicals that are part of the process when exploiting to extract upon our fascination at a thirst for regurgitated dinosaur body fluids. But for a few of us, well sometimes our job requires interference with that “black monster” on a daily basis. I will take a guess, that if you had a hundred oil field workers present in a room with free donuts, maybe one individual would be able to say he or she actually smelled crude oil before the dipping-for-donuts began. And when there is free “fat pills” for a bunch of roustabouts, silence is golden as mouths are full. Talk about appetites! “Crude Oil”, it actually smells “sweet” and it looks rather interesting as it exists as an adulterated oil out of the ground, just don’t drink the water. And that is wherein the problem exists, “Oh, the water, let it run all over me, and it stoned me to my soul.” See, back in 1987 wherein the North Slope Alaskan oil trade was mature by 10-years, British Petroleum discovered that “radionuclide” residual was starting to become a problem at its Alaskan oil fields - in Prudhoe Bay. Why? Because when this radioactive stuff claims its victim through scale formation that which curtails the $bottom-line$, that is when man nor beast has to interfere and intervene - which means exposure risks for the janitor. And this was at or about the same time frame that many states of the Union were starting to see the same warning signs, a stage appearance of NORM “radionuclides” and authorities voicing a concern - what was the risk? NORM means Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. Yes, it is a “natural” fallout of drilling for “oil” where no man has drilled down before. But a concern on the horizon brewed a sense of kinship to the point that the American Petroleum Institute - which is the NRA of oil men - it sponsored a study to test all the major oil fields in the states and in Alaska, both onshore to offshore - except for Prudhoe Bay which at the time was the top producing oil field! Wonder why? Read on. Since my job on the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline required “daily” espionage on the “crude oil” delivered for transport south through the one-and-only 800-mile pipeline operated by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - if anyone in harm’s way this “nuking” you’re listening to the guinea pig! It was already well known that oil field “scale” has an affinity to this radionuclide stuff - like a Thorium attraction. Being vigilant, we were always on the lookout for weird associations, but this scale and any “harm” it may pose through human contact, it was that out-of-sight and out-of-mind the precautionary mainstream. But as more and more oil which meant more and more water heading south, this “scale” was a migraine headache and growing. There appeared to be a common denominator, and it had to be in the percentage of water comingled with the oil - as not all that water from the formation could be separated up north as there was not the infrastructure to do so - it wasn’t designed that way. And with “water flooding” starting to charge the “formation” to squeeze out more valuable oil, that added to the carryover water problem. And my crew had become witness to this “scale” build up in 24-hours time, after cleaning the radioactive scale away from a critical device - same thing as if there was no end in sight to this “scale” addiction. But we were never warned about the risks, not that it was hidden away as Alyeska was very proactive with respect to keeping the workers out of harm’s way and when there was “harm” around that corner, taking every precaution with “mandatory” PPE protective clothing and equipment. We were trained to be safe! So then, everyday my crew would take to cleaning away this scale, a small amount at that as we were only concerned with the scale that formed on the “nozzle” of a critical piece of on-line test equipment - a Reid Vapor Pressure Analyzer. This test device was designed to constantly measure the incoming crude oil’s “vapor pressure” for a determination when entrained gas would come out of solution, when the pipeline pressure decreased through natural pressure reduction - from pipe friction and elevation changes. When gas comes out of solution, it can cause “column separation” and with that incipient cavitation which means internal pipe implosions that can cause a localized pipe vibration which is worse off then a pipe’s movement from an earthquake. A pipeline can be designed to move from a Richter shaker, but with a vibration the worst case is a node finding a natural frequency sustained and that means total destruction. There comes a point of exchange wherein the vibrations start to feed more and more energy until something breaks - like a pipe weld and then what? So this analyzer was very susceptible to “scale formation”, because there was a drastic pressure drop in the nozzle assembly that was supposed to act as a vortex to re-create the “vapor pressure” of the fluid stream - wherein it could be measured. It was a constant battle and the scale removal became a routine task day-in day-out 365-days a year. From the company “townies” that lived and worked in Anchorage, there came a directive to clean the nozzles each and everyday, so with several different producers sending oil for transport, that meant upwards 5-different devices and a good part of our work day for this maintenance. Out of curiosity, I started collecting the “scale” and one day something weird occurred. See, a malfunctioning “smoke detector” had been placed on my desk and powered up for testing, in close proximity to the “scale” container and was causing the “detector” to go crazy. Something being emitted from that “scale” was interfering with the “alpha” energy admitted from the detector’s on board “nuclear source”.  This immediately caught my attention, as the “scale bucket” was definitely causing interference with the normal course of events that such a “Fire Alarm” device works under - there were invading constraints! And move the source away, clear path to victory. Now the “nozzle” assembly that required this daily maintenance ritual, it was in a regime that saw a drastic pressure drop which was the foundation for this “scale” buildup - unlikely such “pressure changes” would ever be encountered along the pipeline which meant this “scale” phenomenon was a small problem and the reason it had never been dealt with as it was localized. Getting back to that thing about Alyeska caring about the safety of its work force - this NORM was “unregulated” so of all the things that were on the radar of concern, this was that one culprit - “You Betcha” thank you Sarah Palin and Alaskan style justice. OK, maybe Alaskan style jaundice! But this scale, the mechanism of formation was the “Produced Water”, comingled in with the oil. See, water comes out of solution very easily and since it carries along the Thorium and other radionuclide species, it is easy to see how this “water” can cause “scale” and so what, as most of the “comingled water” ended up in Valdez. That said, it was not a “big problem” for the workers - at least we thought that was the case time will tell - as only a handful of technicians came in direct contact with this radioactive substance on a routine basis. For the most part, this carry over product from oil development rested its journey in Valdez wherein it was allowed to settle out as “produced water” in one of the many humongous “crude oil” storage tanks. Then through a procedure called a “water draw”, thousands of gallons of “radionuclide laced water” went to the Ballast Water Treatment Plant wherein it was allowed to escape into the marine ecosystem. Yes, a “Big Gotcha” as there were no State or Federal jurisdictional regulations that prevented this stuff being thrown “overboard”. For the most part, it was a minor problem, except when such huge volumes of water and crude oil were at play like here in Alaska. So this “smoke detector”, it was proving something of interest and a fascination along with a concern and for a few weeks I tested the theory - that “scale” was bad business! I was the “Lead Technician” at Pump Station 1 responsible for the team that came in daily contact with this “scale” cleaning and when I complained about this “water scale” fiasco, I was fired…OK, all attempts with the carrot, like remain silent forever hold your peace or else you are doomed as this was Alaska wherein 85% of the state budget along with worker salaries came from - that oil patch. Make one wrong move and your career is toast. I was even bribed by a company Vice - being offered a cushion job as a “townie” and a pay increase above and beyond what I was taking home already. Sorry, NOT the man in this guy, to succumb to bending over. Matter of fact, when the “Big Oil” company HR people got together at their monthly luncheons, a “black list” was handed out and around along with the "smoked salmon" hors d'oeuvres. I was on that "hit list", and I still worked for the company the writing was on the bathroom stall wall! It stunk, but it was during a time that the company was going through a morphing, bad blood had infiltrated. I held my ground, but the management made it miserable for me and my family, at the time still collecting a paycheck and attempts at finding another job went without merit. See, everything in Alaska is tied to oil, except the military and that is wherein I finally ended up finding a job. And when I went under oath to tell what I knew about it all - damn that pen the investigator used was invisible ink and the  "invincible" recording sabotaged! And guess what, when Captain Joe crashed his EXXON Valdez into “Bligh Reef” and allowed that toxic crude oil to paint the Prince William Sound scenery “black & goo” - well any effect that years and years of radioactive fallout discharged into the “Sound” was but for now a moot point. And so the reason today we have scientists pulling their hair what effect that “Wreck” had as there are lingering symptoms that just don’t add up, as the entire background scene was destroyed. Blame it on the “oil” will forever be the hand played out, as if indeed there came a side-effect of that “radionuclide” fallout, then the blame finds many accomplices - including the State of Alaska. Today, the only target is EXXON because that "spill" ruined it all. And by now, the oil men up north have found a ways and means to limit the “produced water” that may be subject to an affinity with that Thorium crap - and today it is probably tamed and not a problem, except for 10-years before the “Wreck”. Of witness, it was a secretive wreck developing before our very own eyes. But no one cared because it was an out-of-sight out-of-mind experiment to see just how much glow the marine life could show off after consuming the radionuclides hors d'oeuvres and just attribute those waterborne "flashing beacons" to the Aurora Borealis. Damn, my smoke detector is going off!

