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.

North Dakota Needs a Qualified Oil and Gas Director

Understaffed and overwhelmed, government oil field inspectors are struggling to provide adequate oversight amid an explosion of activity in North Dakota's oil patch, state and federal officials told The Associated Press.
Now this statement says it all, North Dakota is in serious need of some experienced staffing to lead this industry. Our current Director, has had little to no experience in the actual "oil drilling" field. Taken from Lynn Helms Bio :a roughneck in 1976 working summers and school holidays, now I doubt that someone who worked only a couple of summers and holidays was much more than worms corner, and that job takes little knowledge of drilling. He continued his oilfield experience as production engineer, now this job has absolutely nothing to do with drilling. This is all the work experience and drilling knowledge that Lynn Helms has, and yet states he is an expert on fracking, and knows everything about it and it's effects on our resources. His management skills do not appear to be much better, It's a fire drill every day," Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said in an interview with the AP. "We need more properly trained enforcement people helping the industry stay on track." He makes this statement, but continues to hand out new permits faster than office staff can print them out. As in any business, when things get out of control, the business fails, as we are seeing here in North Dakota and feeling the effects already of poor leadership. So this is an acceptable excuse as to why our natural resources are being destroyed?  Hundreds of oilfield spills and thousands of waste disposal sites are being untended or are infrequently monitored, this taken also from the same Bismarck Tribune article, and our Oil and Gas Department allows this to go on, issues more permits, acknowledges there is a problem, and makes no changes in this department. North Dakota definitely has some staffing issues.

Surface Rights

Now in North Dakota surface rights have become non existing. Oil Companies trespass on your land, dig up soil with a backhoe, contaminate  your soil and water with oil, saltwater and chemical spills and our North Dakota Oil and Gas Department will do absolutely nothing.  You can provide their short staffed department with pictures, facts, figures and reports, thinking you should possibly have some rights since ownership is in your name, you pay land taxes and you have worked your whole life to pay for this land, but NO nothing is done on your behalf.  This is taken from the North Dakota Oil and Gas Rules and Regulations
38-08-01. DECLARATION OF POLICY. It is hereby declared to be in the public
interest to foster, to encourage, and to promote the development, production, and utilization of
natural resources of oil and gas in the state in such a manner as will prevent waste; to authorize and
to provide for the operation and development of oil and gas properties in such a manner that a
greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas be had and that the correlative rights of all owners be fully
protected; and to encourage and to authorize cycling, recycling, pressure maintenance, and
secondary recovery operations in order that the greatest possible economic recovery of oil and gas
be obtained within the state to the end that the landowners, the royalty owners, the producers, and
the general public realize and enjoy the greatest possible good from these vital natural resources.
Source: N.D. Century Code.
Now I also found on this site the Director's name is Lynn Helms, it would be a safe assumption that this declaration would be part of his job description.  Now I think it is also safe to say with employment that when you take a job and are given description of this job and what is expected of you and you do not meet your job description you soon find you are unemployed. So why then is Lynn Helms still the Director of North Dakota Oil and Gas?  I wonder who reviews his position?  If this is a law, why is it not enforced?  Why are laws made when the enforcers of these laws pick and choose when to use them?
So now you the landowner sit with the expense of  having to clean up the soil to farm, contaminated water so your livestock are now in jeopardy and still paying tax dollars to wages of  someone not doing their job. This is a no win situation, unless you are an out of state Oil Company or a ND State employee, then it is a win win situation.  I made the mistake of choosing an honest way to make a living.

North Dakota Water Contaminated with Fracking Fluid

Now at this present time the clever lawmakers in North Dakota are doing everything they can to protect the Oil Companies working within the State.  They have gone out of their way to create laws to allow them to destroy our natural resources legally. I would like to see our Lawmakers, take oath, put their hand on a bible and state they are not aware of contamination by fracking in the State of North Dakota. Last I checked it was the job of the State to first and fore most protect the welfare of the citizens of the State. Now I do believe welfare would include clean air and water being top on the list. But in the State of North Dakota it is the welfare of out of state Oil Companies and tax dollars that over rule human life, they furiously try to pass laws before it becomes common knowledge to the public that our water and air is contaminated.  Now I doubt that any North Dakota State official will admit to anyone that the water in North Dakota has already been contaminated with fracking fluid, but black and white facts prove IT IS.  Each day more private water wells and natural waterways are showing large amounts of inorganic compounds that just happen to be used in fracking, what a surprise. Why wouldn't it happen in North Dakota, it has happened in every other State that fracking takes place. Because our North Dakota Lawmakers have a handle on it!  And they actually think that we are stupid enough to believe this. Facts about fracking fluid in water:  it takes only 1% of fracking fluid in water to be deadly. Between 3,840,000 to 26,880,000 gallons of fracking chemicals to be used in one square mile — hardly a minor amount.  Of the chemicals identified by DEP as being used in fracking fluid, 34 are soluble, allowing them to move into surface and underground water. These include chemicals that cause cancer and disorders of the brain and nervous system, blood, and the immune system.  Twenty-one chemicals are readily airborne, including nine that cause reproductive problems and six known carcinogens. All the known airborne chemicals can harm the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract or liver — problems frequently reported near fracking wells across the U.S.  This is not only affecting human lives across the State but also our livestock, wildlife, animals and agriculture.  Represented on the Great Seal of North Dakota are all of the mentioned, perhaps our Lawmakers should take a look at this, as they have completely turned their backs on the welfare of the agriculture community.  They are allowing contamination of air, water and soil, three things that we will not live long without.

