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Kend ~ I do believe that the "largest environmental clean up in earths history" will occur when the ice age repeats itself and buries Canada and North America under a one mile high sheet of ice... Better brush up on you Eskimo.
Kend: YeGads! I just saw the biggest piles of Sulphur I've ever seen...I thought the ones in Saudi Arabia were pretty big. Do a Google image search on syncrude sulphur pyramids. I checked out Ft. McMurray and ventured up north a bit where Syncrude and CNRL have Tar Sands mines ...
When I was in Saudi Arabia driving down southwest of Dhahran..I think it was somewhere down around ABQAIQ...I saw what looked like some very misplaced giant buildings in the distance..they were very yellow....the closer I got the more I realized they were not buildings but giant blocks of sulphur quite a few stories high.
They can sure make a lot of matches, or other extremely flammable things, with all that sulphur.
By the way, here is an interesting web site:
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/what-you-need-to-know-about-t...
Maybe I can help mark. look at the oil sands as the largest enviromental clean up in earths history. All that dirty oily sand cleaned up. Can't we all just feel so much better knowing we are spending all that money to help the enviroment.
I'm sorry to ruin this but I've just gotta start some shit, LEAVE IT IN THE GROUND!
There, now we can go back to the happy talk format.
Woof, woof
1941. America is still great. That's why millions want to immigrate there. Don't give up yet
I think it is sad that the American people seem to have forgotten that America once was great. We did Big things, we invested in our people and in the country's infrastructure that serves people. The money in politics has made people feel ineffective and depressed. Who can compete with the Koch brothers? The complacency and apathy shown by the American people today is astounding.
Palin 762,000 wells and that is nothing compared to what the oil sands produce. We send about 2.2 million barrels a day to the US by pipeline every day. Google Ft McMurray. The oil sands is the biggest engineering project in the world. Come up and take the tour it will blow your mind. That's why I get so mad when I here "tar sands dirty oil" is is far from that it is a engineering marvel. Very environmentally sound. This is Canada you been here we take great pride in our beautiful Counrty.
I noticed that the welltriever link I left in my last message did not work. I guess a better place to start is at the home page:
https://www.welltriever.com/
Wow! 762,000 wells drilled in Canada. Amazing!
(note: After you select Alberta, or any of the other provinces, you have to zoom in about 9 times before you can start to see the well symbols. And if you click on a well symbol it gives information about that well.)
I sure do wish your son a lot of good luck and hope he never has to experience any of those blowouts!
By the way, I had initially called it a "lab" but meant to say "fab"...I changed it...A "lab" might have bugs...like viruses or bacteria (hopefully always contained)...but a "fab" rather than those kinds of bugs has lethal gases (again, hopefully contained) that our masks wouldn't have done anything to protect us if an accidental leak happened.
The fabs normally have loud warning alarms like Klaxtons that go off when the sensors detect a gas leak. And we have to evacuate the fab immediately. I have been through a few fab evacuations in the over 25 years I worked in that field. In one case, however, the fab's alarm didn't go off and I was working down behind a piece of equipment when they came through the fab to tell us to evacuate. So, they missed me. And when I finally came up from behind the equipment, I came face to face with a person wearing a haz-mat respirator. She was very alarmed that I was still there. I evacuated immediately. I guess, since I'm still here, it must have been a false alarm. Thank goodness!
Legend: 150 drug/alcohol tests? That's incredible! Do you have a job where the lives of other people would possibly be in danger if you made a mistake?...like an airline pilot? You don't happen to work as a lab rat at someplace like United States Drug Testing Laboratories do you?;-}
It is?
ya this was tank air very dry. I would be more afraid of the lab. All those bugs. One of my sons works on the pipelines and he has to go every year for re certification of what we call H2S alive, confined spaces, and first aid, and hazardous goods, those courses cover all of that if you don't have your ticket you don't work, period. He just did it a couple of weeks ago. He was impressed that I remembered so much. There is five steps. 1 evacuate. 2 pack up, 3 sound alarm, 4 retrieve victims 5 revive victoms. In other words always know which way the wind is blowing and run. Safe your self first like on a planE
You are probaly right about that accident. We didn't where are packs as much as we should have.