Symphony in Anger 45th Minor

Attention, all rise in finger salute,
Commander on the bridge.
Maggie’s farm rabid skunk,
FOXcopulation Syncopial attraction.

Twitter Tweet tEXtPERIMENT
Bitter Sweet tEXtCREMENT
Ask not what your tEXtPECTATION can do for you,
Ask what your tEXtCYSTATION can do for the fools.

My Country TexT of Thee, pigsty of hypocrisy,
Of thee conspiracy on Democracy.
Land where my fathers cried…

And the tEXt begins to play:
We all tweet in a twitter submarine,
twitter submarine, twitter submarine.
SubtEXtmania necrophilia blues.

Maggie comes bone spurs,
Subterranean Homesick blues.
Our Colonel Kink,
Commander on the brink.
His symphony for the devil,
Phony as the 45^th of July!
(MSK ©2019)

Take A Whiff!

Wow, after Barack Obama and Michelle vacated the White House and the Trump Family moved in because 1400 Pennsylvania didn’t work out for Sarah Palin as it was 200 doors south of “reality”, well this nation has been…well a “Divide by Zero Error” comes to mind! And you know what that means in bits and pieces, you cannot dissect a “bit” we are neither here nor there - right verses the left! OK guy “sac-urity” question: If you are a Duluth south paw - aka left handed - is the left testicle in better shape then its brother? When push comes to show I meant “shove”, who is on 1^st? Stay-put! See, when we lived in an “analog” world, all things considered there exited “endless” possibilities between Zero-to-One, so one’s political view could exist all along that tireless watch-tower “spectrum” and therefore we maintained the “Union of One” as the go between guaranteed a “bipartisan” existence in camaraderie - please don’t laugh yeh we did. But when the “bit” came to be and it meant a new age in bipolar syncopial behavior. No longer an idiosyncrazy reserved for patients incarcerated at the Trans-Allegheny-Lunatic-Asylum and today referred to as the “House of Congress”. Be it either “On” or “OFF” and this messaging meant we were screwed as a society that at one time in history liked to show some semblance of “so happy together”! So yes, confusing ecstasy takes over. Amazing, that today under a “Democracy” we could be so equally divided and…we fall, take that sentimental warning from our Founding Fathers both sides of the isle of right and left. But “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” Democracy is a long-standing tradition by conviction that sometimes faces truancy, so no it will not fade away so easy, not on our watch. But the challenges here in the “Homeland” have whittled away our steadfast at “who we are” and “where we are” with respect to the Great Emancipator. But I did find myself in a situation, on a stage common across the land, wherein no matter what side of the isle one found political interest - for once herein was a place today it didn’t matter a red “MAGA” hat, a Bernie T-shirt or other affiliation it did not matter. And NO it wasn’t “Church”, but the “Town Dump” and the reason the same reason all dumps “sea to shining sea” and Thank You Woody “this land is your land this land is my land”, these trash heaps all smell the same and attract the likes of True Grit Americans with a single agenda, getting rid of the trash. About the only common denominator we have left in “togetherness”, the damn dump! Get the drift…

Take a whiff, take a whiff, take a whiff on me
Everybody take a whiff on me
Hey, hey, baby take a whiff on me
Hey, hey, baby take a whiff on me

