KABOOM!

So SHELL is also in the fire-works display business, on occasion providing a show to the residents of Dutch Harbor. What you mean it wasn't an intentional fireworks display? Well what else can go wrong for this outfit that wants to drill for oil where no man has ventured before? Supposedly when the SHELL flotilla was leaving the Chukchi Sea in a post haste retreat to warmer climates due the ice caving in on its 2012 exploration plans, well the NOBLE Discoverer caused some laughter down at the “Deadliest Catch” docks. The residents call this exploration vessel “jinxed”, after dealing with it early on in the exploration season, wherein there comes more controversy this off-shore drilling program then possible future benefit. According to the public relations mouth-piece; “Upon engine start up at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the Noble Discoverer last Friday morning experienced a loud engine backfire followed by a small residual fire that was quickly extinguished by the crew”. But here it is, the true story, the “testimonial” facts of this matter and gives a possible answer to the “Kabooms” that were reported during late summer by scouting whaling crews in the area that SHELL was exploring. And since Obama has been re-elected, the cat is out of the bag, almost – this article shell help! It was late August when the flotilla of a gazillion escort vessels decided to make a go at braving hydrocarbon resource exploration where no man has braved before – in an area known for its whale birthing, polar bear denning and a place on earth that has been so far missing any trials and tribulations the oil men. But when the flotilla arrived in Dutch Harbor for the journey north preparation, it was under close scrutiny supervivion and oversight the men & women of the Environmental Protection Agency, or according to Alaska Senator MoanaLisa MurCowpie – the department that frustrates her “Most Wanted” axeman. indeed already a dud, MoanaLisa thinks Congress can do a better job at protecting the environment then can the entire cast of scientists employed by Uncle Sam and so educated on things like “global warming”. See, MoanaLisa knows all about land swindling dealings and nepotism, so that combined experience qualifies her to protect the air and water. It doesn't mean clean, and that “protect” clause is so defined by her constituents - “Big Oil & Mining” interests. Whatever happened to “For the People”? Imagine, crocks controlling the earth's destiny in the category of environmental responsibility. Man, what a crying out loud laugh! Now one of the requirements for the SHELL game while exploring in the Chukchi and Beaufort sea arena was to burn “Low Sulfur” diesel fuels only, the kind one can purchase at a local 7-11 pump, wherein big green lettered signs are posted – for the greening of America mandate – advertising that the fuel dispensed is legal and finds less then 15ppm of sulfur as an additive. And the fine print warns of jail time if this fuel is abused and substituted by the illegal stuff – the high sulfur air polluting crap! The change to “Low Sulfur Diesel” has caused an unbelievable downturn in documented chronic and respiratory diseases, so it works – and this came about through research reported by the EPA scientists, not Congress! So each ship in the flotilla, the fuel from each fuel tank had to be tested before the clearance was given to sail north, as the area that SHELL finds interest to exploit is protected still from outlaw type aggravation. Not a big problem, as I am sure that somewhere along the way, maybe right there in Dutch Harbor, at the pump there came that big green sign I was talking about - advertising for sale “Legal Fuel”. And too assist not contaminating the air, SHELL had installed on their own accord equipment that would scrub the ships' engine exhaust air even more, to make it even better then what was required by law. WOW! But this equipment required the LSD, as anything above the 15ppm could and would contaminate the catalyst used to burn off those nasty and unwanted cancer causing polluting constituents found in the sulfur additive. Sulfur is used to lubricate the engine pieces, so it can last longer. All was good, until...See when the fuel samples arrived in Fairbanks for the testing, to a local lab that was the closest in the vicinity that could provide the required testing according to ASTM principles, well the samples started showing in excess the allowable sulfur content and indicated that the ships had been loaded with “off-road” diesel designated for farm equipment use only. So, SHELL was already in violation the air permits, as this flotilla was on the move and engines were turning, having sailed “North” from Seattle. Matter of fact, the actual amount of sulfur in the fuel tanks was so significant that the lab personnel had to inform SHELL that is was over 500ppm, as the machine used to verify if “LSD” was loaded in the fuel tanks, well it was off the charts and on “TILT” scale. The machine could not even determine what was actually in this fuel even though it was purchased at a facility that had those big green signs! Suspicious? Well this dilemma was holding up the sailing and the exploration schedule was already critically delayed so time was of the essence. Each day counted, and a delay of a few more days could have canceled the entire show. More samples, same old thing, “Failed”. And so the situation was like this, there rested a major obstacle with contaminated fuel, and with no way to unload the “crap” and then no other way to refuel with the right stuff the amount required to fuel SHELLZILLA, SHELL was you know what! In other words, SHELL was “Palined”. In Alaska we tend to use the latter over the age old “F” word. Now the environmental permit allowed for “LSD” for one and only one reason, to limit pollution. And in efforts to accomplish that feat from the engine heat, like already mentioned and credit to SHELL without Congressional approval to pollute the air, there came millions spent in retrofits to the drilling equipment – specifically the engines by conditioning