Message from the GOVERNOR
Linspire User
This was mailed from the
Department of Revenue
Commissioner's Office
The Alaska Gas Pipeline
PO Box 1104430
Juneau, AK 99811-0430
I wonder how much state funds were used to produce and mail this booklet.
I recall when Governor Knowles sent out a booklet there was a not where
it stated the cost of producing and mail the booklet. All the talk
show head were talking about the cost of Governor Knowles mailing. It
was then state that law required the cost of the booklet be printed on
the mailing page. Does anyone know if this requirement still exist of
did it only apply to Governor Knowles?
My bet is there will not be a word said about this mailing.
LEG...@webtv.net
---
ISN'T THERE ANYTHING ON THE BOOKLET SAYING "WHO PRINTED IT?" YOU SURE
DIDN'T GIVE MUCH INFORMATION, LIKE WHAT THE "TITLE" OF THE BOOKLET IS
AND WHAT THE BOOKLET DEALS WITH, I.E. TAXES, NOTICES OF HEARINGS, ETC.
--
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY USUALLY DOES THIS. HERE IS THERE PRINT SHOP
WITH AN E-MAIL ADDRESS WHICH YOU CAN CONTACT AND DESCRIBE THE BOOKLET
TO ASCERTAIN IF THEY PRINTED IT THEN CONTACT THAT STATE AGENCY WHO
ORDERED IT AND THEIR CONTACT, I.E. THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO ORDERED
IT.
--
Subject:Alaska Legislature-PRINT SHOP
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/legaff/printshop.htm
>
--
THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE HAS SECTIONS DEALING WITH LAWS GOVERNING THE
COST OF PRINTING, DUPLICATING, ETC.
--
YOU REALLY SHOULD DO SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN, THEN LET US KNOW WHAT
YOU FOUND, I.E. IF THIS IS AN OBVIOUS "POLITICAL MATTER", I.E. DEMO OR
REPUBLICAN, IT MIGHT BE AN ILLEGALLY PUBLIC PAID PIECE OF PROPAGANDA,
WHICH ALASKANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. GOOD LUCK SYLVIA
LEG...@webtv.net
---
P.S. YES, I SAW THAT YOU SAID IT CAME FROM THE DEPT. OF REVENUE, BUT
THERE ARE MANY DIVISIONS IN THAT AGENCY. SINCE YOU STATE IT HAS
SOMETHING TO DO WITH "OIL AND GAS", AGAIN, THERE ARE MANY SUB-DIVISIONS
FOR THEM ALSO. WHO KNOWS, MURKY MIGHT HAVE USED THE PUBLIC TREASURY TO
PROMOTE "HIS OIL/GAS PLAN"..WHICH IS A NO NO, ESPECIALLY DURING AN
ELECTION YEAR AND ESPECIALLY IF HE IS USING IT TO RE-ELECTED.
Linspire User
I have done my home work and can't find any place on this document that
conforms with.
AS 44.99.210. Disclosures On Publication.
If the actual annual costs for a publication of a state agency that are
paid from the general fund exceed $1,500, or if the actual annual costs
of a state agency publication that is a report required by law are paid
from a source other than the general fund and exceed $1,500, the
publication must include a statement that gives the name of the agency
releasing the publication, the purpose of the publication, the cost for
each copy of the publication, and the city and state where the printing
was done. The statement must read: "This publication was released by...
(name of state agency)..., produced at a cost of $..... per copy to...
(statement of purpose)..., and printed in...... (city and state where
printed)." If the publication is required by law, the statement must
also include: "This publication is required by... (appropriate citation
to Alaska law)." The statement may include, if applicable, a declaration
of the revenue raised by the sale of the publication or from the
purchase of advertising in the publication. The statement shall be
printed in one conspicuous place in the body of the publication in a
type size that is not smaller than 12 points and shall be placed in a
box composed of at least two point rule. In this section, "cost for each
copy" means the figure that results after dividing the total contract
cost of producing the publication by the number of copies produced. This
section does not apply to a publication that is intended primarily for
foreign or other out-of-state use, to a program for a public ceremony of
a state agency, or to materials used by a state agency to develop a
market for the agency's services or products.
LEG...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> LEG...@webtv.net wrote:
>
>>Linspire User wrote:
>>
>>>Today a received in the mail a message from the Governor.
>>>This was mailed from the
>>>Department of Revenue
Lets see it was mailed from the Department of Revenue
>>>Commissioner's Office
>>>The Alaska Gas Pipeline
The Alaska Gas pipeline Office.
Linspire User
>
>
> Linspire User wrote:
>
>>Today a received in the mail a message from the Governor.
>>This was mailed from the
>>Department of Revenue
>>Commissioner's Office
>>The Alaska Gas Pipeline
>>PO Box 1104430
>>Juneau, AK 99811-0430
>>
>>
>>I wonder how much state funds were used to produce and mail this booklet.
>>
>>I recall when Governor Knowles sent out a booklet there was a not where
>> it stated the cost of producing and mail the booklet. All the talk
>>show head were talking about the cost of Governor Knowles mailing. It
>>was then state that law required the cost of the booklet be printed on
>>the mailing page. Does anyone know if this requirement still exist of
>>did it only apply to Governor Knowles?
>>
>>My bet is there will not be a word said about this mailing.
>
> ---
No I can't find who printed it.
> DIDN'T GIVE MUCH INFORMATION, LIKE WHAT THE "TITLE" OF THE BOOKLET IS
> AND WHAT THE BOOKLET DEALS WITH, I.E. TAXES, NOTICES OF HEARINGS, ETC.
is propaganda from a state office.
> --
> LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY USUALLY DOES THIS. HERE IS THERE PRINT SHOP
> WITH AN E-MAIL ADDRESS WHICH YOU CAN CONTACT AND DESCRIBE THE BOOKLET
> TO ASCERTAIN IF THEY PRINTED IT THEN CONTACT THAT STATE AGENCY WHO
> ORDERED IT AND THEIR CONTACT, I.E. THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO ORDERED
> IT.
> --
> Subject:Alaska Legislature-PRINT SHOP
>
> http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/legaff/printshop.htm
>
> --
> THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE HAS SECTIONS DEALING WITH LAWS GOVERNING THE
> COST OF PRINTING, DUPLICATING, ETC.
> --
> YOU REALLY SHOULD DO SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN, THEN LET US KNOW WHAT
> YOU FOUND, I.E. IF THIS IS AN OBVIOUS "POLITICAL MATTER", I.E. DEMO OR
> REPUBLICAN, IT MIGHT BE AN ILLEGALLY PUBLIC PAID PIECE OF PROPAGANDA,
> WHICH ALASKANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. GOOD LUCK SYLVIA
I found the Law As 44.99.210. I guess who ever printed this document
tried to comply with the cost discloser law.
Who ever when the former Governor sent out a mailing Milenda Taylor got
beat up bad by the local talking heads the cost block didn't comply
perfectly with state law requirements. Now we are not hearing any thing
from them. I knew that if I waited long enough the double standard would
show. There is one rule for us and one for them.
>
LEG...@webtv.net
Linspire User wrote:
> Now the covert message.
>
> I have done my home work and can't find any place on this document that > conforms with.
> AS 44.99.210. Disclosures On Publication.
******************************************
(A)> If the actual "annual costs for a publication" of a state agency
that are >
"paid from the general fund" exceed $1,500,
*****************************************
or if
(B) the "actual" annual costs > of a "state agency publication" that is
"a report required by law"
------------------*****************************
are paid > from:
***************
(1) a "source other than" the general fund and
******************************************
(2) exceed $1,500,
*****************
---
the > publication must include a statement that gives:
****************************************************
(1) the name of the agency > releasing the publication,
---
MY RESPONSE:
YOU SAID IT IS "FROM THE DEPT. OF REVENUE". THIS WOULD SATISFY THIS
LAW;
----
(2) the "purpose" of the publication,
---
MY RESPONSE:
SINCE I CAN'T READ THE BOOKLET YOU RECEIVED, I STILL FIND THAT "THE
PURPOSE" OF THE BOOKLET IS "WHAT NEEDS TO BE DECIDED", I.E. I AM SURE
MURKY WILL CALL IT, "A PUBLIC SERVICE" TO THE PEOPLE TO BE INFORMED,
BUT..