Teenage Wasteland - Alaska

Just a teenager, at age 13, and so abused - will mankind ever learn from past mistakes? It all started in 1973 with the Congress passing the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline Authorization Act, as this is wherein the rape started and along the way with “Deliverance” like incest, there came an aborted fetus. Up on the North Slope of Alaska, three major areas have been of interest for oil development. NPR - the National Petroleum Reserve which remains somewhat off-limits but only a matter of time before the obligation to allow for more rape finds money matters above all “chastity” respect, along with Prudhoe Bay - which has been producing oil for years…OK, enough with the childish rhetoric as that is reserved for Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton, but please hear me out. For over 100-years the NPR has been on the radar of oil exploration, as within that 22-million acres(or 34375 square miles, a BIGGIN) still a protected domain, geologists find surface pools of oil - pushed out of the ground because “there’s oil in them thar pingos.” As one well known rock hound enthusiast explained it all so simple; “puss out of a pimple”! I prefer “blood out of a turnip seed”, but that takes an outsider. Yes indeed reality, Alaskan oil already attacking the environment, but it is Mother Nature at work get over it no trespass interference required. Cork it? And with Prudhoe Bay sitting just a “retreat go east”, well that area measuring 214-thousand acres(334 square miles, the size of the city of Dallas but with 0.00191 the human population), it produces the “black gold” in quantities unimaginable. To date a total of some 11-billion barrels of oil - that’s a whole bunch of “zeros” after the Captain Commando Uno-Uno. And behind Door Number 3, “retreat go east some more” leave NPR and Prudhoe Bay in a radioactive dust cloud, we find ANWR - the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. To date of record, over 19-million acres without oil exploration access(31355 square miles, another BIGGIN). But back to what is behind Door Number 2 - the world-renowned Prudhoe Bay oil field. That’s a whole lot of oil fromunder a single “formation”, 11880370170 barrels of marvel mystery money oil to be exact. And using the “Magical Miracle Wand” many oil company “Bean Counters” use off the cuff to assess a “no-risk” value of oil in today’s market, how about the worth of that oil from the Prudhoe Bay formation and surrounding “satellites” reaching, well homing in at $1.2-TRILLION BIGGIN BUCKS! Adjusted for inflation, hold your hat a whopping $3.2-Trillion! And with that oil that has by now found a safe $$$ harbor in the “Market Place” once top-side, along for the ride to date, drum roll please…enough natural gas to produce electricity for the entire U.S. population for 7-years! Have any idea how much that would have paid out if sent to the lower-48? Don’t worry, as it has been placed in “reserve” for that rainy day. Yes some mindboggling statistics, but that gas is re-injected into the formation with powerful compressors under thrust from jet turbine engines, in efforts to force more oil out of that “Sadlerochit” pay zone - part of the “Big Squeeze” going down underneath the Initial Participation Area. And wait there’s more! As the gang banging three-Amigos would not be complete without the “Water”, as when a formation “burps” the “produced water” rushes in and also finds freedom top-side. It is called “comingling” or in modern day politicizing, akin to “collusion” as the true picture is hidden by camouflage. And for the most part, herein that “water” is separated and becomes part of the “squeeze” play - re-injected downhole into the formation through powerful pimps under thrust more jet turbine engine combinations. OK, how many jet engine powered turbines are used to retrieve the Three-Amigos, squeeze the formation and pump that oil all the way to its Valdez destination? Ninety-nine permitted EDs - Environmentally Destructive - that run 24/7. Talk about a busy runway! Now the “produced water” is retrieved and recycled, but over time that finds adverse side effects - like today wherein there is more water coming up with the “stranded oil” and the Oil-to-Water Ratio is not too promising. It is below “1”, which means the “water” is winning the rat’s race. OK, so what does it all mean. Well as water rescues the “Well” to produce that oil resource we all have inherited as a bad habit addiction, in a recycled mood this H₂O behaves rather selfish and finds an affinity with free-radical “radionuclides” that are part of the ingredients that made this earth what it is - radioactivity. Now when this Thorium and Uranium stuff is left well enough alone, Mr. Alpha and Mrs. Beta not a problem. But when we disrupt “tranquility”, it is like an African bee nest in a full front-line assault - attack and kill! And this lethal “Africanization”, it all began back in 1977 when the ratio was 50 to 1, as the oil outpaced the water the bees were nice. Now then, not all of that “produced water” that was regurgitated was successfully separated. If separated, it was punished again, by sending it back downstairs wherein it could be once again bombarded by radionuclide fallout - until such time it became statutory rape saturated with - what the hell is with that “glow-worm”? What was not separated during the normal course of events over the years, it remained a partner in good standing harmony with the “sales grade oil” shipped down the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline. But water-is-water as so with radioactive water-is-radioactive water and it makes worms “glow” in the dark. So a very large water wave, like an incoming tide, has routinely made its way to Valdez over the years wherein this Prudhoe Bay “squeeze play” has been on the game plan drawing board. It was a winning proposition, no need to change horses in midstream. Now once that “comingled” stuff makes its way to Valdez, it rests after such a long journey. During this recess kindergarten nap time, the “produced water” is set free and looks for a new life! And since there is not a jet engine driven pump that can shove that radioactive slop back north to its rightful owner, it is just thrown overboard in Prince William Sound. I guess a “Sounding” board for just how much radioactive waste is permissible until it looks like the aquatic Aurora Borealis - that glow from marine life that has not yet adapted with an inherent heredity to say no thanks at consuming those gummy worms that are so colorful. OK, again enough of the childish rhetoric, but don’t eat that fish that eats that crap. The sad thing about the mess that may have over so many years messed up the “Sound’s” self-indulged management of its living resources’ health, there are NO LAWS of record that prohibit this “radioactive” discharge, as it is not regulated and a “Test Case” has proven that the radioactive fallout from “produced waters” legally discharged are far higher then what is allowed from sea-side nuclear power plants under NRC oversight - like is found in Fukushima. Now whomever thought of this bright…it is starting to glow even more recognizable, as today there is 6x as much water being produced top-side from the “Giant” Prudhoe Bay oil field this nation relies upon, for energy independence. Remember, that is what got US in trouble back in 1973 - the reason oil development in Alaska got the “Green Light”, but was a “Glow” also authorized? And starting about 1995, the amount of “produced water” remained about the same as the oil count continued on a steep decrease, which means the recycling efforts allowed that same water to continue its affinity romance with Mr. Alpha and Mrs. Beta and the question is asked? Does it count as a “Superfund Site” if underground? It doesn’t matter, as this radioactive discharging was not and is not a “crime”! But oil men are smart, and in 2001 it recognized this problem to the point it took corrective action, as even though the lawman finds no jurisdiction over “glow worms” over-populating a place like the “Sound”, to knowingly contribute to a health risk can find a path towards litigation. And that was the reason behind what was called the “Strategic Reconfiguration”, and all-out effort blessed by the State of Alaska to moth-ball any contributory negligence equipment that could once again, if activated cause this “glowing sensation” to get even bigger. It was a pro-active stance, act now and forever hold your peace hope a jury can be convinced Good Will Hunting means well.

