From: John De Armond Newsgroups: misc.rural Subject: Re: Interior Dept. Clears Way for Oil Leases Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:38:25 -0500 Message-ID: <gbmls1h15uncq6303ht6ivohn6trcgqsjc@4ax.com> On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 09:08:04 -0800, Offbreed <offbreed_106@hotmail.com> wrote: >Steve IA wrote: > >> Good Morning, Jan. I was wondering what you thought on this topic. >> Gotta agree with you. >> How do you other Alaskans feel? > >I'm still trying to find something that lays out the facts, without also >trying to interpret "what it all means". This is all about hating SUV drivers and people who live better than them in general and about trying to feel superior while crammed into little shitboxes and not about drilling for oil. It's not hard to see just how harmless modern drilling techniques are. Look most anywhere in the US for new wells. One of my plots of pulpwood (sorry, I just can't bring myself to call it a farm) had a pair of wells on it back in the 80s, long before this eco-psycho stuff got out of hand. They'd cleared off a small road into the drilling spot and a circle of timber maybe 50 yds in diameter. Once the drilling was done and the derricks removed, there was nothing there other than the christmas tree. The pipeline carrying off the oil was underground, of course. These wells were naturally pressurized so there was no need to pump. Had there been a need to pump, they'd have installed a pumpjack and supplied it with electrical power. They might have had to install a separation tank if the oil had been gassy or water-logged but neither of those was the case. The wells are still there but dormant. They weren't large enough producers to make it worthwhile to pump at $20 a barrel. Maybe now... When I visited the area a couple of years ago, I could barely find it. Volunteer pines have pretty much taken over the road and the clearing again. I spent the better part of a day locating one wellhead. I'm not sure how easily I could find it again without GPS coordinates. I never did find the other one. Bottom line: oil drilling techniques for sensitive areas is harmless to the local environment. Drilling mud and other liquid consumables is tanker-trucked in and waste is tanker-trucked out. They dike up around the drilling site to catch anything that might escape before it can leave the local area. In some areas, polymer lagoon liner is laid down under fill dirt to prevent seepage of any leakage. When they finish drilling, the only evidence that they've been there a year or two later is the casing or the christmas tree sticking up out of the ground. John |