--
THE FACT THAT "MURKY'S GAS PIPELINE PLAN", IS
JUST ONE OF TWO PIPELINE PLANS, MAKES THIS "SPECIAL
***************************** ******************
MAILING" A CLEARLY BIASED AND POLITICAL MAILING,
***********************************************
IN MY OPINION, BUT IT IS UP FOR "OTHERS" TO MAKE THAT LEGAL OPINION.
---
NOTE: IF YOU GO TO MURKY'S OWN WEBSITE, YOU WILL SEE A BIG LINK ABOUT
"HIS GAS-PIPELINE PLAN". IS THIS ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT YOU RECEIVED
IN THE MAIL?
---
IF SO, THEN ONE COULD QUESTION "WHY" HE FELT THE NEED TO "SEND IT TO
PEOPLE" BY USING THE STATE TREASURY,
IF IN FACT HE DIDN'T PAY FOR IT, HIMSELF.
---
NOTE: LOOK AT THE STATE STATUTES RE THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE. I THINK I
READ THAT THE GOVERNOR, LIKE THE LEGISLATURE, HAS A "CERTAIN AMOUNT
LEGISLATED FOR "PUBLIC MAILINGS" WHICH IS BUDGETED FOR IN THE
GOVERNOR'S BUDGET, WHICH BUDGET SHOULD ALSO BE ON-LINE. THIS COULD BE
"FUND" THAT HE USED TO SEND OUT THIS BOOKLET.
--
(3) the cost for > "each copy of the publication",
--
MY RESPONSE:
SEE MY ANSWER TO #2 AND CONTACT THE STATE PRINTSHOP FOR INFO ON WHETHER
IT DID THE PRINTING AND ACTUAL COST FOR PRINTING & POSTAGE", ETC.
NOTE: I ALWAYS TAPE RECORD MY CALLS TO THE BUREAUCRACY WHEN I WANT TO
MAKE SURE THAT "WHAT THAT PERSON SAYS WILL BE DOCUMENTED".
---
and
(4) the city and state where the printing > was done.
--
MY RESPONSE:
SEE # 3
---
(5) The statement must read:
***************************
"This publication was released by...
> (name of state agency)...,
produced at a cost of $..... per copy to...
> (statement of purpose)..., and
printed in...... (city and state where
> printed)."
-------
(6) If the publication "is" required by law,
---
the statement "must" > also include:
*********************************
"This publication is required by...
(appropriate citation > to Alaska law)."
---
The statement "may" include,
if applicable,
a declaration > of the revenue raised by the sale of the publication or
from the > purchase of advertising in the publication.
---
MY RESPONSE:
ARE THERE ANY ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE BOOKLET, IF SO, FROM WHOM?
---
(7) The statement shall be > printed in
"one conspicuous place in the body of the publication"
--
MY RESPONSE:
FROM WHAT YOU STATED, THERE IS "NO" STATEMENT WHATSOEVER AND IT
CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE THERE SHOULD BE, WHETHER THE STATE TREASURY OR
OTHER FUNDS WERE USED, I.E. EITHER CASE THIS STATEMENT SHOULD BE IN THE
BOOKLET.
--
SO, A VIOLATION OF THIS LAW HAS BEEN COMMITTED, AND AS WITH KNOWLES,
THE PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IT (IN MY OPINION). THEREFORE YOU MIGHT
WANT TO DO THIS:
(1) SEND THIS POST TO THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, T.V. AND RADIO MOST OF
WHICH HAVE E-MAIL CONTACTS;
--
(2) SINCE THIS MIGHT ALSO INVOLVE "ETHICS" VIOLATIONS OF THE ELECTION
CODE...A COMPLAINT TO THEM; AND
--
(3) A COPY TO THE OTHER CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR, BECAUSE THE "GAS
PIPELINE" WILL CERTAINLY BE ONE OF THE "ISSUES" THE CANDIDATES WILL BE
PUBLICALLY DEBATING AND THIS BOOKLET SENT OUT NOW TO THE PUBLIC, SHOULD
"ALSO BE AN ISSUE" AT THE DEBATES, AS THE WAY MURKY OPERATES.
---
(CONT)
in a > type size that is not smaller than 12 points and shall be placed
in a > box composed of at least two point rule.
--
In this section, "cost for each > copy" means the figure that results
after dividing the total contract
> cost of producing the publication by the number of copies produced.
---
This > section "does not apply to" a publication that is intended
primarily for >:
foreign or other
out-of-state use,
to a program for a public ceremony of > a state agency,
or
to materials used by a state agency
**********************************
to develop a > market "for the agency's services or
***************************************************
products."
********
MY RESPONSE:
THIS SECTION COULD BE CONSTRUED THAT MURKY WAS ALSO USING THIS BOOKLET
TO GET INVESTOR'S FOR "HIS PIPELINE PLAN".
---
SO, IT'S UP TO YOU AS TO HOW FAR YOU WANT TO GO ABOUT THIS. IT IS
CERTAINLY WORTHY OF FURTHER INVESTIGATION AND ANY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE
PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY DO THE INVESTIGATION. SYLVIA
P.S.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU DECIDE TO DO.
----
> LEG...@webtv.net wrote:
> >
> > LEG...@webtv.net wrote:
> >
> >>Linspire User wrote:
> >>
> >>>Today a received in the mail a message from the Governor.
---
> >>>This was mailed from the> >>>Department of Revenue
--
> Lets see it was mailed from the Department of Revenue
> >>>Commissioner's Office
---
> >>>The Alaska Gas Pipeline
> The Alaska Gas pipeline Office.
> >>>PO Box 1104430
> >>>Juneau, AK 99811-0430
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>I wonder how much "state funds" were used to produce and mail this booklet.
> >>>
> >>>I recall when Governor Knowles sent out a booklet there was a not where> >>> it stated the cost of producing and mail the booklet.
--
All the talk> >>>show head were talking about the cost of Governor
Knowles mailing.
--
It> >>>was then state that law required the cost of the booklet be
printed on> >>>the mailing page.
--
Does anyone know if this requirement still exist of
> >>>did it only apply to Governor Knowles?
> >>>
> >>>My bet is there will not be a word said about this mailing.
> >>
> >>---
> >>ISN'T THERE ANYTHING ON THE BOOKLET SAYING "WHO PRINTED IT?" YOU SURE> >>DIDN'T GIVE MUCH INFORMATION, LIKE WHAT THE "TITLE" OF THE BOOKLET IS
---
> >>AND WHAT THE BOOKLET DEALS WITH, I.E. TAXES, NOTICES OF HEARINGS, ETC.
> >>
---
> >>LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY USUALLY DOES THIS. HERE IS THERE PRINT SHOP> >>WITH AN E-MAIL ADDRESS WHICH YOU CAN CONTACT AND DESCRIBE THE BOOKLET> >>TO ASCERTAIN IF THEY PRINTED IT
---
THEN CONTACT THAT STATE AGENCY WHO> >>ORDERED IT AND THEIR CONTACT,
I.E. THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO ORDERED> >>IT.
> >>
---
> >>Subject:Alaska Legislature-PRINT SHOP
> >>
> >>http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/legaff/printshop.htm
> >>
> >>--
> >>THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE HAS SECTIONS DEALING WITH LAWS GOVERNING THE> >>COST OF PRINTING, DUPLICATING, ETC.
> >>--
> >>YOU REALLY SHOULD DO SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN, THEN LET US KNOW WHAT> >>YOU FOUND, I.E.
---
IF THIS IS AN OBVIOUS "POLITICAL MATTER", I.E. DEMO OR
> >>REPUBLICAN, IT MIGHT BE AN ILLEGALLY PUBLIC PAID PIECE OF PROPAGANDA,> >>WHICH ALASKANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. GOOD LUCK SYLVIA
> >
> > ---
> > P.S. YES, I SAW THAT YOU SAID IT CAME FROM THE DEPT. OF REVENUE, BUT> > THERE ARE MANY DIVISIONS IN THAT AGENCY.
---
SINCE YOU STATE IT HAS> > SOMETHING TO DO WITH "OIL AND GAS", AGAIN,
THERE ARE MANY SUB-DIVISIONS> > FOR THEM ALSO.
---
LEG...@webtv.net
I FORGOT TO ADD THE URL FOR STATE ELECTION OFFICE AND THE CANDIDATES,
BOTH OF WHICH YOU CAN USE TO E-MAIL THEM.