Kend: Thank you for the very interesting adventure. I learned a lot. I think I have narrowed down my search for the well you worked at between using Google Earth and https://www.welltriever.com/wells/ One thing I remember reading was that they couldn't get a crane into the well site because of the two bridges were not strong enough for the weight. And I am thinking they are referring to some simple road bridge very close to the site. I know there are a number of little lakes in the area at about the 40 kilometer (25 miles) area due south of Edson. And the welltreiver web site shows the abandoned wells along with the productive wells. I've got a bunch of abandoned wells marked on Google Earth in that area. It doesn't take long for the foliage to obscure these sites.
You said that you hated wearing those air packs and those 2 guys at the Lodgepole blowout, who got killed because they had removed their air pack respirators, probably removed theirs for the same reason...and it killed them. I don't know... just my guess. I know how hard it is just to have to wear a simple surgical mask...a face mask that we had to wear all the time in the fabs we had to work in. In those cases, it was more for protecting the product (the surfaces of silicon wafers) from hairs, or saliva, or skin cells. When dealing with micron or sub-micron sized detail...a simple hair or dust or even a skin cell could destroy the device.
One good thing is that the safety regulations now call for workers to wear special fire resistant clothing rather than the old oil soaked clothing. That's got to be pretty miserable to work under those conditions! I guess that's why they have to pay them so much. At least I hope they still pay them a lot.
Were you working there at that site that day? The reports say that about 8 other men were sent to the hospital in Edmonton. How many men work at these sites at the same time? I hope those 8 other men fully recovered.
Aliceinwonderland ~ This may be off topic but I attended a city meeting this weekend at your old stomping ground Castlemont High School. When it was over we took our time and toured the place. A very beautiful school I wouldn't mind attending myself if I were young enough. Everything is brand new from the gymnasium to the sports field. The meeting itself was held in the theatre which was spacious clean, had an ample stage, and brand new upholstered seating. In the back, near the sporting ground, there was also an organic student garden. We walked all around the campus; and, the most striking part of the campus was the extensive murals along the walls. I took several pictures for myself but couldn't figure out how to share them here on this forum so I googled "murals castlemont high" and found this link:
https://www.google.com/search?q=murals+castlemont+high&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS445&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Rz4mU7CyF8_loASP4oLwBA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=785
Sadly the most striking mural isn't on this page. It was a painting of an eye with a green iris, The pupil in the center was the world. Most provocative.
Anyway, we were just thinking about you while there and had to drop a description of the day. Take care.
Palin you are amazing. I didn't know Glen went to court. I was told by the boys they cut a corner they shouldn't have it was A huge mistake that caused it. There has been many changes to safety rules since then of course. Canada is very strict when it comes to work place safety. there is no doubt it would be Toolpushers (glen) fault. He did manage the rig and the crew. Spicer was engineer or the "company man" as we called them the oil company hired him to supervise the rig. He would also have all the well programs. We hated those lazy #%& holes. Always in the way.
there was a lot of sour gas in that area. if I remember right there was a lot in the Brazeau area just south of that location. I remember wearing a air pack well you worked in some areas. dryed out your throat. Hated them.
I inhaled a lot of that shit over the years might explain some of my comments on this blog LOL.
Ya the good old days Mark . Where did they go. The only way to get high wages back is demand. in those days if you could fog a mirror with your breath you where hired.
Thanks for the great memories Palin. I think I'll pour a stiff rum and coke in honor of Morty. Thanks again
Kend: You might also be interested in this:
http://www.fieldlaw.com/articles/LFM_ABnewOHSregime.pdf
Check out the last paragraph on the right side on page 8..and check out page 9.
This has to do with Harold Spicer and Glen Blakely. This document is the first time I've have been able to find any mention of "Westwood" in relation to this well.... The companys involved: Westwood Wells and Lac Minerals
I have had 150 drug/alcohol tests for my job. All in the USA. Have performed the job many times in 8 other countries and never had a drug/alcohol test. This is one of the less free country in the world.