the exhaust fumes through special filters, which could become contaminated and rendered useless if fuels were burned with higher levels of sulfur, as the yellow-cake chemical attacks the filter catalyst. These devices could not survive for even an hour with fuels registering over 15ppm of sulfur. With the filter equipment on “TILT”, MoanaLisa had her wishes come true, to hell with the environment! So this backfire heard at the dock in late November with SHELL's retreat, it was most likely caused from the fact that the filter equipment designed to keep Moby Dick’s air clean, well it appears to have been broken, and this would be the cause of the “backfires”. Caused from the burning of “illegal” fuel on the high seas! SHELL is gone bye, bye by now, so are the fireworks and things appear to have quieted down at the docks. But comes now before us a real matter of concern. Somehow the earlier test results that failed the EPA approved sulfur content requirements became acceptable and allowed SHELL to go north, when time was about to forfeit their gamble for the 2012 exploration season. Had the flotilla been denied access to the Arctic, they had come prepared, as their backup plan called for taking down the American flag and raising Soviet flags. Only kidding, but we can see Russia from Alaska! But the EPA had no oversight at the site during the contaminated fuel ordeal, only monitoring the entire scenario from the comfort of an office in Seattle. And the lab results that finally showed “acceptable” where kept under tight security, on a need to know basis the actual results. But the “backfires” should sound a warning that something ain’t right. Now it gets into the political arena. Obama was all for drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort sea, so the EPA had their mandate - “APPROVED”. And since MoanaLisa MurCowpie is adamant at destroying the climate as she wants the EPA mothballed, well the heat was on to get SHELL going north, to Alaska's resource rich ARCTIC in efforts to make some show of success this drilling venture. So it is more likely then not that the EPA turned a cheek and allowed SHELL to head north with contaminated fuel. The drilling commenced, the pollution equipment worked for a while, went broke from sulfur contamination, all was well, as OBAMA was now looking at another inaugural celebration and didn't get evicted from the Oval Office. Is it true that the maids still find Bill's “used” cigars around the White-House? So suspicions, should be no longer just a question, as this was all out abuse of the system when political aspirations trump the air we breath. But herein exists the bigger problem uncovered with this coverage of SHELL. It costs a whole lot of extra loot to make “LSD”, the “Low Sulfur Diesel” stuff. Refiners make both, the good and the bad, then blend it to conform to EPA specifications. That stuff is then distributed to the pumpers. But who in hell is watching? Look, the retailers are smiling all the way to the bank, as they are charging you and I for the good stuff and in return we are polluting the environment with the unchecked stuff. When the fuels showed above and beyond the required level of sulfur, the EPA should have started an investigation, as it may have pointed to a widespread problem, not the fact that nobody gives a rat’s ass about our air quality, but the fact that we are getting charged at the pump for the environmental friendly stuff when all the time trucks, buses, rail-lines, they are burning the bad stuff. Now you may not use LSD directly, but it effects your wallet, as transportation of goods requires the “good” stuff, wherein the cost are consumed by the “consumers”, that's still us unless MonaLisa gets her way. See, she believes in nothing, so you will end up with nothing! But if it is true that the pumpers are selling “crap” and stiffing us for the real McCoy, what a way to make a profit. My research points to an extra 50-cents on each gallon sold at the pump. Multiply that by millions sold each week, get the point! It’s happening, as the refiners can blend stuff to help the bottom line and if tests are not required but on a randomly sampled basis – which means never if nobody is watching or “book-cooking” if not through close oversight - and allowed through an abusive policy of “trust us” from an EPA friendly mandate, guess what is happening to an LSD pump near you? The intent was good, as a ways and means to limit air pollution. Sulfur causes all kinds of environmental problems. Yet in the end, as when regulators come under the gun by Congressional pressures and see the scalpel approaching with the likes of MoanaLisa at the operating controls, ethics and responsibility runs for cover. And when dedicated scientists go over the edge to bring a shelved concern to the forefront and end up with a crime stamp, for allowing government information to get outside its intended audience, we find a retaliatory environment. Yes indeed, U.S. government scientists can go to jail for doing too good a job! Is this Russia? Again, we can see it from Dutch Harbor! And no matter what the law says, we are the audience so any scientist that goes out of his or her way to blow the whistle then loses that job with benefits, just to bring something “bad” out in the open, you my friend deserve a “Badge of Courage”. Bottom-line, even though that sign spells it out that the LSD fuel is what the law says “SHALL” be consumed by your piston like engine, it appears SHELL has uncovered a conspiracy, and the EPA remains silent. And not only is this a case finding merit an environmental crime, it is a crime also of “fraud”, as we paid more for the environmentally friendly stuff through taxes that were collected by Uncle Sam, in efforts to study the adverse effects of MoanaLisa MurCowpie. Whatever! Anyway, we have been triple-dipped robed, and we wonder what happened to good conscious! KABOOM, the sound of a distressed America! Coming to a diesel fuel pump near you! Thank you SHELL, for uncovering this calamity for the good of America, now if only we had a representative body that gave a damn!