Subject:Alaska Elections--ALL OFFICES
http://www.ltgov.state.ak.us/elections/cand06p.php
Linspire User
LEG...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> Linspire User wrote:
> MY RESPONSE:
> YOU SAID IT IS "FROM THE DEPT. OF REVENUE". THIS WOULD SATISFY THIS
> LAW;
This pamphlet was from Dept of revenue. However no where does the
document state what agency released the publication as required by law.
> ----
> (2) the "purpose" of the publication,
> ---
> MY RESPONSE:
> SINCE I CAN'T READ THE BOOKLET YOU RECEIVED, I STILL FIND THAT "THE
> PURPOSE" OF THE BOOKLET IS "WHAT NEEDS TO BE DECIDED", I.E. I AM SURE
> MURKY WILL CALL IT, "A PUBLIC SERVICE" TO THE PEOPLE TO BE INFORMED,
> BUT..
> --
From todays ADN.
"An official at the Alaska Public Offices Commission said she can see
how the mass mailing might be perceived as a political message, but it
doesn't appear to run afoul of the state's campaign rules."
I consider this a campaign ad. However I don't count until election day.
Then it will count.
> (3) the cost for > "each copy of the publication",
The publication states that it cost 17 cent for each copy. according to
the ADN article 225000 copies were mailed at a cost of $107000. I ran
this through my calculator and can not come up with 17 cents. Murky must
be doing the new math.
> and
> (4) the city and state where the printing > was done.
>
> (1) SEND THIS POST TO THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, T.V. AND RADIO MOST OF
> WHICH HAVE E-MAIL CONTACTS;
> --
To date only the Anchorage Daily news has said anything that I can see
about the campaign aaaaaad.
exam...@webtv.net
Subject: MURKY' "FREE" $100,000 PLUS POLITICAL AD.
---
THIS IS A "GREAT EXAMPLE" OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT THE
CORRUPTION IN ALASKA'S STATE GOVERNMENT:
--
(1) IT IS CLEAR THAT THE PUBLICATION WAS IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW, WHICH
YOU CITED, YET THE APOC, NOR THE ADN DOESN'T EVEN MENTION THAT.
--
(2) THE APOC SAID THAT THIS "COMMON" AROUND AN ELECTION SEASON, AND NO
COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN MADE, I.E.
UNLESS "ALASKANS" FILE A COMPLAINT WITH APOC, THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING
AND
--
(3) ALASKANS WILL WHINE ABOUT THIS, BUT WON'T DO ANYTHING, SO POLITICAL
CORRUPTION OBVIOUSLY "WILL" CONTINUE.
NOTE: THERE ARE STATEMENTS MADE IN THIS ARTICLE WHICH CLEARLY STATE
THAT:
(A) THIS IS WRONG, AND
(B) THIS IS A CLEAR POLITICAL AD
---
YET NONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO SAID THIS , IS SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT
ACTUALLY "FILING A COMPLAINT" WITH THE APOC, FOR:
"VIOLATIONS OF THE STATE LAWS;
******************************
RE "THE STATEMENT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE BROCHURE, NOT
TO MENTION THE OBVIOUS VIOLATIONS OF THE APOC LAWS.
--
(4) I WONDER WHY THE ADN MADE MONEY OFF OF THIS WHEN THERE IS AN
"IN-HOUSE PRINTING CO." WHICH I LISTED EARLIER.
**************************
THIS IS ANOTHER BITCH I HAVE OFTEN MADE, I.E. THE ADN SHOULD "NOT" BE
INVOLVED WITH THE STATE GOVERNMENT AND "ALSO" WRITE THE "ALLEGED TRUTH
ABOUT THE GOVERNOR"...IT (ADN) IS A HUGE SUPPORTER AND COVER-UP DEALER
FOR KNOWLES, WHICH IS WHY THE ADN INCLUDED THE BIT ABOUT KNOWLES
GETTING AWAY WITH THIS, AND OF COURSE,THE ADN MADE MONEY OFF
(KICK-BACK) OFF OF THIS BLATANT ABUSE OF OFFICE.
---
BELOW IS THE E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR THE REPORTER OF THE ADN, WHO SHOULD BE
CONTACTED AND SENT THE "ACTUAL LAW", THAT WAS VIOLATED.
---
THERE IS NO QUESTION, MURKY SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNABLE AND REPAY THIS
MONEY TO THE ALASKAN'S TREASURY.
--
BUT WILL ALASKANS FINALLY TAKE SOME ACTION OR JUST ROLL-OVER THE WAY
THEY USUALLY DO? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A "LOT OF MONEY" HERE, BUT HEY,
ALASKANS ARE ALL SO RICH THEY DON'T MIND BEING ROBBED OF THEIR
TREASURY...RIGHT? SYLVIA &;D
----
Subject:Critics call booklet political ad- 7-01-06
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/7921566p-7814999c.html
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's Newspaper Last Update: July 1, 2006 7:07
PM
--
Critics call booklet political ad
*********************************
GAS LINE BROCHURE:
Public Offices Commission sees no problem, expects
***************************************** *******
questions.
********************
By RICHARD RICHTMYER
Anchorage Daily News
Published: July 1, 2006
Last Modified: July 1, 2006 at 02:03 AM
---
The "state has spent $107,000"
*****************************
producing and distributing "a brochure
"promoting Gov. Frank Murkowski's"
proposed gas pipeline contract,"
which some of his critics say is:
a thinly veiled campaign ad.
*******************************
---
An official at the Alaska Public Offices Commission said "she can see"
how the mass mailing
**************
might be perceived as a political message,
**********************************************
but it doesn't appear to run afoul of the state's
**********************************************
campaign rules.
*****************
----
The state Revenue Department this week mailed
*********************************************
the glossy, color booklet to every address in the Permanent Fund
Dividend Division's database,
reaching more than 225,000 households,
said Lacy Reinhart, a department spokeswoman.
----
On the back cover is:
********************
a photo of Murkowski
*******************
and
a message pitching the proposed pipeline deal,
---
which has become the
dominant theme of the governor's bid for
*********************************************
re-election.
*************
---
The cover message:
****************
summarizes what's in the brochure, saying it includes "material to help
you make an informed decision on
recommending your legislators vote YES on the
**********************************************
contract."
********
---
Inside is:
*********
a 14-page outline of key provisions in the proposed 460-page pipeline
contract, along with "a Murkowski administration pitch" about why they
think it's a good deal for Alaska.
----
For example, in a section about potential economic benefits, the
brochure says,
---
"Gov. Murkowski recognizes the significant amount of money that will be
spent on products and services during pipeline construction -- and ----
he wants to see that as much as possible is spent in Alaska.
---
That's why the contract includes strong 'Alaska buy' provisions."
---
The governor's main challengers
************************************
for the Republican nomination said:
the brochure is nothing more than a
****************************************
state-funded campaign ad.
******************************
---
"When I received this glossy, 14-page very nicely done (public
relations) piece with the governor's picture and signature on it,
I just assumed it was a campaign piece,"
**************************************
---
said former Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin,
a "Murkowski opponent" in the Aug. 22 Republican primary.
**********************
---
"I think most Alaskans will assume the same thing,"
*************************************************
Palin said.
---
Former state Sen. John Binkley of Fairbanks,
another Republican candidate for governor, said:
****************************************
---
Murkowski's bid for re-election and his administration's effort to sell
the public on the gas pipeline contract are one and the same,
"making it impossible to remove politics"
*******************************************
from the brochure's message.
********************************
"He has made it a campaign issue,
**************************************
and now he's using this (brochure) as a
********************************************
campaign piece,"
*****************
Binkley said.
"In my opinion, it's wrong."
*****************************
---
Murkowski's proposed pipeline contract would set tax and other state
terms that would apply if BP, Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil build a
pipeline to carry North Slope natural gas to Lower 48 markets.
---
The Legislature must endorse the contract before the governor can sign
it.
---
Murkowski unveiled the draft contract in May.
---
In public hearings and ad campaigns since,
the contract has been both praised and pilloried -- praised for helping
push along the long dreamed of multibillion-dollar gas pipeline
project, and pilloried for driving a soft bargain with the oil and gas
industry.
---
In a June 22 fundraising letter,
*********************************
Murkowski, "himself clearly linked
**********************************
the contract to his bid for re-election,
***************************************
writing:
---
"I am campaigning both for governor and for the
**********************************************
gas pipeline."