STRATEGIC RECONFIGURATION (SR): Strategic Reconfiguration refers to a project that today is known as Electrification and Automation (E&A). The project began in 2001 and concentrated on reducing physical infrastructure and simplifying operations and maintenance. The project’s focused on creating more efficient operations while maintaining or enhancing safety, operational integrity and environmental performance. The system is modular and scalable and with flexibility for future increases or decreases in throughput. PS 9 near Delta Junction was first to receive the upgrade, and came online with new equipment in February 2007. PS 3 was next, brought online in December 2007. PS 4 came online in May 2009. PS 1 pumps came online in October 2015, and as of April 2016, some work cutover work remained at that station.

That is a “blurp” from the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. But the original problem goes back to the 1985 timeframe, when this water-flooding “squeeze” play fascinated many of us, as it meant more money for the oil companies - which relates to bigger and brighter pay stubs and the State of Alaska by virtue its resource ownership through “eminent domain”, it also made enough $money$ to re-invest so it sports a portfolio estimated at $100-Billion in assets. The sad fact of the matter, this radionuclide collision started colluding and showing off its side effects in the Sound, well before the EXXON Valdez “wreck”. With respect to “evidence tampering”, whole new ball game! And that “wrecked” it all, as after that March 24^th “Good Friday” wreck of a lifetime achievement award for Captain Joe Hazelwood, it ruined all background datum. Valuable environmental information, captured for years prior wherein this this Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with their illegitimate children grown and known as Mr. Alpha and Mrs. Beta…what can I say as we lost the way that may have allowed pointing the finger at “Greed” over “Green”. In ending, what caught everyone off-guard this dilemma? The sheer volume of what was at stake in the Prudhoe Bay “black gold” and a limited infrastructure as the “play zone” was supposed to last at best 10-years. With that, “Big Oil” did not sink extra effort green backs into building unnecessary things. Like storage tanks up north that could be used to deprive the oil of all water before it was officially deemed “sales grade” and then shipped south - wherein the “radioactive produced water” would have remained at the source, injected and then recycled injected but all the time staying out of harm’s way. By not providing the proper infrastructure, the cat was let out of the bag. And when laws allow such truancy - the  proliferation in evil glows on!

(EXTRA, EXTRA, read all about it - this journey to destruction, as found on this "blogicide" titled "NORM - The Other Unabomber" as published on April 1, this year. NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE!)
https://chinookjournal.blogspot.com/2019/04/norm-other-unabomber_1.html 

