I was burned out from
exhaustion buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile ravaged in the corn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".
Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile ravaged in the corn
"Come in" she said
"I'll give you shelter from the storm".
Wow, what the hell is
this stuff labeled “XYSOL”? I can't even pronounce its name and
identity, maybe I don't want too. Maybe my handicap for correct
pronunciation is consumed by the “jaw bone twitch” and lingering
“hacker's cough” that I have never recovered from, since I came
in contact with this stuff. I don't smoke! What in hell is this
“XYSOL” used for, out on this little man-made drill for oil
prospect owned and operated by Texas based Pioneer Natural Resources?
Probably enough in that tote to kill us all! It sounds scary, I wish
I had that Material Safety Data Sheet. And how come there was no
accompanying MSDS? Look, even Walmart follows the law and has a list
of detergent MSDS's available for viewing by the public – once
again it's the law! But it doesn't faze me that this two-bit outfit
would have this stuff on-board and not give a damn about the workers'
health or safety. They don't want workers to know or question
anything, that “fear me I'm the boss hog” routine. I voiced my
concerns, to the corporate side and the state of Alaska regulators –
what a joke. I ended up with egg on my face and just where they
wanted me – terminated by my own accord. I wasn't stupid and
refused to go back to the “Rock”, Oooguruk Island. Besides a
human cesspool, it was a waking time-bomb environmental atrocity. I
tried in vain to get the point across, to take care of the workers
health and safety at any expense. Why give a rat's ass about the
environment, even though this place in Harrison's Bay of the Colville
River delta was pristine, just a few years ago – before this hunk
of dirt arrived. Yes I am bitter, so should the workers or anybody
that gives a hoot about the health and welfare of not only the
workers, but the wildlife that roam these inhospitable places way up
north in Alaska. Maybe it worked, my bullish concerns attacking this
operation and the management, but I really don't know but let's hope
so. But I didn't go away. See, I concealed away enough information
that if someone's health is compromised from chemical attacks, I can
cover for them – from an evidence standpoint. Maybe I'm the victim
that now suffers, from nerve disorders, some shortness of breath and
this irritating “hacker's cough”. Once again, I don't smoke and
this condition has been with me for about 3-years. So there is a
connection. In fact, I probably keep Ricola in business. I am not one
for modern science, that which corrals modern medicine, so I live
with the ailments as I believe the body can consume to a certain
extent foreign matter detrimental to a healthy immune system. Time
will tell! Yes, I remember stumbling into this stuff, now that I have
found the MSDA and recognize what it was I was disturbing. Yes,
trying to do my job as a Pioneer operator and protecting the
environment. See, there was a breach between the well-head conduits
and the island landscape, one that was supposed to have a barrier of
protection - by the inflation of a tire tube and a redundant tube
for backup, should the primary get compromised. But with frozen
ground underneath, it appeared this became a convenient disposal site
– that out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality. It was a well hidden
opportunity to dispose away the nasty stuff. But this stuff was so
nasty, it had deteriorated the rubber gasket, not one but both
rubbers and allowing this nasty brown goo to leach away – how
convenient. And something stunk real bad, which is what alarmed me to
something rotten. Damn, I remember that night coming across this
stuff, talk about messing with a hornet's nest. When it went
disturbed, all hell broke loose and I was hit with a vapor cloud of
something so nasty it still brings on nightmares. And when I brought
this to the attention of the local management, I was told it was my
duty to clean it up. Yes, that was part of my job description, but
only if the substance was safe. But management refused to perform a
test, to see just what the hell it was that had been dumped. In fact,
the on-site environmental guy wouldn't even go near it, as he was
probably told to stay away. And when I asked him what he thought, he
had one hell of an excuse, that he was too busy with other things –
what like staying in the comfort of the camp office and eating donuts
all day? There was NO excuse! It's a 2-minute walk away. It's a small
island, maybe two-football fields in size! Get off your ass and do
something! Look, a test would have confirmed my suspicions, that it
was a cesspool of toxicity that would have aroused the EPA and the
lawman – had it been reported. And after that, I refused to go near
it again, and since it was disrupted, it was now rapidly leaching
away, into the ground beneath the island. And with rain causing
puddle swelling, guess what? Flood control means overflows into the
bay. But hopefully by then even though not correct by any stretch of
the imagination, a candidate for the old reliable “solution to
pollution is dilution”. But what about those workers that may have
been exposed to this stuff. I guess I may have been the only victim!
Yes, it was leaching away, and I am sure this dwindling out-of-sight
and out-of-mind let the bastard hornet worrier settle down, it was
their wishes coming true. I quit soon after that incident, as I have
been in this business a long time and know what a “Love Canal” is
when I see one. It was cleaned up, but never was there performed an
analysis of what the cesspool contained. I guess in time an autopsy
will tell the truth. In fact I would bet a dead seal pup could point
the finger! Look, this is exactly what happens when the regulators
are told to go soft on the oil industry and let them police
themselves. Of course this is what's going on, especially with the
“Independents” moving in to fill the void left by “Big Oil”
fading away upon the North Slope oil scene. I feel sorry for those
that were given the task to clean up this mess, then again it may
have all just conveniently disappeared, and if a smoker did have
something to do with the clean-up efforts, good luck in a court of
law. So now I suffer, but hope for the best in my health and
recovery. And I have the evidence that supports my distrust this
operation and maybe someday I can piss off the shareholders, by
winning it big in a court of law.