***************
---
Later in the letter, Murkowski wrote:
"Several of my opponents believe that if they can defeat the gas line
proposal they can defeat me.
That's really what this race is about."
*************************************
---
John Manly,
the governor's spokesman, insisted that:
campaign politics didn't figure into the brochure's
***************************************************
message.
*******
---
He said:
the "governor's staff put it together" well before
**********************************************
his decision to run for re-election in late May.
**********************************************
---
Getting a gas pipeline project going has been a Murkowski priority for
years, and the brochure is just another step the administration has
taken to make it happen, Manly said.
---
"We absolutely believe
"this is an appropriate use of state funds," he said.
*****************************************
---
The state's Public Offices Commission,
*************************************
which "polices" campaign financing,
**********************************
hasn't had any complaints about the gas
*********************************************
contract brochure,
*******************
said Brooke Miles,
the executive director.
---
Even so, officials there are going to closely
**********************************************
scrutinize the brochure next week
**************************************
because it looks like the kind of thing
*****************************************
that will raise questions, she said.
**************************************
---
"When I saw it in my mail,
I "was concerned" that
***************
some citizens might see it
as campaign related," Miles said.
**********************
---
At first blush, however, the booklet
"doesn't appear to be anything
*****************************
"out of the ordinary during
**************************
a "political season",
*****************
Miles said.
***********
----
She noted that former Gov. Tony Knowles,
while seeking re-election in 1998,
used state money to produce and distribute a
**********************************************
glossy color "magazine" talking about what
**********************************************
"he had done" during his first four years in
**************
office.
---
"That was not found to be campaign material,"
**********************************************
she said.
"This kind of thing is really not uncommon."
**********************************************
----
Knowles, who this year is seeking a third term as governor, could not
be reached for comment Friday.
*************************************************
---
Murkowski's brochures, which were
"printed by the Anchorage Daily News,
*******************************************
cost about $38,000 to make.
*********************************
---
The postage was a little more than $69,000,
**********************************************
according to the Revenue Department.
********************************************
----
Daily News reporter Richard Richtmyer can be reached at
rrich...@adn.com or 257-4344.
© Copyright 2006, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The
McClatchy Company
---
P.S. THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPT. OF REVENUE WAS
HAND-PICKED BY MURKOWSKI, WHO HAS THEIR OWN
ATTORNEY WHO COULD HAVE TOLD HIM--"THIS IS ILLEGAL"
--
APOC DIRECTOR, SHOULD BE REMOVED ALSO IF SHE
DOESN'T THINK ANY LAW HAS BEEN BROKEN.
ALSO NOTE: THIS "SAME INFO IS CONTAINED ON MURKY'S
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE".
THERE IS "MORE THAN ENOUGH TO FIND MURKY GUILTY
OF ABUSING HIS OFFICE FOR "PERSONAL BENEFIT".
-----
Linspire User wrote:
> I have done my home work and can't find any place on this document that > conforms with.
---
> AS 44.99.210. Disclosures On Publication.
******************************************
> If the actual annual costs for a publication of a state agency that are > paid from the general fund exceed $1,500, or if the actual annual costs
> of a state agency publication that is a report required by law are paid > from a source other than the general fund and exceed $1,500,
--
the > publication must include a statement that gives the name of the
agency > releasing the publication,
---
the "purpose of the publication", the cost for
> each copy of the publication, and
---
the city and state where the printing
> was done.
---
The statement must read:
***********************
"This publication was released by...
> (name of state agency)...,
---
produced at a cost of $..... per copy to...
---
> (statement of purpose)..., and
---
printed in......
(city and state where > printed)."
----
If the publication is required by law,
************************************
the statement must > also include:
********************************
"This publication is required by...
(appropriate citation > to Alaska law)."
---
The statement may include, if applicable, a declaration
> of the revenue raised by the sale of the publication or from the > purchase of advertising in the publication.
---
The statement shall be > printed in one conspicuous place in the body
of the publication in a
> type size that is not smaller than 12 points and shall be placed in a > box composed of at least two point rule.
---
In this section, "cost for each > copy" means the figure that results
after dividing the total contract
> cost of producing the publication by the number of copies produced.
---
This > section does not apply to a publication that is intended
primarily for > foreign or other out-of-state use,
---
to a program for a public ceremony of > a state agency, or ---
to materials used by a state agency to develop a
> market for the agency's services or products.
**********************************************
> >>Linspire User wrote:
> >>
> >>>Today a received in the mail a message from the Governor.
> >>>This was mailed from the
> >>>Department of Revenue
> Lets see it was mailed from the Department of Revenue
> >>>Commissioner's Office
> >>>The Alaska Gas Pipeline
> The Alaska Gas pipeline Office.
> >>>PO Box 1104430
> >>>Juneau, AK 99811-0430
----
> >>Subject:Alaska Legislature-PRINT SHOP
> >>
> >>http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/legaff/printshop.htm
----
WHERE DID YOU GET THE 17 CENTS PER COPY OUT OF THE ADN;
IT'S NOT IN THIS ARTICLE...WAS THERE ANOTHER ARTICLE?
--
IN THE FUTURE PLEASE GIVE US A URL SO WE CAN FIND
THE "ORIGINALS FOR YOUR VERY GOOD POSTS"..THANKS!
SYLVIA.&;)
Linspire User
You are right Alaskans have been desensitized to the abuse of power in
the state capitol. As i have said when Knowles sent out his political
ads. There was a big cry about the the "cost block" by the local talk
radio heads. Now that Frank is doing the same I have not heard any of
the indignation. This is a part of life in Alaska and will be for years.
exam...@webtv.net
Linspire User wrote:
(1) > You are right Alaskans have been desensitized to the abuse of
power in > the state capitol.
---
(2) As i have said when Knowles sent out his political
> ads. There was a big cry about the the "cost block" by the local talk > radio heads.
---
(3) Now that Frank is doing the same
"I have not heard any of > the indignation."
---
(4) This is a part of life in Alaska and will be for years.
>
(snipped MY OWN POST)
---
MY RESPONSE TO YOUR POST:
--
AND WHAT PART OF "YOUR RESPONSE" INDICATES THAT "YOU"
ARE GOING TO "STAND UP & TAKE ACTION AND FILE A
"COMPLAINT WITH THE APOC"?
--
AS I STATED, ALASKANS "LOVE TO WHINE" AND
"LIKE THE ACTUAL OPPONENTS TO MURKEY..WHO "ARE OF THE
SAME POLITICAL PARTY (REPUBS) WHO HAVE WHINED, YET
MADE "NO" STATEMENT THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO
FILE AND "ACTUAL APOC COMPLAINT", NEITHER ARE YOU!
--
DO YOU SEE HOW "PATHETIC ALASKANS ARE"?
--
SYLVIA (THE ENEMY LIES WITHIN)
Inner Sanctum
news:1151821086.3...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:
>
>
> Subject: MURKY' "FREE" $100,000 PLUS POLITICAL AD.
> ---
> THIS IS A "GREAT EXAMPLE" OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT THE
> CORRUPTION IN ALASKA'S STATE GOVERNMENT:
http://www.susanstevenson.com/Journal/images/GirlOuthouse2Journal.jpg
Linspire User
exam...@webtv.net wrote:
> MY RESPONSE TO YOUR POST:
> --
> AND WHAT PART OF "YOUR RESPONSE" INDICATES THAT "YOU"
> ARE GOING TO "STAND UP & TAKE ACTION AND FILE A
> "COMPLAINT WITH THE APOC"?
As far as APOC goes one must remember that the lady dances with the
gentleman that brought her to the dance. Think about it who appoints
them to their offices and pays their bills. have you ever seen a
citizen out side the political arena with the funding to present a case
before APOC ? NO. Would it do a citizen any good to try and present a
case ? Again NO. This is a organization controlled by major political
parties in Alaska and is use by them to made the citizens think that
every thing is on the up and up. APOC will just say HO-hum.
look at the E-mail address for APOC. admin.state.ak.us This tells us who
brought them to the dance.
> --
> AS I STATED, ALASKANS "LOVE TO WHINE" AND
> "LIKE THE ACTUAL OPPONENTS TO MURKEY..WHO "ARE OF THE
> SAME POLITICAL PARTY (REPUBS) WHO HAVE WHINED, YET
> MADE "NO" STATEMENT THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO
> FILE AND "ACTUAL APOC COMPLAINT", NEITHER ARE YOU!