Oh, the Water

Alaska, YES surreal a state that can build “Bridges to Nowhere” using Uncle Sam $loot$ spent faster then 11-million gallons of “benzene” toxicity gushing from the cracked hull of the EXXON Valdez. That “looting habit” on steroids means courtesy “I am he as you are he as you are me” U.S. Treasury on lock-down, but the back door left wide open. I am not rich, but would have no qualms accepting the same tax rate as Donald Trump, and I would also amend past returns so Uncle Sam could return to me some semblance of due “me” process...Alaska has always been “mean spirited” when it comes to pilferage, total disregard for another’s hard earned income taken away only to be given away in waste. Why in hell should the U.S. Taxpayers pay lucrative multi-million-dollar salaries to defense contractor CEOs when these outfits have but one customer - US! I mean, it is like an automatic “forever” contract wherein a bunch of executives that failed in the private sector rape us over the coals - what Patriotism? No different with Alaska and how it takes advantage of nobody looking or listening. Remember, Alaska once belonged to Russia, so there exists still a hangover with some of those colligarchusions! And when someone in Congress finally “biggie rats” this Alaskan style theft, in realization building bridges with no apparent usefulness and all of a sudden-death Alaska is caught in the “ACT” hand in the “Welfare” cookie jar such “pork appropriations” camouflaged as legitimate, no worry. See Alaska is well equipped with a posse of experts in Congress that can steal away even more “Treasury” money to now enjoy building a road to nowhere so the “Bridge” is now a safe haven retreat - as it a has meaning - not a target of ridicule and a “red carpet” for the “Rabid Skunk”. Who? Nancy Pelosi, Congressmen Don Young’s “Prom Queen”! Look, Young has been in love with Nancy for years, must be the Californian roots both enjoy. The only thing that divides them is Democrat blood verses Republican blood, so maybe a Keith Richard’s transfusion is necessary as life is short just ask Mick Jaeger. Truly amazing, that Mick would be first to have a heart to heart and Keith is still kicking up a “Sympathy for the Devil” hell’n storm. But I am a little confused. See, the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline was delayed for years due the “permitting” stage everyone needing a job, all during the “oil embargo” when oil was needed because “gasoline rationing” in the lower-48 was not in line with that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness “Dream”. So it required a whole lot of effort to ram-rod this project that would free the “stranded oil” and upon completion would supply 25% of “this land is your land, this land is my land” with oil! Now after 30-years wherein the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline delivered on average 2-million barrels of “crude oil” each and every day and possibly the “bits & pieces” remains of Jimmy Hoffer because the Teamsters like to always have a presence - there came an over-night change of heart with the “pipeline” owners - called the “Strategic Reconfiguration” wherein the entire operational needs of the “pipeline” went naked and thus targeted for “change”. By this time, the humongous “Prudhoe Bay” formation that held a recoverable reserve estimated at 50-billion barrels, it had been drained down only half of that “black gold”. And by this time, the $8-billion buck “pipeline” was paid-in-full and the “owners” made money through charging themselves a tax-deductible “Transport Tariff”, that which covered the costs of everything - including the Pump Station #7 piping for injecting human sewer waste into the pipeline. Just kidding, they got caught! But besides the pipeline infrastructure no longer garnishing excessive interest for loan pay off and Mafia bride bribes, the pipeline owners were sitting pretty sweet as were most of the “Big Players” that paid the state of Alaska a pittance 14% on average, so the EXXON guzzler could walk away with - do the math! One of the reasons, even after all these years profiting from oil bucks, the State of Alaska could never wean itself away from government “pork” as it gave away the farm! So why like overnight did this “pipeline” project come to an almost screeching halt with changes that signify something ain’t right? Let’s face the facts, this venture exceeded expectations beyond any “gold mining” and the EXXON Valdez was merely a “litmus test” of how non-intentional pollution pays off! Of course “Big Oil” learned that song and dance routine from Bill Sheffield’s Alaska Railroad, this Casey Jones character at one time the governor of the 49er - until he was impeached in the court of public opinion. For real, the Alaska Railroad made a huge profit from a train derailment oil spill, because it convinced its insurance carrier that beavers were to blame, so that allowed FEMA - more government “pork” - to clean up the mess and so did the insurer pay up in a double-dipping frenzy. Of record, it was the only year that the “Clown Train” made a profit and Bill retired because his executive severance was based on…drum roll please, PROFITS! Monkey see, monkey do back to Alaskan oil. Cha, cha, cha-ching changes…no doubt it was in the wind, as the fumes of that Bligh Reef oil gusher would open the door and would leave no stone unturned and this was a sign of bad days ahead for the “Big Oil” brokers. That spill would invite unwanted “oversight” and that is when the dead bodies - “Hoffer and associates - get uncovered. And before the Captain Joe Hazelwood affair with booze that was never found, “Big Oil” in Alaska had become so damn comfortable while minding its own business, along with the state itself “clueless” as 85% of the required state expenditures for roads and schools and high paid salaries all came about courtesy the “oil man”! It meant “Don’t make waves, remember the hand that feeds”. So it doesn’t make sense, to go through such pains to “decommission” an infrastructure when this stuff remotely located is not an eye soar and not an environmental hazard - just put the “lion” to sleep and if and when it is needed to transport oil in the future, it is ready to GO! What makes this “reconfiguration” even more suspect, how about the likelihood more and more oil being discovered on the North Slope, along with “heavy oil” pools that dwarf the mighty “Prudhoe Bay”? It is recoverable, but interest is today based on the going rate of oil - so as time goes on and oil prices increase, open the spigot! And did someone forget, as un-tapped “known” reserves containing recoverable oil already exists - like with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along with the “seeping giant” National Petroleum Reserve - it is only a matter of time “We the People” will have a sensation with a Viagra erection and elect a Fucking Moron for the Oval Office and a war will break out - and we will face another “oil embargo”. Sure we are much better off today then when “shortages” occurred back in 1973, but it still can cause disruptions in the “supply chain”. So what gives, why such a drastic reduction and moth-balling of infrastructure that has decreased Alaska’s oil potential production to ¼ what it once sent to oil refineries in the lower-48? Well praytell the truth it goes back to the 80s and right before the “wreck, when the ratio of oil to water switched hands and each year saw “produced water” that came “top-side” to the surface increased by on average 200%. And unable to get it under control by the early 90s when the ratio was…that water was contaminated and today super-contaminated with radionuclides that scares the hell out of the “Bean Counters”. In the beginning, as valuable oil came top-side, so did comingled formation water that finds an affinity to Thorium and other nasty earthly stuff and a majority of that “produced water” was separated and sent back down into the formation as a “sweeper”, to un-strand that oil. Then it arrived top-side again, carrying over more radionuclides, then back down for some more radioactive decaying annihilation fun. And soon, some of that “produced water” was glowing as it had become saturated, as it had packed away as much of that Thorium stuff possible under natural collusion - so what you say, as it all stayed in the ground. And nobody lives up there, so no harm. What Eskimo? Not so easy an out, as even though a majority of that “produced water” went separated from the crude oil to make it “sales grade” so it could be introduced into the one-and-only pipeline going south, well no simple separation process is 100% confident and guess what, that stuff in the form of “lingering produced radioactive water” ended up in Valdez where separation came about again, in a relaxed setting so the water that was carried over and sent down the pipeline, it could now be separated and then thrown overboard into Prince William Sound. I guess some still have it out for the Bloke, as this was murder she wrote as many marine species have not yet advanced to a stage of awareness wherein it rejects tainted food, especially the kind that glows in the dark. Oh the water, as radionuclides became an ingredient in the feeding grounds during the bottom scavenger feeding frenzy - well known fact it decimated the herring population what’s next - best get rid of the evidence! How best to do that, keep the state bureaucrats happy by keeping the beast going, keep the people of the state happy by allowing oil revenue to keep on coming so the residents can enjoy that “yearly $money$ bonus”, that which totals $131000 a family of five that have been gambling for the past 30-years - and eating the tainted fish from the “Sound”. Sound awful? Almost like a “cancer” procedure, diagnose and “gut”. Then again maybe this “strategic” means an honorable way to hide the evidence from the “crime scene”. What Crime? No crime, as one cannot be indicted for a crime if an action or inaction is not against the law. Something may be disgusting, like picking one’s nose in public or blowing a fart on a crowded socialist subway, yet more like an outrageousness in the “shame” lane. No different herein, as the radionuclides that are side effects of oil and gas development, it is well known about but not under any jurisdiction of “discharge” control - it’s a free-for-all! And that is my take on what the “Strategic Reconfiguration” of the Trans-Alaskan-Pipeline was all about, down-size so that any action or inaction minimizes “risk” yet still makes $money$. And it’s paid for, so enjoy the freebie! Yes, a re-design to lower the flow of oil as that also lowers the amount of “produced water” that comes top-side and thus lowers how much “tainted water” is eventually thrown overboard in Valdez. Hope that “crap” isn’t habit forming! That “risk” is paramount this writing. In 1989 the American Petroleum Institute, which is super-pro-active “blood out of a turnip seed Drill Baby Drill”, it commissioned a study that observed this radionuclide stuff in all major oil fields as is found in “produced water” - but Prudhoe Bay was left out of that study! Wonder why? But low and behold, a field that was producing 25% of this nation’s energy needs in the form of oil for gasoline, forgotten about during such a critical study? And that is the key, “Big Alaskan Oil” wants it all forgotten about, and how convenient that Captain Joe spilled enough oil to tarnish and disallow any previous background health checks to be used as a comparison, worthless - the Sound before and after doesn't exist! And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas rings so true what went on in the Alaskan oil patch - said again, like getting a one-night-stand whore isn’t a crime neither was sending this glowing crap overboard. OK, very unethical that’s about it nothing more to discuss, no crime intended. So start over, and in the meantime cut-back on what is coming down the “pipe” as there are just too many obligations in observations today that would allow a return to the good old days and a “glowing” performance. Yes indeed, when all else fails reasoning we find a method to the madness, cut-backs so that the oil men’s infiltration does never again affect the well-being of the Sound’s marine population and to honor that ethical call to order get rid of the infrastructure because there is no way the oil men will get away with such foolishness again, not with a new watch tower on guard. And there may be some areas of “produced water” in the formations that are just too “hot” to mine, leave well enough alone as dormancy is the best policy. Appears maybe that entity has learned its lesson - $money$ isn’t everything, take your time as baby steps make for a better future. The sad thing, since radionuclides are not under any state or Federal jurisdiction, with this thing called NORM - Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials - if “Big Oil” wanted to continue making the “Sound” glow, it could as nothing is stopping them from being foolish except if it knows about things that have been or could be detrimental to the food-chain we also enjoy, that which may be made unhealthy with what is thrown overrboard, to not act is a sin liable in the courts of law and this would be an easy victory for “victims”!

