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