> --
> DO YOU SEE HOW "PATHETIC ALASKANS ARE"?
> --
>
In todays new on channel 2 I saw a report where Murky is saying that
Binkley is trying to make a political issue out of his GAS line. I'm
sorry folks Murky made the GAS line a political issue with his mailing
and used state funds to advance his political agenda. The Governor
could use state money to support a referendum, however there is no
referendum on his pipe line.
Linspire User
Linspire User wrote:
>
> In todays new on channel 2 I saw a report where Murky is saying that
> Binkley is trying to make a political issue out of his GAS line. I'm
> sorry folks Murky made the GAS line a political issue with his mailing
> and used state funds to advance his political agenda. The Governor
> could use state money to support a referendum, however there is no
> referendum on his pipe line.
I drove to Anchorage today and happened to have my radio. There was the
Voice of VECO talking about integrity. Like he knows what it is. It
seems that Sarah may have used a City computer for personal E-mail. The
may is BIG he because it's part of a smear campaign of the oil Companies
head up by MR. VECO. He is trying to tell us that he shares and office
with VECO but doesn't speak for them. Anyone that can think know he is
in the office so the string that control him don't have to be so long.
Did he say one word about the thousands of dollars of state fund used by
his buddy MURKY? NO you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Linspire User
http://www.adn.com/opinion/compass/story/7942804p-7836247c.html
This is a must read article. Watch that our legislatures don't side with
Murky and give our Gas and oil away.
239
LINK TO AK. STATE LEGISLATURE.
--
LINKS TO GET INFO ON GAS-LINE "SPECIAL SESSION"
AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR YOUR LEGISLATOR (TOP MENU):
----
Subject:Alaska Legislature Home Page
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/home.htm
>
----
Subject:
Alaskans, don't be fooled by oil tax plan-7-08-06
*************************************************
http://www.adn.com/opinion/compass/story/7942804p-7836247c.html
>
---
text copy:
--
Alaskans, don't be fooled by oil tax plan
*******************************************
By LARRY CARR
Published: July 8, 2006
Last Modified: July 8, 2006 at 02:40 AM
---
Years ago, Phillips Petroleum asked and received from the Kenai
Peninsula Borough a
10-year "tax" moratorium
**************************
as an incentive to build
its natural gas liquifaction plant.
-----
After the work began, the borough found that it needed more schools and
other public facilities to accommodate Phillips' workers.
---
Because of the tax giveaway, the borough didn't have the money to pay
for any of it.
---
I owned a business in Kenai at the time and saw firsthand what a tough
problem that was for those who lived, worked and did business there.
---
And so I took it upon myself to call the president of Phillips and ask
him if he could provide some relief from the tax burden.
---
The president of Phillips sympathized with the problem, but said it was
his obligation as CEO of Phillips to "demand those tax credits", and
---
if local officials gave them to him and drained the city's treasury in
the process, that was their problem, not his.
---
His job was to maximize returns for his shareholders.
---
I've never forgotten that message. The people who run companies with
oil and gas investments in Alaska represent their shareholders.
---
If they can demand and get tax concessions or other benefits from
Alaska's state and local governments, it increases shareholder value.
That's their job.
---
If in the process they engage in a bit of gamesmanship, such as warning
they might not continue to develop Alaska's oil and gas resources,
that's part of the negotiation.
---
The oil companies are afloat with cash, and they can afford the best
lawyers, accountants and ad agencies money can buy.
---
That's the campaign, the negotiation we are seeing now in Alaska. I
don't blame them for trying to get the best deal they can.
---
But if Alaska's Legislature permits our state's oil to be taxed based
on "what the companies tell us are their net annual profits", every
legislator who votes "for" that bill
will be guilty of malfeasance of office for failure
**********************************************
to represent the best interests of Alaska's
**********************************************
taxpayers.
**********
---
Under the proposed net profits tax agreement, the companies will tell
us how much they earned each year from their Alaska production and they
will pay taxes based on those numbers.
---
The companies, with their worldwide operations, can move around costs
like so many pieces on a chessboard.
---
You can be certain that if a net oil tax is enacted in Alaska, the
companies' reported "profits" in Alaska will plummet.
---
Under terms of the new tax system,
***************************************
the "state would have agreed"
not to go to court
*******************
to challenge oil company numbers.
***************************************
Such a system is ripe for conflict and abuse.
**********************************************
---
Not a single U.S. state has ever agreed to a net production profit tax
system for oil and gas development.
---
And "this is the system the governor"
has proposed and the Legislature is considering for Alaska.
---
Currently, the companies pay taxes based on the price of a barrel of
oil produced from Alaska oil fields.
It's an uncomplicated and transparent system.
**********************************************
We know the price of oil and
"we know how much oil moves through our pipeline."
---
Even with that, the state has had to sue the oil companies multiple
times to deal with problems of "under-paying."
---
The pressure to change that system is really an echo of that
conversation I had with the former president of Phillips who spelled it
out for me with cold calculation. It's his job to get the best deal he
can for his shareholders.
---
It's the governor's job, and the Legislature's job, to get the best
deal they can
"for Alaska's taxpayers."
---
If they give in to the colossal tax giveaway represented by the net oil
tax bill at the special session, shame on them.
---
The "Legislature must reject" this pipeline contract and ask the oil
companies to come back with a firm proposal, a solid commitment and a
specific timetable for building the gas line.
---
Larry Carr is a retired Anchorage businessman and founder of Carrs
Supermarkets.
****************************************
239
Subject: JULY 12, 2006-VOTE ON GAS PIPELINE-ON GAVEL-TO-GAVEL
---
CLEARLY, THE "ACTION OR LACK THEREOF, BY ALASKANS,
WILL BE CRITICAL TO WHAT HAPPENS TO ALASKA AND ALASKANS FOR "MANY"
DECADES.
---
BUT HOW MANY ACTUALLY GIVE A DAMN?
---
IF WE ARE TO LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE PAST HISTORY...ALASKANS DON'T GIVE
A DAMN IF THEIR RESOURCES AND TREASURY ARE ROBBED.
---
SAD..BUT TRUE, WHICH IS "WHY THEY DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THEY HAVE".
SYLVIA
---
Subject:2006-Second Special Session Information:
LINKS-RE GAS PIPELINE:
CLICK ON TO "GAVEL-TO-GAVEL LINK" FOR SCHEDULE OF
TELEVISED HEARING.
---
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/sp1.asp?session=24
>
---
Subject:The Alaska Gas Pipeline -
The State of Alaska--MANY LINKS TO PIPELINE DOCUMENTS.
---
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/gasline/basics.php
>
MANY OF YOU ARE POSTING IN OTHER GROUPS WHERE ALASKANS POST..YOU MIGHT
WANT TO RE-POST THESE IN THOSE GROUPS.
SYLVIA
239
Subject: ALASKANS CAN DEMAND THAT AN "AUDIT" BE MADE OF OIL CORPS
DRILLING.
---
AS HAS BEEN SEEN, THE OIL CORPS CONTINUALLY CLAIM THAT THEY ARE
"REDUCING THEIR DRILLING OF OIL" BECAUSE IT IS "RUNNING OUT", YET OTHER
FORUMS SHOW THE OPPOSITE WHERE THEY STATE THEIR WELLS WILL BE IN
OPERATION FOR DECADES.
--
THE ALASKA STATE POLITICIANS HAVE "ALLOWED THE OIL CORPORATIONS TO "NOT
PROVIDE ALASKANS" WITH THIS OIL PUMPING (ACTUAL) DATA BY STATING IT IS
"CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION".
--
THIS IS B.S. VIA THE COLLUSION BETWEEN THE OIL CORPS AND STATE
POLITICIANS. ALASKANS SHOULD "DEMAND" THAT THESE CONTRACTS BE AMENDED
BY TAKING OUT THIS LANGUAGE OR REPEAL THE CONTRACTS, AS "NOT BE
TRANSPARENT", THUS OPEN TO FRAUD AND ABUSE.
--
ALASKANS HAVE PLAYED THE ROLE OF THE FOOL FOR DECADES, I.E. A "LEGAL
CONTRACT" CAN STATE ANYTHING THAT THE PARTIES AGREE UPON, EXCEPT CLEAR
VIOLATIONS OF LAW.
SYLVIA
--
HERE IS THE AK. SITE RE "AUDITS".
