Cancer and the Oil Field

After reviewing a comment left on one of my postings, the subject of cancer has been brought up.  Few people think about this side of the "get rich quick" oil field employment.  The sad reality of it all is that oil field exposure comes with many health problems both to the workers and the innocent people who choose not to have any association with the industry.  Living in the center of the industrial mess, I see many health hazards from buckets and barrels of toxic chemicals laying along side the road unattended to extreme high readings of toxic gases and chemicals released into the air that we breath.  All of this comes with a price to pay, the workers seem to think the money is worth the risk, the people, livestock and wildlife that are forced into exposure with no choice are just "unfortunate".  I have noticed that none of the 350+ trucks that run up and down the roads daily have no children in them, of course not, this exposure is not good for children, and also against the law, but it is okay for a child playing in their backyard to be exposed to toxic waste 24/7???   Isn't it strange how money changes everything, from health guidelines and standards to child endangerment.  So by choice the oil field workers chance of dying of cancer is extremely high and hopefully has saved some of those "big paychecks" or invested in a good insurance policy so his family will survive without him and pay the medical bills when he is gone without selling their home and all of their belongings.  And not by choice innocent people will also die.
Based on well-documented associations between occupational exposures and cancer, it is estimated that approximately 20,000 cancer deaths and 40,000 new cases of cancer each year in the U.S. are attributable to occupation.
Exposure to arsenic is suspected as the cause of many types of cancer. The types of cancers that are found in workers that are regularly exposed to arsenic are: skin cancer, scrotal cancer, liver cancer, cancer of the lymphatic system, and lung cancer.
These are just a few of the many facts on petroleum exposure and health risks.
Interesting that Texas is on the list as one of the top oil producing states and also has an extensive list of cancer treatment centers in their state.  Now North Dakota openly brags about being on this list also, but with few to no cancer treatment centers, so does that mean we all have to travel to Texas for treatment?  or does that mean we just die without treatment?  Why would anyone in North Dakota think that they are beyond getting cancer because of exposure from oilfield toxins? North Dakota probably rates number one for denial and failure to educate employees and public on environmental exposure to petroleum hazards. The North Dakota Health Department has totally failed in this department and worse than that has put many lives at risk.

Water Water Everywhere and Not a Thing to Drink

Unfortunately this statement does not mean there is no cold beer in the fridge.  Imagine if you can to live in the year 2011 without one usable drop of water in your household, or groundwater on your land.  It is hard to contemplate just how many daily tasks involve the use of water, until you no longer have water.  From the simple things like having clean dishes and taking a shower to keeping your livestock alive.  The average cow drinks 15 to 20 gallons of water daily, so when a person owning livestock purchases land, water is obviously a very important part of this decision.  Imagine now finding land in North Dakota with clean groundwater that runs year around for cattle, a golden opportunity.  Worse yet is the fact that when this water is contaminated with toxic chemicals, livestock has to be kept away from it, and not an easy thing to do when the grass that you graze is next to the toxic water.  How do you stop a creek or stream from running?  Now you have not only lost your water, but also your feed for livestock.  You now own a hazardous and totally useless piece of property, over something as simple as water.  Imagine spending three hours every day, seven days a week just hauling water to keep livestock alive and your household running.  Clean laundry, and a hot shower after a hard days work become a luxury.  Imagine taking a shower in water full of toxic chemicals that actually eats holes into you skin, and leaves sores and blisters.  Water full of toxic chemicals that create harmful gases that burn your lungs and have hazardous health effects when heated.  We don't imagine this at our home, we live it, every day, and it is 2011.