Alaska - NORM's Armpit

Why this awning inspiring title? It is paramount the three “Ps” in Participation of Precipitation denial in Perspiration. Like getting caught in that little “white house lie” and then telling another fibonacci series of… that lie begets 2 begets 3 begets 5 begets 8 begets 13! Amazing what this Moron in the Oval Office is so well spoken about, a legacy in “LIE”. But has the “LIE” become a national passion? OK and YES, but it started way before the Clintons. What’s Up Dock - Fromunder CANCER Cavern?

In 1989, the highly regarded American Petroleum Institute(API) published a “Survey Report” titled:

A NATIONAL SURVEY ON NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS (NORM) IN PETROLEUM PRODUCING AND GAS PROCESSING FACILITIES submitted by GORDON H. OTTO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON to the AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE Dallas, Texas July, 1989

It was an extensive study that which included the counter-intelligent-minous states, outer-continental shelf and of course Alaska with the subject of interest targeting oil development, as this NORM was starting to show its ugly side. So this “Survey”, it included 36000 “volunteer” samples from all the major oil fields under development that “Produced”, with emphasis on “produced water” to make a scientific and professional assessment of this character named NORM. Cheers NOT, but a “radionuclide” by-product of the “black gold” development. See, it is a “natural occurrence” this Thoruim-232 along with the sisterhood of the “Hood” with Uranium-238 - both considered “bone seekers” that can “KILL HIPPIES”! OK, before moving on how Alaska may be the “Armpit” of “Modern Man”, the API is like the NRA - used to be - as one stands up for oil the other stands up for guns and “oil and roses” made this country free - just ask Ted Kaczynski’s father Howard Murray. See at one time before this nation came so damn divided, I was one with all that 2^nd Amendment Right, as it is written in blood of our Founding Fathers: “A well regulated Militia…”, why we are allowed to carry because gun ownership means a member in good standing that “Right” under the auspicious of that “Militia”. But that “well regulated Militia” - because this “Militia” was so capitalized as found in the Bill of Rights so was defiantly defined for future use - it was done so as it finds meaning further down the road in the U.S. Constitution. It is under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief in time of need “called into duty” and I am not about to waste my time on a “LIE”. Get over it, as Trump owns your ass as did Obama, as “Militia” is so ordained under Article 2-Section 2: Presidential Powers - I am not about to abandon my country and perform “Treason” protecting his Tower.  But the API, it has always been a very strong advocate to “pump oil” and has a very good track record, even if on the side of business to at least find reason to test things “suspicious” as that organization inherits a necessity - and with this NORM that warranted the API to take action. So you can take this published study to the Bank of Trust. Now this “survey”, it included Alaska, but for some reason curious to suspicious, only the Cook Inlet oil development was included in that “survey” when at the time Prudhoe Bay was supplying 25% of this nation’s energy needs - with Texas running in second place. This study was done during the 80s, the same time oil production in Alaska’s world renowned oil field in Prudhoe Bay was ramping up and making all kinds of $money$. And with “produced oil” comes “produced water” that PARTICIPATES in the PRESIPITATION of this NORM. This “produced water” acts as the transportation for the bad stuff out of the formation - including this NORM. But things were happening so quickly in Alaska, that a large percentage of that “produced water” remained in contact with the “Crude oil” as it started out its 5-day journey to Valdez through the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline. And once finding a home in Valdez before it was loaded aboard the EXXON Valdez, it was allowed “rest & relaxation” time in a huge tank farm storage facility, wherein the remaining “produced water” was conveniently separated and discharged into the waters of Prince William Sound. And guess what? The “Water Discharge Permit” had never been re-issued since 1975 - as the EPA was too busy? That is wherein the PERSPIRATION comes into play! OK, so thousands of gallons of possible “Radionuclide” tainted water was sent into the “Sound”, as no one gave a rat’s ass as it was an “unregulated” piece of the puzzle and still the same today - no one gives a rat’s ass. And so what, as no one drinks or baths in that water except:

Most biota, with the exception of marine plankton reject radium.(Snavely1989). Humans reject approximately 98% of their radium intake. By contrast, marine plankton reject only 20% of their radium intake. In fish, 80-90% accumulate in the bones.