Right along with wag-the-dog is the dog-whistle-politics! Doggon it!
I'm afraid we all come back to do more time on the rock. Reincarnation is, I believe, a fact.
Thank you, Kend, for that information. I have revised my search and have found this:
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1986/Natural-Gas-Well-Blows-Out-Killing-2/i...
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19860831&id=Vo9TAAAAIBAJ&...
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19870217&id=Hr8yAAAAIBAJ&...
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And here are some other articles that may take a little bit more effort to read....when you first get there...you see a lot of black...just go down and you will see the printed matter. With these old newspaperarchive websites...they do show the articles all jumbled together and you have to search on key terms once you get to the site..oftentimes, they will begin the article then, without any notice, jump to some other page when they will put more parts of the article. I think that if one were to subscribe to this newspaperarchive..they may show the paper as it would look normally. But, at least, the information can be found without having to subscribe...it's just harder.
http://newspaperarchive.com/ca/alberta/medicine-hat/medicine-hat-news/19...
(note: the report starts at line 20 and ends at line 38.)
http://newspaperarchive.com/ca/alberta/medicine-hat/medicine-hat-news/19...
(note: the report starts at line 46 and ends at line 56)
http://newspaperarchive.com/ca/alberta/lethbridge/lethbridge-herald/1988...
(note: the report starts at line 6 and ends at line 12)
In each of these, there could be more to the story further on down or on the next pages.
The news sources say that the blowout well was 25 miles due south of Edson. So that would put it about 40 miles west of Cynthia. And so that would also make it about 32 miles west and a little north of the Lodgepole blowout of 1982. One thing about the Westwood blowout was that it was not as severe as the Lodgepole blowout. For one thing the fire was put out fairly quickly and for another it was considered a "sweet gas" rather than a "sour gas" well..very little H2S compared to the Lodgepole blowout.
Isn't that just what a good, union job should be? Money falling out of your pockets but working hard. I was a Teamster in college, in the '70s, and it was like that. A lot of the guys started businesses with that money.
Here's the smoking gun on what I was talking about http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/14/dog_whistle_politics_how_politicia... it contains previously unavailable audio of Lee Atwater, chairman of the Republican National Committee in the '80s, eplicitly instructing Republican operatives on how to use racism to get voters to vote against their fellow Americans rather than their big business exploiters and would be enslavers and instead of for themselves.
In addition, Republicans divide America on the basis of class by stigmatizing poverty and villifying the poor and by fomenting tremendous class insecurities in Americans, so much so that many Americans choose to deny their relative disadvantage and suckering and instead harbor an illusion that they are "temporarily inconvenienced billionaires" rather than struggling middle class or even poor. This does very much to prevent any unity or solidarity among working people and average Americans.
Palin I remember that one but the one I was talking about was just north of a town (gas station and church back then) called Cynithia and south Edson a fairly good size town. all I could find was a small article from a Edson paper. The blow out was on Aug 31. 1986. The rig was a service rig called Westwood rig 4. The guy I knew who passed was Brian Morton. He was missing a few fingers from a different accident Great guy but a little careless. This whole conversion has brought back some great memories of some great times. Back then the money was falling out of our pockets but we worked hard. After that fire the tool push Glen Blakey if I remember right started a safety company. Great guy for the job as he had scares from the fire. Soon after it was manditory that all workers wore fire resistant coveralls. Before that we wore oil soaked sweats or jeans In the summer and oil soaked insulated coverall in the winter.
Prof.Hartmann what ? 3.9 Trillion in one year! Now what to spend it on?the Millau Vaiduct 500$million Millau Viaduct - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the American people could BUILD 900 a YEAR (450 billion goes to servicing the Debt every YEAR) Each Country pays to a Few Families !!The World is A Debt Slave
3.9 Trillion Wake UP WORLD!! Down with the DEBT SLAVERY
My head will be on a pillow shortly..getting sleepy.