Oil Field Contamination and What We Eat

The last thing on one's mind when they cut into a thick juicy steak fresh off the BBQ grill is oil field contamination.  Wrong, not in any state that has both oilfield activity, farming and ranching.  As more and more water becomes toxic from oilfield and fracking, also is the ground that feeds livestock and grows crops.  The population is not only being killed by the air contamination full of toxic gases and chemicals but also through our food supply.  The farmers and ranchers of North Dakota have for years taken  pride in the products they market as some of the finest in the US.  Beef, pork, dairy, alfalfa, wheat, durum, corn, oats, peas, lentils, sunflowers, safflower,canola, sugar even barley for beer and others I'm sure I have left out. The point is that all food groups are effected by this, so what will be left to eat that will be SAFE?  Even the hunting and fishing industry in North Dakota will not be safe, venison, antelope, elk, pheasant, duck, goose, turkey, and fish will also be toxic for consumption.  Will we next have to rely on a country without contamination to also feed us? This information taken from a study entitled Health hazards associated with animal feed : Dioxins have also been known to contaminate forage crops grown in the vicinity of certain industrial processes.  It has been postulated that most human exposure to dioxins is as a result of foods of animal origin, which in turn may arise from the presence of dioxins in animal feeds. Dioxins accumulate in fat to a high degree, so even extremely low levels of dioxin in feed can become significant over the lifetime of an animal and result in unacceptable residues in human foods such as meat, milk, and eggs. How many spills and releases of toxic chemicals from fires have occurred  in North Dakota in just the past month that we have been told about, and how many more that we do not know about? How badly effected and contaminated is our food already? The latest report on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing just released by the Committee on Energy came up with some very frightening facts that the ND Oil and Gas and ND Health Dept have allowed to happen within the state of North Dakota. These toxic, hazardous chemicals were used from 2005-2009,  how far and deep have they migrated into water and soil? What happened to the famous quote from then Gov John Hoeven  "we can regulate fracturing very well, thank you very much.” Something to think about when you sit down for dinner tonight, weather it be pasta or pork chops you are not safe knowing it may have been a North Dakota grown product.

Sue Your Neighbor

Here is another interesting turn of events in the money and greed battle of oil and gas and your rights to live a healthy life. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-reinbach/stop-gas-drilling-sue-you_b_787881.html  some facts about how this works and your rights with basic laws.  Mineral owners that live in some sunny retirement village may finally be forced to take note of the fact that those oil checks don't come without a catch. As the saying goes, "nothing in life is free".  It is easy to sign leases to let a company access land and destroy the water, soil and air and not give it a second thought when you live six states away and are not affected by the toxic waste.  It is the surface owner who is forced to deal with the mess and cost, and gets paid nothing compared to the damage done to the land, their livestock and health.   Possibly a person may think twice before he signs on the dotted line, knowing that he may be paying the entire lease check and more plus legal costs to the neighbor who's rights have been damaged by his greed to get a piece of the pie? It is time people are held accountable for their actions, you do not give children  permission to play on the roof of your house, knowing what may happen and what you are liable for.  It is only right that the neighbor be compensated for the fact that his property values collapse, his water supply is at risk, and your right to enjoy your property has been destroyed.

Contamination and Land Value

North Dakota Legacy Fund, nice thought but how long will this last when the State of North Dakota becomes target for some of the largest lawsuits in history? 

One of the Legacy Fund bill sponsors, Rep. Merle Boucher, D-Rolette, said the opinion reinforces his change of mind about the timing of the fund. He said it's "premature" to put so much money away when there's such impact from oil development.

After driving through the oil patch in his campaign for state agriculture commissioner, "Now I have real reservations," Boucher said.
Everyone seems to be aware there are impacts from oil development and yet no one addresses these problems.  For some odd reason they think the people of North Dakota will just live with poor quality of life and unsafe road conditions and their happy little political career goes on and their personal bank accounts grow with pay offs. Will these same people be held accountable when the State of North Dakota becomes overwhelmed with lawsuits from angry land owners that can no longer make a living because the State of North Dakota has allowed the Oil Companies to contaminate the land and water from which they make their living?  Responsibility seems to be the word of the day, and much over looked by the State of North Dakota.  First and foremost it is the States responsibility to make sure residents of the State are safe, and have clean air, soil and water, this is our one of our CONSTITUTIONAL rights and the States job to ensure we have this right. Some research has brought up a nice little law that reads: The citizens of North Dakota can sue for violations of any “environmental statute,” which is defined as “any statute for the protection of the air, water, and natural resources, including land minerals and wildlife.”  I am far from an attorney, but this seem to be pretty cut and dry and easily understood, the State of North Dakota holds much responsibility in the picture here, and they don't seem to be holding up their end of the deal when it comes to Oil development.  Land and water contamination are a serious subject, and not easily fixed.  When ground water such as creeks and streams become contaminated with chemicals, how do you clean them? or contain that water so that contamination does not go further? This is really quite a domino effect, water flows from one creek to another and soon into the river and now drinking water for communities is also contaminated.  So even though you are not the landowner directly effected by the contamination, your health is at stake. One small problem not properly addressed by the State of North Dakota becomes a huge problem for the health of the entire State. The land value of property that is contaminated becomes ZERO, this land is unsellable, worthless for farming, livestock, wildlife and unlivable because of health conditions caused by contamination. The land becomes un-insurable and will not qualify under any federal programs. The contamination may start on one piece of land and continue for many miles onto other landowners property, soon you have hundreds of acres of condemned land. Logic tells you the next step, lawsuit to regain loss of revenue, land value and quality of life. I wonder how many of these lawsuits the State of North Dakota will be involved in? my guess is many, knowing how much of our land and water has been destroyed by failure to properly regulate the Oil and Gas industry within the State. Responsibility or rather failure of, will now cost the residents of North Dakota a huge chunk of change and depletion of the Legacy Fund, in addition to the BILLIONS of dollars it will cost in attempt to try to clean up the mess they have made.  Each and every resident of North Dakota will be effected by poor decisions made by poor politicians with fat bank accounts.