Damn, I wonder if that is what happened to the herring and why in hell are those fish bones “glowing” in alpha-beta-zeta from that salmon I caught in Allison Creek?

NORM Visits ALASKA

Dear Alaskan, meet NORM(Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) and here is what it means:

In 1987, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BPX) began surveying its facilities on the North Slope of Alaska to test for the presence of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Only one occurrence of NORM in a heat exchanger bundle from a gathering center was found to contain NORM scale at that time. Recent declines in crude oil production from the North Slope oil fields have increased daily quantities of produced water to over 40 million gallons in the Prudhoe Bay Field alone. Regular NORM surveys have continued since 1987 because increases in NORM are generally correlated to increased water production.

In anticipation of a future need for an economical and environmentally sound solution for NORM disposal, BPX and ARCO Alaska, Inc. (ARCO), Co-Operators of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield, began discussions with regulatory agencies and environmental groups to provide a regulatory framework for NORM disposal. The focus of the discussions was to educate both the environmental community and the regulators on the occurrence of NORM, disposal alternatives, and the relative health risks of NORM handling and disposal, compared to other commonly understood health risks faced by our society. This approach created an environment in which rational discussion and decision making prevailed, and ultimately led to approval to dispose of NORM materials either in Class II wells or in cement slurries to be used in well abandonment procedures. In 1992, BP began disposal of NORM materials via injection after five barrels of the materials were removed from a NORM scale contaminated heat exchanger during cleaning.

About 100 tons of NORM solids were cleaned from 3,000 oil production pipes and casing. The resulting solids were processed to a particle size of less than 80 mm slurried with 10,000 bbl of water, and then injected into a Class II injection well.

And here is how the Juneau “Bureaucracy” protects our children through

NO REGULATIONS:

1. Does the state have a specific provision regulating disposal of oil & gas wastes containing NORM or TENORM?

No

1.1. Does the state set TENORM disposal limits?

No

2. Does the state have a general provision regarding the licensing of NORM/TENORM?

No

3. Is this an agreement state?

No, this is a non-agreement state

4. Does the state law define TENORM?

No

5. Does the state law define NORM?

No

6. Does the state exclude TENORM from the definition of RCRA regulated wastes?

No

6.1. Does the state include TENORM in RCRA regulated wastes?

No

8. Does the state have provisions prohibiting the disposal of TENORM/NORM, applicable to the entire state?

No

9. Does the state have provisions for the protection of workers regarding TENORM/NORM that can be expressly applied to oil and gas workers?

No

10. Does the state have provisions that protect the public in regards to TENORM/NORM that can be expressly applied to oil and gas operations?

No

11. Does the state include produced water in the regulation of NORM or TENORM?

No

12. Does the state include drill cuttings in the regulation of NORM or TENORM?

No

13. Does the state include sludge in the regulations of NORM or TENORM?

No

14. Does the state include scale in the regulation of NORM or TENORM?

No

15. Does the state include contaminated equipment in the regulation of NORM or TENORM?

No

In ending, good thing Uncle Oil is looking out for us! For the rest of the story...
Norm - The Other Unabomber

