THIS SITE HISTORICAL:
In 2008 through 2010, an "Independent mom & pop" oil company violated the "Alaskan Public Trust" doctrine, allowing malfeasance and environmental atrocities upon the "Last Frontier". This "blog" is dedicated to follow the outcome of the illegal activities that have now become front and center attention before the regulators in charge of making sure the "Public Trust" is upheld, as a centralized forum to make sure Alaskans and others are kept abreast of penalties and fines upon those that feel Alaska is the "Last Frontier Dumping Grounds".

The above image depicts a crude oil well flow-back test, wherein for days hydrocarbon saturated "wet" natural gas was allowed to vent to the atmosphere out a safety relief valve, with temperatures and ambient conditions such that the "wet" vapors most likely condensed and fell upon the pristine waters of Harrison Bay of the Colville River delta, a place so far removed from man-made pollution. This image is also the cover photo of the report called "Alaska's Deadliest Sin", a culmination of malfeasance and environmental corruption evidence upon this Independent, collected by an ex-employee who has made it a personal "mission" to make sure this kind of irresponsible behavior is stopped and never again repeated on this "Frontier". To date, the company – Pioneer Natural Resources - has attempted to deny all allegations, but the evidence allowing denial is too strong. With that, the company has started to admit true so serious these violations. They have admitted their actions are indeed a violation of "Public Trust". With a 3rd party ongoing investigation following the submittal of the "Sin", the end result should be stiff fines and penalties upon the perpetrators, that which sends a message to those that want to "Go North" for oil exploration and exploitation.

"Drill Baby Drill" is upon us, thanks to Sarah Palin and others, and we must stand up against this all out blitzkrieg assault upon the ecosystem, to protect the environment from continued malfeasance and environmental atrocities, as it is not worth another Love Canal!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Seal Death Update


The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Enforcement Action on August 20, 2010 stating Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska engaged in improper fluid injection in Oooguruk Unit enhanced recovery well ODSK-38 (Oooguruk ODSK-38). The Commission proposed specific corrective actions and a $10,000 civil penalty under state law. This is not the end of this story!

I was the individual that brought this criminal activity to the authorities attention, as when I was employed by PNR at the Oooguruk oil development project, there appeared a lazare-faire attitude towards environmental stewardship. So after the company CEO denied my allegations, I produced “proof” that indicated some illegal injection was attempted. But here it is in a nutshell. Even though the “Operator Logbook” was testament that a superior wanted to get rid of the unsellable glycol used during start-up - due the fact it was contaminated - my biggest concern when I did bring forward this illegal disposal to the state authorities and the EPA was the fact that the engineering staff would have been able to convince the authorities that even though the “logbook” indicated a desire to get rid of the stuff, it was an ill-fated mission - due the mechanics of pumping against a deadhead. And that was the case, as the pumps utilized during this scam recycling attempt were inferior, the kind you find at Home Depot and could not produce enough head-pressure to overcome the head-pressure already in the pipelines going over to the island, where it could be injected down into the reservoirs. So the mystery remains, what happened to all that glycol? Once again said, the glycol dumping incident in which Pioneer was fined, all 40000 gallons, it did not make it down-hole wherein it would be somewhat safe while captured in the oil pools. So where did the glycol escape? If it were allowed to enter the environment, then with spring breakup it could easily find a convenient run-off into the pristine waters of the Colville River delta, into Harrison Bay, wherein the ecosystem thrives – glycol could be devastating to the livelihood of the delta and upon all species that rely on the food chain, especially seals. And that would have been the summer of 2010, when the following spring the seal deaths started to alarm the local hunters. See, glycol is considered safe because it breaks down to harmless constituents under normal temperatures associated with disassociation, but we do not find that kind of degradation here in Alaska. So any glycol haphazardly released, instead of being rendered harmless, it keeps on its destructive path, contaminating the ecosystem. I believe that the seal deaths are in part a contribution from the “missing” 40000 gallons of glycol let loose at the Pioneer Oooguruk site due crummy management and a total disregard for the environment, with the sentiment that nobody is really looking. In the below picture, this “yellow” free snow zone area is right under the tanks that held thousands of gallons of glycol. Only leaking glycol could cause the snows to disappear when temperatures were in the minus regime. This land based tank farm that held all kinds of nasty chemicals but not under any regulatory jurisdiction was a “Love Canal” just waiting to happen. Wherein the discharge vales on these huge tanks were not protected, and a slight nudge could release a torrent of glycol, it would go unaccounted for until such time we find the seals dieing off and the researchers puzzled as too why! And when the protective barrier finds no oversight and large holes are allowed, we end up with a cesspool mentality and then it is too late, as it accounts for a scorched earth. More to come.....
 Something melted the snow away?
 What protective liner?
 Scorched Earth a reality.......OTP Spring 2010