Ignorance is not Bliss

I have in the past stated that ignorance is bliss, I have now come to the conclusion that IGNORANCE IS DEADLY FOR EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. I have researched this subject for months, and come across many websites and bloggs  and read many comments that are left, with only one conclusion, it is definitely scary what the general public and average joe knows about oil and gas development and fracking. This industry and our local government have for too long distributed untrue propaganda to promote only their greed and ignore the safety of the population. I guess the general population is just so busy with day to day life, they do not take the time to actually educate them self on what is going on around them. The information is gotten from misinformed sources, their buddy sitting next to them at the local pub says it is safe, my dad did it for years, it has to be okay, and of course my favorite, the state would never let companies do something that wasn't safe. It is very easy to pull up articles and studies that have been done on the subject on the internet and READ, this is the way you educate yourself, and any responsible person will do exactly this. I have read comments left by people, obviously misinformed, that absolutely amaze me, here comes that word again IGNORANCE.  The Oil and Gas Industry has stated in almost every article printed that studies have proven their methods safe. In 6 months time of reading every day on this subject, I have yet to come across this information and actually read the documents that show this. If it is so safe and is proven so, why aren't these documents made readily to accessible to the public?  I have though come across hundreds of documents, scientific and case studies stating the exact opposite of what we are told. So maybe your buddy or dad is wrong, and perhaps you should educate yourself  before you open your mouth and ignorant words come out. There is that word again. From the people doing the work to the people spreading the information, ignorance is the key word. It is not that informed people do not what to see oil and gas industry, it is that we want to see it done safely, and not at the expense of our natural resources and health of the population, livestock, wildlife, animals and future generations. The average worker in the industry has no idea what they are being exposed to and are misinformed about the health risks involved. Of course this is not addressed on new employee orientation, if you knew this you wouldn't go out and bust your ass to make a million dollars for them. Too bad your son will not have their father there to watch them graduate, or see your grandchild take their first step. This brings to mind the history of the native american indian and United States beginning. Give food to the hungry and you can manipulate them to do most anything. When cancer research first started it took years to inform the public on the importance of screening and prevention. Our medical field has much to learn on the effects of environmental  health and information to the public. As with cancer, how many people will die before this happens?  Ignorance is not bliss, ignorance is deadly.

Remember When

As children we grew up roaming the hills and prairie, playing in the creek, always bringing home a new found treasure, be it a special rock or a baby cottontail. I remember more than one morning mom pulling a garter snake or cottontail out of her boot before she could put it on, sometime during the night escaping from it's shoebox home.  The world was our playground, I have never known in my life anything but clean air, green grass and clear running water. These things I thought I would always have and no one could ever take away from me. Now they have become nothing but memories, no longer here to pass on to our future generations. How sad that our children will not experience these simple joys of growing up. God's gift to us, the basis of health, wealth and happiness, our natural resources. A beautiful summer day, blue sky, sitting under a shade tree enjoying a picnic lunch breathing fresh, clean air, birds, butterflies and flowers. The day has come where we will only know these simple things through perhaps a movie we will watch, it has become a part of history. Money, greed and power have destroyed our source of continuous life. In high school I had a History teacher, I will never forget the statement he made to us one day in class, "we will become a communist country without a war, in your lifetime you will see a day you will have no constitutional rights" I thought at the time this was a crazy thing to say, impossible, it could never be. Our forefathers had fought too hard for our freedom and rights and put in place too many laws to protect us that this would never happen. How I now wish I would have listened closer to what he was saying and would love to sit down with him and have this conversation over. Our teachers have studied to teach us, and if we would only learn from them, and history what a different world we would live in. They say History repeats it's self, how far are we from total destruction?  From my kitchen window, it appears to not be far away, the land, water and air around me is destroyed more with each passing day. Without these basic building blocks, there is nothing to build.  Pick up your camera today, take a picture of a tree or a bird sitting on a fence, preserve a part of history, this may be the only way our children will ever know what these things were.