Alaska’s Catch 2(3)2 Cesspool

It was in1959 when “We’re In” was the “Hot Off the Press” news, as the 663268 square miles of Alaskan wilderness went from a “Territorial” no-vote in Congress to a State of the Union. Big state, equivalent to 5-million “Disneyland Parks”, with today a dismal swamp future and I will get to that. And it wasn’t very crowded back then, about 0.0005 people per acre when “pissing in the wind” was a favorite pastime - until under statehood that enjoyment was then lobby-hobby outlawed. That elbow room wow, especially in comparison to a place like Central Falls over on the East Coast, with 24 Irish blood raised “Hoolihans” per acre and incorporated as the greatest concentration of bar rooms on GOOGLE earth! I lived and drunk there, and retreated to Alaska when the levy went dry. Now one individual “able-bodied” Alaskans can thank for that status change to the 49er with its own flag to wave, that honor belongs to a Jack Marler, as he based his Alaskan “freedom” on “No Taxation without Representation” and was celebrated in victory - and a young prosecutor named Ted Stevens went tied to the whipping post that jury so jumped ship as a G-men litigator and became a politician. Then in 1973, Alaska was once again center stage of attention, as an “oil crisis” was a curse in panic for the lower-48 and with approval from Congress, the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline was on the drawing board! And in 1977, it was “Oil In” and Alaska was on its way to a heyday drowning in “black gold wealth”, so was “Big Alaskan Oil” the likes of EXXON and SOHIO and BRITISH PETROLEUM and ARCO…that was 52-years ago this writing. Since then, the number of achievements are mind boggling, what this oil wealth has meant. Over 11-billion barrels of “crude oil” has been tapped from beneath thousands of feet of “permafrost” up north in Prudhoe Bay, and sent down the Trans-Alaskan-Pipeline. Way back when, kids in college soon to graduate realized early on opportunities with that “North to Alaska” calling and it was a new era of “I’m Here”! Today though, no longer kids in waiting but “Grumpy Old Men” well into retirement as long-lasting careers were made possible with the “oil” gamble. It has provided payback in the form of “Big Fat” paycheck after paycheck for thousands, families were raised on this $loot$ and 2^nd generations sought that “light at the end of the tunnel vision” the same path - as it was like the Energizer Bunny that keeps on giving. With oil soaked bucks rushing in like a “tar she blows” gusher, it allowed Alaska to build roads with “Bridges to Nowhere” and every year at the end-of-the-year at the stroke of midnight, each resident that endures the challenges of 8-months of winter and a few days showing some semblance of summer in hibernation, snow-blind Alaskans receive a “Christmas Bonus” in the form of $money$ from this natural resource so in vogue with keeping road rage alive and well. Alaskan oil makes motor gasoline! This Alaskan oil project expected to make it 10-years at best, beating those odds 4 to 1. It allowed the State of Alaska to become and remain the richest state of the Union, with a portfolio pushing the bar upwards $100-billion in wealth - as “Royalty Oil” by virtue of “eminent domain” was that pot of gold rainbow over yonder. The pipeline cost $8-billion and change, it did! That was just for 800-miles of pipe stick welded together by another American Hero, namely the likes of Hugh “Junior” Leslie and his “798er Okie” buddies. Not included in that price-is-right-tag, the infrastructure up north - which required numerous Arctic Ocean sea-lifts to deliver humongous processing facilities designed and built in the lower-48 with a “plug & play” commission, floating skids ready to go - it is mind boggling in itself. Especially on a winter’s day at noon-time still totally dark the whispering glow of these industrial giants bathing the Aurora Borealis in exhaust fumes from huge turbine/pump sets - sending this plume miles high into the sky. But has this “Pipe Dream” turned Prudhoe Bay into an out-of-sight out-of-mind underground “Superfund” better said yet a “Cesspool” of magnitude unprecedented? That title of this writing with that “Catch 2(3)2”, not a joke as the “22” was herein purposely replaced by that 232, to signify the radioactive radionuclide found in 232-Thorium. Caught off guard, it is a “water soluble” and “precipitator” byproduct fallout found throughout all modern-day oil development activities, not just in Alaska but everywhere on earth. In the late 80s, there came the scare that one of the big players in Alaska had discovered this radioactive stuff in “top-side” processing vessels and is of-record indicating that over 100-tonnes of “radioactive material” was collected from 3000 “sticks” of down-hole drilling pipe that was rescued for re-use, well this “crap” was collected and then forced back into the formation - turning it into a “radioactive cesspool”. That is a whole lot of…it is NOT REGULATED! Yes, well known about “radioactive decaying” by-products of “produced water” that comes topside with oil development - it’s radioactive! This is not a secret, as when something like this is NOT REGULATED, regurgitate after me: Who Gives A Rat’s ASS! So for many upon many years gone bye-bye by now that “radio-flyer-nuclide” water that tags along with oil development, side-stepping the oil recovered, another 11-billion barrels of radioactive laced water also recovered for the Prudhoe formation - or for those that cannot get over the “barrel of monkeys” it means 501893448504-gallons of stuff that cannot be discharged legally into a marine ecosystem else the “Octopus’s Garden” finds double-headed newborns. This stuff has been recycled a zillion times and each time getting more and more potent with radioactive isotopes - that which can cause DNA mutations! There comes a “saturation” point of no-return! What it means is this, front and center a nightmare “China Syndrome” hoedown occurring, underground in Alaska. In 1980, a statue was unveiled and dedicated to the workers of the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline project, as shown below. And today another statue is dedicated to the almighty Prudhoe Bay “Cesspool” and I ask, who has been fooled?

OK, so what as this stuff is still stuck safe underground and Warden Oil Man is aware of the consequences if inmate Radio Nuclide breaks out of jail. Please no parole and supervised conjugal visits only, even if Donald Trump failed at a “Presidential Pardon” for “Beaufort Sea Offshore Drilling”, because this 232-Thorium collision was from collusion “underground” and remember, Sarah Palin can see Russia from her “crapper” in Wasillabilly. But what is it that really ruined Alaska, after it was successful in becoming a state so it could collect taxes on income and then won Congressional approval to development the oil and not to forget that Captain Joe Hazelwood had nothing to do with the EXXON Valdez oil spill? Those worthless maggot’s that come north to play out that “Dueling Banjos Pig Fucking Deliverance” and “They're gonna put me in the movies, they're gonna make a big star out of me, we'll make a film about a man that's mad and loony, and all I gotta do is act naturally”. The Alaskan Film Industry - the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum’s transfer of its Hannibal Lecter cast to the “Last Frontier” appears to be a success, as “They’re In” and in the backwoods, incest is a lullaby hobby as it means more “free” money from that oil revenue!

Every Picture...

Tells her story....

Norm - The Other Unabomber

The Conclusion Behind the Wreck of the EXXON Valdez

Sidebar Attraction: This March 24^th of 2019, same day as the EXXON Valdez wreck 30-years ago and today the Department of Justice stands at ease with Attorney General Barr’s rendition of the “Mueller Special Prosecutor Counsel’s” Report, to some fans a wreck against “Democracy” those hoping for a different outcome. But remember this, Captain Joe Hazelwood was also “exonerated”, someone in the media needs to use the oil wreck in comparison to the Mueller wreck. Did Barr send the investigation off course? Like in the EXXON Valdez, the truth has remained “incognito” for many years, so we may see the same with the 2016 Presidential Election interference “hoax” as until the “Truth” is ours, it is but for a Russian Roulette “hoax”!

NORM the Boogie Woogie Bombardier - CHEERS

(Prelude to this blogicide: EXXON Valdez Wreck, Captain Joe’s Folly - Going on 30. Wednesday March 20^th, 2019 and follows herein)

Maybe a “Be Best” title would fit best like this; “The Wreck of the EXXON Valdez - Their Dream Comes True”.

I remember it well, as nightmares can last well into the chill of an Alaskan night and last much longer then a Fairbanks’ winter: “Yeah, Valdez Traffic. EXXON VALDEZ. Yeah. Ah, it's VALDEZ back. Ah, we've -- ah, should be on your radar there -- we've fetched up, ah, hard aground north of, ah, Goose Island off Bligh Reef. And, ah, evidently, ah, leaking some oil, and, ah, we're gonna be here for awhile. And, ah, if you want, ah, so you're notified. Over. Yeah. That's correct. Over.”

For the rest of the "True" story, that which explains the "sabotage" of the EXXON Valdez, upload at below “Link” or request through storylineonline@gci.net:

Norm - The Other Unabomber