---
Subject:Alaska Legislative Budget and Audit Committee
http://lba.legis.state.ak.us/
Linspire User
> ? Copyright 2006, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The
> McClatchy Company
>
Linspire User
exam...@webtv.net
WRITING TO ALL ALASKA LEGISLATORS" TO PASS A LAW THAT DEALS WITH
OIL/GAS, SINCE HE SUPPOSED TO NO LONGER BE "IN THE "OIL AND GAS
BUSINESS, BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A VIOLATION OF LAW TO "INTIMIDATE"
LEGISLATORS TO PASS A LAW THAT "HE WOULD PERSONALLY BENEFIT FROM"?
---
THE FACT THAT AK. TED STEVENS IS "ALSO THREATENING THE STATE
POLITICIANS TO PASS THIS LAW" OR "THE FEDS WILL JUST TAKE THE GAS
WITHOUT THEM", ALSO PROVES THE LENGTHS THEY WILL GO FOR THEIR GREED AND
CORRUPTION.
--
TIME TO SEND THIS TO THE "BIG MEDIA" OUTSIDE OF ALASKA.
--
Subject:7-16-06-
SEN. STEVENS, BACKED BY DICK CHENEY, WANTS AK.POLITICIANS TO KISS
OIL/GAS CORPS' ASS & PASS LAW.
---
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/071606/oil_20060716007.shtml
>
--
TEXT COPY:
--
Web posted Sunday, July 16, 2006
---
Stevens says time for gas line choice
****************************************
By Matt Volz
Associated Press Writer
---
(PHOTO)
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (right) urged state Sen. Ralph Seekins,
R-Fairbanks, shown on the left, and other state legislators to set
aside partisan politics and petty differences and make a deal for a gas
line agreement. Photo/Rob Stapleton/AJOC
---
JUNEAU - Alaska's senior U.S. senator
"told state lawmakers" on July 7:
---
they need to stop the bickering and pass
**********************************************
legislation this year for a natural gas pipeline
************************************************
before a ready consumer market is filled by
**********************************************
"imported" liquefied natural gas.
*********************************
---
"It's time for a decision,"
said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.
---
"We can't get going until you act."
----
Gov. Frank Murkowski's gas contract with three oil giants and would-be
pipeline owners, plus a related rewrite of the state's oil and gas
production taxes,
have been the most consuming and disputed topics the Legislature has
faced this year.
---
The proposal to create a tax
based on the "net profits of oil companies' Alaska operations has twice
failed to pass.
**************************
---
"Murkowski's gas deal with":
******************************
BP PLC,
ConocoPhillips and
Exxon Mobil Corp.,
is still out for public review,
******************************
but legislation that "would have legitimized" the proposed contract
"also failed to pass" in last month's special session.
---
Both proposals have the potential to bring billions in new revenue to
the state, and a gas pipeline from the North Slope to Canada or Chicago
is being touted as a domestic solution to the nation's rising energy
demand.
---
But some lawmakers have balked at what
**********************************************
they see as too many giveaways to industry.
**********************************************
---
Legislators "within the governor's Republican
**********************************************
party" have:
*************
---
peeled off from Murkowski
******************************
on the issues, most recently:
House Speaker, John Harris, R-Valdez, and
Senate Resources Chairman, Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai.
----
Both appeared publicly with Republican gubernatorial candidate John
Binkley of Fairbanks, who has called Murkowski's gas contract and oil
tax proposals flawed.
---
Murkowski, who is running for re-election, has
**********************************************
called legislators back to Juneau "next week" to
**********************************************
consider both matters again.
********************************
---
This time, the heat is being turned up on
**********************************************
lawmakers by Congress and the White House.
**********************************************
---
Along with Stevens' comments in Anchorage on July 7,
--
legislators received letters from Vice President
**********************************************
Dick Cheney and
**************
Energy Secretary, Samuel Bodman
urging quick passage of pipeline legislation.
**********************************************
---
"Currently, the Alaska Legislature is the governmental entity that
holds the fate of the Alaska Gas Pipeline in its hands," Cheney's June
27 letter reads.
***********************************
"Please consider the needs of the nation as a whole along with the
important interests of Alaska."
----
Stevens spoke July 7
"before the Senate Special Committee on Natural Gas Development."
---
He asked lawmakers to put aside arguments and politics and pass the
legislation so the federal permitting and Canadian regulatory processes
can begin.
---
The pipeline, which would stretch 2,100 miles to Alberta, Canada, is
expected to take 10 or more years to build
**********************************************
once a contract is signed.
****************************
---
But.. "the contract does "not guarantee" a
*********************************************
pipeline";
********
---
the companies:
"would still have about "four years" to decide
**********************************************
whether to sanction the project,
***********************************
which is "estimated to cost"
between $19 billion and $27 billion.
***************************************
---
By then, the supply of liquefied natural gas from the Middle East is
expected to skyrocket.
---
Alaska has the opportunity to get its share of the market now, but
Stevens said he doubts whether many people will consider investing in
the state if the climate is confused by a delay.
---
Plus, if the state Legislature "doesn't act",
**********************************************
the federal government "may be compelled"
**********************************************
to step in and "take jurisdiction over the gas,"
**********************************************
Stevens said.
**************
---
House Minority Leader,
Ethan Berkowitz,
D-Anchorage, said:
---
the federal government should stop exerting pressure on Alaska's
legislators and
instead put pressure on the "oil cartel" that is attempting to extort
the state's natural resources.
---
"We got statehood because we were promised
**********************************************
that we could use our resources to "support our
**********************************************
state,"
*****
said Berkowitz,
who is running for lieutenant governor.
---
"We should never be bullied into giving away
**********************************************
those resources for less than full value,
********************************************
not by the oil companies,
not by the federal government,
not by Ted Stevens,
not by Frank Murkowski,
not by anybody."
----
© 2004 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
exam...@webtv.net
(1) IT IS PRETTY CLEAR MURKY DOESN'T BELIEVE HIS "ORIGINAL OIL/GAS DEAL
CON-GAME, WON'T BE PASSED;
--
(2) SO NOW HE WANTS ALL ALASKANS TO "PAY FOR HIS CON-GAME VIA YOUR
PFD";
--
(3) THE "FACT IS", MULTI-"BILLIONS" OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN ROBBED FROM
ALASKANS VIA THE FRAUDULENT PERMANENT FUND, IN WHICH ALMOST "ALL OF
THESE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF OIL/GAS MINING MONEY HAS BEEN "INVESTED IN
EVERYTHING "OUTSIDE OF ALASKA" AND "NOT "IN ALASKA", WHICH IS A TOTAL
VIOLATION OF THE PERMANENT FUND LAWS....BUT...
--
PER USUAL, ALASKANS HAVE NEVER "READ THESE LAWS" AND WERE SATISFIED FOR
THE "SMALL CRUMBS YOUR CORRUPT POLITICIANS GAVE YOU TO KEEP YOU QUIET".
---
(4) NOW MURKY AND THE POLITICIANS.."KNOWING HOW STUPID AND LAZY
ALASKANS ARE, ARE GOING TO TRY AND PULL THIS CON-GAME ON YOU.
--
IF ALASKANS HAD ANY BRAINS, THEY WOULD "REPEAL THE PERMANENT FUND LAW"
AND DEMAND THAT "ALL OF THESE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BE "INVESTED IN
ALASKA"; AND
---
ALASKA RESIDENTS (YOU DECIDE WHAT A RESIDENT IS) CAN BE A CO-OP "OWNER"
OF ALASKAN'S RESOURCES IN WHICH "YOU, ALASKANS" DECIDE WHAT IS DONE
WITH THESE RESOURCES, VIA A "VOTE".
--
YES...THAT MEANS, THAT ALASKANS WILL "ACTUALLY HAVE TO BE INVOLVED IN
"THEIR OWN STATE"..GEE, DO THEY EVEN CARE TO MAKE THE EFFORT. &;D
---
NOTE: THERE IS NO BIGGER CORRUPT ALASKA AGENCY AS THE
ALASKA HOUSING AGENCY (SEE BELOW) WHICH MURKY IS INVOLVING IN HIS
LATEST CON-JOB.
---
Subject:MURKY WANTS ALASKANS TO USE PFD FOR GAS PIPELINE- 7-16-06
--
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/071606/hom_20060716006.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Web posted Sunday, July 16, 2006
---
**********************************************
bonds
******
By Melissa Campbell
Alaska Journal of Commerce
---
Gov. Frank Murkowski said he plans to introduce legislation to allow
Alaskans to invest their permanent fund dividends in the gas line.