House Bill 1287 Open Season on Anything that BREATHES

In a previous blogg I gave information about North Dakota not abiding by the Clean Air Act and the EPA stating that no more, it is time that they start following rules. This was posted on December 8, titled Clean up Your Act North Dakota. Now the State of North Dakota's answer to this is to make a new law that protects them from the EPA and doing what they say. House Bill 1287 - Environmental protection agency rule approval required.
Rules adopted by the environmental protection agency are null and void and of no force
and effect in this state without the approval of the state agency with subject matter jurisdiction in
the area governed by the rule. The environmental protection agency may not conduct visitations
or inspections in this state without the prior approval and permission of the state agency with
subject matter jurisdiction of the subject matter of the visitation or inspection.

This will only give the State of North legal authority to commit murder. The EPA MUST have the right to oversee the welfare of the people. Air quality is one of the most important issues on health conditions within the State of North Dakota at this time. The North Dakota State Health Department has already refused to monitor air quality and this would allow them to continue this practice. I am living proof that air quality is the source of extreme health conditions and also death of livestock, wildlife  and animals.

Quality of Life

I just finished reading the State of the State Address by our new Gov Jack Dalrymple. The things you do when  the air is so bad you can't sleep. He addresses the Quality of Life in North Dakota, his words Our efforts in economic development and education are producing a quality of life in North Dakota that is improving every year.  But we must work hard to protect and preserve that quality of life against all challenges. It is evident he has not visited Frackville ND lately. We in this community have NO quality of life. I guess quality of life is rated by the amount of tax revenue the state is collecting on oil and how good the State Officials look because of the figures. We are forced to drive on unsafe roads, breath toxic polluted air, and have no rights to protect our private property from damage. In the fight to survive from day to day, we have forgotten what quality of life is. Just a speech, no one really believes any of this anyway. Did anyone other than myself notice the contributions to John Hoeven the past campaign. If you didn't, here is the info: http://www.opensecrets.org/races/contrib.php?cycle=2010&id=NDS1

Contributor	Total
Hess Corp	$21,600
Murray Energy	$20,789
NorPAC	$19,700
Berkshire Hathaway	$18,000
Xcel Energy	$18,000
FPL Group	$17,900
Haley's PAC	$15,000
State of North Dakota	$14,800
Marvin Windows	$14,600
Scheels All Sports	$14,600
Marathon Oil	$14,400
TRT Holdings	$14,400
Travelers Companies	$13,500
Missouri Basin Well Service	$12,500
Devon Energy	$12,300
Nacco Industries	$11,000
Trust Co of the West	$10,600

It is apparent where the influence within the State of North Dakota is from these figures, and how decisions are made for our welfare. A recent article on the front page of  the Williston Herald http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2011/01/02/news/doc4d1f862c04cec712979903.txt
Some area officials would like a more controlled pace. Williams County Commission Chairman Dan Kalil said county officials would like the state Industrial Commission to show more restraint in permitting wells.

"We need to be communicating with the Industrial Commission that we can't handle the pace. We don't have the housing, we don't have the infrastructure and we don't have the road system to handle it," said Kalil.
Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, has recently been saying he expects approximately 2,000 new wells will be drilled this year.Regardless of the concerns, the new wells are likely to be in the 2,000 range. Helms recently told the Bismarck Tribune that there are already 870 permits ready for this year. He added that 10 to 20 new applications are coming in to his department each week.
 Is this responsible government leadership? A county has very important concerns about the fast paced development and impacts, the safety of the residents and the State of ND says TOO BAD! I guess if you live in Bismarck it won't affect you, and you don't care as long as the money is coming in and you look good.
Have to keep those contributors happy, there will be another campaign in a few more years. Quality of Life!