Monday, August 15, 2011

Give the Local Boy a Title/Pay Him to Lie

As with government, media and court systems local workers and residents are also caught up in the oil & gas game. As the old saying goes "money changes everything" including peoples values on right & wrong. I personally know several locals, born and raised in the area that now have "positions" with out of state  oil & gas companies that are a prime example of this. The locals have worked in the industry for years through the good and bad, at times have not had a "pot to piss in" and are now swimming in cash thanks to oil & gas. Everyone needs a job, and has to feed their family, but at the expense of peoples lives? The local boy has stomped jugs, shoveled mud and done all the crap work for years and along comes a company that will offer big bucks and little work in exchange for their local ties to the community. Oil & gas companies know who these persons are and can pick them out in a line-up. Qualifications for the job are the last thing necessary, wave a little "green" under their nose and they become puppets to the industry.  The locals are used to gain trust in the community, open doors to access land and water, and worth every penny they are paid in the oil & gas game.  The title they have been given gives them a feeling of worth and position among their friends and fellow workers and they do not realize they have been "bought" just a pawn, someone to do the dirty work and save face for the company. Their job requires them to lie on reports, lie to landowners, lie to workers and in return they can buy a new pickup they couldn't before.  He has sold his soul, lost the trust of local residents and landowners and people he has known for years, but most important now has a bank account with money in it, something he has never had before. This type of person has little education, and obviously little to no conscience and base life and self worth on money, oil & gas companies "ideal" employee.  When the "boom is bust" they are dropped like a dime, without a second thought, but the community will remember what they have done to their land and lives and are very unforgiving for the lies they have told.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Safety Alert : Workers in Bakken Oilfield

With the recent explosion of a drilling rig near Beach, and numerous other explosions and fires in the past year, toxic and explosive gases have become an obvious threat. The dirty little "secret" of the ND Health Dept, ND  Oil & Gas and the oil companies is becoming very dangerous. I have never been to orientation for employment for any oilfield positions, but I can imagine if you were made aware of the gases you are exposed to on a daily basis, you would probably go back to your home state and work at Taco Johns. The lies of the leaders of the state of North Dakota are becoming more obvious by the days, pay offs and greed of the Oil companies involved are common knowledge. We are all casualty numbers figured on their profit charts. OSHA of course is there to protect you, but you first must know what is going on for them to help. If you take 5 minutes and read the following information if will make a life saving situation out of a corrupt lie. When strange health issues start from exposure, doctors have no starting point unless they know what the exposure is. Symptoms can be treated, with little success if exposure continues. Residents living in areas of oil & gas activity are exposed 24/7 with extreme health issues as a result, but without proper testing do not know what they are exposed to. The ND Health Dept refuses and have not given proper information to residents and workers alike, thus subjecting you to a very life threatening  situation.  Testing in the Bakken area have resulted in very horrifying results to what we are exposed to. Toxic, hazardous and carcinogenic gases such as Benzene, Xylene, Toluene, Chloroform, Methane, Propane and Butane to name just a few. There are of course the chemicals also released into the atmosphere from the drilling and fracking process. Knowing this information it comes to no surprise that a drilling rig would explode and threaten the lives of the workers. These gases are common for the Bakken and released in very high levels. The problem with the situation lies in the hands of the ND Health Dept, first they will not acknowledge that the gases exist for obvious reasons, danger and life threatening, if workers were told this, who would they get to come to ND and work? Second, the ND Health Dept is knowingly putting the residents lives in danger. Knowledge is the most powerful tool here, remember this information for future use when you end up in an emergency situation, it could save your life. Do your own research on the effects of these gases, contact OSHA, internet searches will also give you additional information. All these gases are explosive and over exposure can kill in moments, daily exposure will cause permanent damage to nervous system, immunity, blood, liver, and most important lungs and cancer.