---
"It would give Alaskans an interest in how the gas line is built and
run,"
Murkowski said during a recent press conference.
---
While many details have yet to be worked out, the idea is to allow
Alaskans to check a box on their permanent fund dividend applications
to invest part or all their dividends in bonds to fund a portion of the
state's share of the gas line, said Kevin Jardell, with the governor's
office.
---
Last year's dividend check was nearly $846.
---
"It utilizes the permanent fund dividend as a mechanism for investment
to ensure all Alaskans have the opportunity to participate in the
investment of the gas pipeline," Jardell said. --- "The goal and intent
is to provide an investment opportunity for Alaskans."
---
The money would enter into an escrow account.
---
The governor's office is working with:
(1) the departments of revenue and law, and
---
(2) the Alaska Housing and Finance Corp. to work out the details for
the program and the escrow account.
---
"It's always possible that gas will plummet and
**********************************************
we would "not build a pipeline,"
*********************************
Jardell said.
---
"If people are checking off the box to invest, we need a way to ensure
people get their money back if the project doesn't go."
---
At first,
investors would be issued an A-class coupon, which would likely issue a
return rate equal to money market accounts. ---
After the first gas goes down the line, A-class coupons would be
converted into B-class coupons, which would: offer a rate of return
regulated by the Federal
**********************************************
Energy Regulatory Commission.
***********************************
---
The bonds would be similar to those taken out for road or facility
projects.
---
At the end of the term,
which could be for 30 years,
*******************************
the bonds will be repaid
**************************
and the state will retain ownership of its share
**********************************************
of the pipeline.
***************
---
The proposal should go to the Legislature
**********************************************
"next session"
---
"if" a gas line deal is met.
****************************
LEG...@webtv.net
MEDIA CONTINUES TO SPEW THE OIL CORPS PROPAGANDA OF "HOW SAVE THEIR
DRILLING IN THE ANWR ENVIRONMENT WILL BE AND FOR AMERICANS TO "JUST
LOOK AT THEIR GREAT WORK AT PRUDHOE BAY, WHERE THE CARIBOU ARE ROAMING
AROUND THEIR PIPELINE".
---
THIS OIL CORP/POLITICIAN/MEDIA PROPAGANDA CLEARLY PROVES HOW GREEDY AND
CORRUPT OUR SO-CALLED "DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT" REALLY IS, I.E. IT IS
"ALWAYS MONEY OVER THE PROTECTION OF PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT". BUT
THEN, YOU HAVE ALL THOSE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTALIST WHO CALLS THOSE WHO GIVE
A DAMN, "RADICAL TREE-HUGGING-DOPER-TERRORISTS".
--
I THINK "EACH OF THEM" SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO "CLEAN-UP THE CRAP THAT
THESE MANY OIL SPILLS HAVE CAUSED AND "TO DRINK THE WATER WHERE THIS
OIL HAS NOW GONE", WHILE MUNCHING ON DOLLAR BILLS TO WASH THEM DOWN.
SOUNDS REASONABLE TO THIS TREE-HUGGER. &;D
---
NOTE: THE BELOW STATEMENT THAT "THE PIPELINE WHAT "WITHIN THE
REGULATIONS" ..."BEFORE" THE SPILL, WHICH AGAIN PROVES HOW GREAT
"DEREGULATION" WORKS.
--
Subject: 7-16-06-FEDERAL GRAND JURY INVESTIGATING BP'S OIL
SPILL-LARGEST EVER AT PRUDHOE BAY.
---
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/071606/oil_20060716009.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY:
--
Web posted Sunday, July 16, 2006
Feds to permit delayed testing of Prudhoe lines
**********************************************
By Matt Volz
Associated Press Writer
---
pipelines for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. to safely run sensors to
detect corrosion levels within an ordered timeline, the head of the
federal agency demanding the tests said July 7.
---
So the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration will permit a delay of the tests for an
undetermined length of time, said administrator Thomas Barrett.
---
"We would not allow it to continue to operate if we didn't think it was
safe,"
Barrett said.
---
"In the long term, it's not a good solution. We've got to get the
sensors through there."
---
The agency in March ordered that three low-pressure transit pipelines
in Prudhoe Bay be inspected with an internal sensing device known as a
"smart pig" within three months, putting the deadline at June 15.
---
The order came as a result of the largest oil
**********************************************
spill in North Slope history, in which an
********************************************
estimated 201,000 gallons of oil and liquids
**********************************************
"leaked from a corroded" portion of a
******************************************
transit line over a period of several days
*********************************************
and "was not discovered until March 2."
*******************************************
---
BP, which is the operator of
*********************************
"the nation's largest oil field",
*******************************
last month asked to "postpone the tests", which the administration
denied.
---
"One of the three transit lines was cleaned" with an internal scraper
pig last month and then inspected with the smart pig, in compliance
with the order.
---
But "the other two lines",
one containing the "source of the leak" and
*****************************************
which is "not operational",
**************************
hold too many accumulated solids
**************************************
to run the scraper, or maintenance,
***************************************
pig so the smart pig can get through.
*****************************************
---
"The danger is" that
**********************
the "maintenance pig" could:
push high levels of sediment into the
*****************************************
Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System
downstream of the transit lines,
possibly affecting the operations of Prudhoe Bay and the main pipeline.
---
Complicating the cleaning and testing of the line that leaked is:
---
a federal Department of Justice subpoena
**********************************************
"requiring BP remove a 6-foot section
*****************************************
of the pipeline intact."
************************
---
"We are trying to work through that,"
BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said.
---
"A federal grand jury is investigating the spill",
**********************************************
which could lead to "criminal charges"
*****************************************
and ultimately fines and "prison sentences."
**********************************************
---
Barrett was in Anchorage and Prudhoe Bay recently to inspect the oil
field's pipeline system and meet with BP officials about the agency's
safety orders.
---
He "would not address" whether the accumulated gunk in the pipelines:
---
was the result of a negligent or ineffective
**********************************************
maintenance system, saying he did not
*********************************************
want to impede the federal Department
********************************************
of Justice investigation.
***************************
---
Beaudo said the company's inspection and monitoring programs "met all
regulatory requirements
************************************
"before" the spill."
******************
---
"In hindsight, we would have liked to have had a "more aggressive
maintenance pigging"
and smart pigging program," Beaudo said.
---
Barrett said the "untested line"
"that is operational" in the oil field's eastern operating area will be
allowed to continue to operate.
******************************************
---
The other line,
the 34-inch transit line that leaked,
was shut down after the spill and
"temporarily replaced" by a 24-inch bypass line.
---
The agency's orders to inject more corrosion inhibitor into the
pipelines and conduct multiple external testing along the line still
stand, Barrett said.
---
Beaudo said the company intends to run a smart pig through the
remaining lines. The eastern operating area line will be tested after a
gradual scraping of the inside of the pipeline; gradual so that more
sediment than allowed does not enter the main pipeline system.
---
Meanwhile, the company has conducted a series of external tests of the
lines and their integrity has been verified, Beaudo said.
---
"It is our intent not to adversely affect the operations of Prudhoe Bay
and not affect the operations of the pipeline," he said.
---
"We are absolutely committed to minimizing the impact."
---
The discontinued line still has:
*********************************
17,000 barrels of oil in it and
****************************
is estimated to contain 147 cubic yards of
**********************************************
"accumulated solids",
***********************
Beaudo said.
---
By comparison, the eastern operating area transit line is believed to
hold 29 cubic yards of solids, while the line that was cleaned and
inspected held just 1 cubic yard, he said.
---
BP maintains that the corrosion that caused the
**********************************************
leak is "an isolated incident",
******************************
due to a higher-than-normal accumulation of solids over a short period
time that reduced the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitor.
---
With the bypass line, the company is injecting corrosion inhibitor
directly into the pipeline, Beaudo said.
---
The line that leaked will "not" be operational
**********************************************
again, Beaudo said.
*****
---
An 18-inch pipeline that has been ordered will permanently replace that
line, he said.
---
The company is still interpreting the data from the line through that
has been tested, Beaudo said
Charlie
your one and only self. Stop calling Alaskans ignorant and non caring,
non voting morons, etc and get your no good useless butt to the voter
registration office. You havn't voted in years and here's the proof...
Washington State Voter Database
http://www.soundpolitics.com/voterlookup.html
239
Subject:--BP closes some Alaska wells, spills alleged - 7-20-06
---
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13936129/
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
MSNBC Home » U.S. News » Environment
---
BP closes some Alaska wells after allegations
**********************************************
Whistleblowers claim leaks,
******************************
company cites 'abundance of caution'
******************************************
---
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -
Britain's BP PLC is closing 12 oil wells on
*********************************************
Alaska's North Slope as a precaution after
"whistleblowers" alleged more than 50 were
**********************************************
leaking.
********
---
The wells were in the process of being shut down Tuesday, BP spokesman
Darren Beaudo said.
----
The action came after workers told the Financial Times of London about
the leaks, according to the newspaper, which first reported the
shutdowns on its Web site.
---
Most of the shuttered wells were in Prudhoe Bay, Beaudo told The
Associated Press.
---
The shutdowns come a month after BP confirmed it had received a
subpoena from a U.S. grand jury investigating a massive oil leak in
Alaska last year.
---
BP blamed the March 2005 incident at Prudhoe Bay, the largest-ever
spill in Alaska's North Slope region, on a small hole caused by
corrosion in a pipeline.
---
Up to 267,000 gallons were believed to have spilled onto the frozen
ground about 250 miles above the Arctic Circle.
---
The 12 well shutdowns affect about 8,000 barrels a day out of the North
Slope's total daily production of about 800,000 barrels, Beaudo said.
---
BP plans on running integrity tests on the affected wells. ---
"If we reconfirm that they met those standards we will put them back on
production," he said.
---
Beaudo said BP was being cautious in addressing the leaks of a freeze
protection material known as "arctic ice pack."
---
The material is usually crude oil or diesel fuel.
**********************************************
---
A typical well has about 168 barrels of freeze protection material.
---
None of the leaked material had reached the Arctic tundra, Beaudo said.
---
"We decided in an abundance of caution to shut down and reconfigure the
integrity of 12 operating North Slope wells," he said.
---
"We have no reason to believe that continued operation poses a risk to
workers or the environment."
---
Ten of the wells were in Prudhoe Bay,
*****************************************
one was at Milne Point and
************************
another was at Northstar.
***************************
---
All but one of the wells was shut down by Tuesday.
---
Beaudo said the remaining gas injector well at Northstar was somewhat
more complicated to shut down and could take a couple of days.
---
Beaudo said BP had become aware recently that concerns were increasing
about freeze material making its way into well cellars.
---
"We were made aware of anonymous concerns about spills to well cellars,
as well as nonspecific safety concerns around working these wells,"
Beaudo said.
---
He said the anonymous concerns were attributed to workers and a
regulator.
---
The company will invite regulators from the Alaska Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission and the Alaska Department of Conservation to
observe the integrity tests, Beaudo said.
---
The commission is a state regulatory agency.
**********************************************
---
Messages left Tuesday night for:
Commissioner, Cathy Foerster and
DEC spokeswoman, Linda Giguere
were not immediately returned.
---
BP also will appoint an
"independent ombudsman"
to receive future concerns about BP operations, he said. That person
should be in place in the next 60 days.
---
Print this Email this
© 2006 MSNBC.com
Sturdly
record over there life, I think BP will come out okay, If something is
broke, it will be fixed. Of course we will have liberals that will want to
see BP and America in General fail.
"239" <af...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:1153707646.9...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
239
ALASKA OIL PIPELINE SPILLS-FED GRAND JURY INVESTIGATING BP SPILL
---
AGAIN, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE "NOT BEING TOLD ABOUT THIS" WHILE THE
MEDIA CONTINUES TO SPEW THE OIL CORPS PROPAGANDA OF "HOW SAFE THEIR
DRILLING IN THE ANWR ENVIRONMENT WILL BE AND FOR AMERICANS TO "JUST
LOOK AT THEIR GREAT WORK AT PRUDHOE BAY, WHERE THE CARIBOU ARE ROAMING
AROUND THEIR PIPELINE".
---
THIS OIL CORP/POLITICIAN/MEDIA PROPAGANDA CLEARLY PROVES HOW GREEDY AND
CORRUPT OUR SO-CALLED "DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT" REALLY IS, I.E. IT IS
"ALWAYS MONEY OVER THE PROTECTION OF PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT".
---
BUT THEN, YOU HAVE ALL THOSE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTALIST WHO CALLS THOSE WHO
GIVE A DAMN, "RADICAL TREE-HUGGING-DOPER-TERRORISTS".
--
I THINK "EACH OF THEM" SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO "CLEAN-UP THE CRAP THAT
THESE MANY OIL SPILLS HAVE CAUSED AND "TO DRINK THE WATER WHERE THIS
OIL HAS NOW GONE", WHILE MUNCHING ON DOLLAR BILLS TO WASH THEM DOWN.
---
********************************
for an undetermined length of time,
**********************************
---
239
POLLUTION AND CORRUPTION AND HOW THE CORRUPT BUSH REGIME IS BEHIND A
LOT OF IT.
--
THE ABOVE ARTICLE TALKS ABOUT THE HUGE OIL PIPELINE WHICH WAS
CONSTRUCTED IN 2003 WHERE THE "CASPIAN SEA OIL" IS.
--
AS I HAD POSTED (YEARS AGO), IN 1998 THE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
HELD A HEARING IN WHICH UNOCAL WAS CLEARLY ASKING FOR "MILITARY
ATTACKS" ON AFGHANISTAN TO GET RID OF THE "BIN LADEN TRIBE", WHO WAS
"REFUSING TO ALLOW THE U.S. OIL CORPS TAKEOVER THEIR LAND AND ROB THEM
OF THEIR OIL.
--
BUSH TOOK OFFICE AND THREATENED BIN LADEN WITH MILITARY ATTACKS BY
SAYING (PARAPHARASING) "LET US BUILD THIS PIPELINE AND YOU WILL LIVE ON
A CARPET OF GOLD; REFUSE AND YOU WILL HAVE A "CARPET OF BOMBS".
---
BIN LADEN, WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN A CIA AGENT FOR THE U.S. AND WHO WAS
INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING THE SOVIETS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN, WAS LEFT, AS
WELL AS THE AFGHAN PEOPLE,TO FIGHT THE REMAINING BATTLES AND TRY TO
SURVIVE IN THE RUBBLE LEFT BY THOSE WARS, WITH THE U.S. IGNORING THEIR
PLIGHT. THEN...THE OIL CORPS MARCHED IN.
--
THESE U.S./OIL CORP THREATS CONTINUED RIGHT UP TO ABOUT 6 MONTHS
"BEFORE 9-11" WHEN BUSH GAVE HIS LAST THREAT AND BIN LADEN, KNOWING
THAT THE BOMBING WOULD START...ATTACKED THE U.S. FIRST.
--
IN 2003, BUSH ATTACKED AFGHANISTAN, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, BP STARTED
CONSTRUCTION ON THE PIPELINE.
--
AND AS YOU CAN ALSO SEE...BP IS WELL KNOWN FOR IT'S GREED; CORRUPTION
AND POLLUTION ALL OVER THE WORLD AND "THE VERY SAME ACTIVITY HAS BEEN
TAKING PLACE IN ALASKA", AS WE SEE VIA THE LARGEST OIL SPILL ON THE
N.SLOPE HAS JUST TAKEN PLACE...DUE TO BP'S "REFUSAL TO USE IT'S
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF "PROFIT" TO MAINTAIN THE ALASKA OIL PIPELINE.
--
BUT SOME MORONIC AND GREEDY ALASKANS, LIKE GERALD NEWTON, WHO JUST
POSTED UNDER AN AKA ON THIS THREAD...JUST PLAIN DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT
ANYTHING OTHER THAN HIMSELF AND SOME "POSSIBLE WORK" HE MIGHT GET.
THESE PEOPLE ARE PARASITES, LIKE THE BP OIL CORP.
--
Subject: THE BP OIL PIPELINE THAT THE BUSH REGIME WANTED-
---
SO THEY USED THEIR "PLAN OF THREATS & INTIMIDATION"
(WHICH SUCCEEDED, VIA 9-11) AS "THE OPPORTUNITY"
TO BOMB AFGHANISTAN; (SAME AS THEY DID IN IRAQ)
---
"NOT TO CATCH BIN LADEN,
(HE COULD TELL THE WORLD TOO MUCH ABOUT BUSH & RUMSFELD)
THE "FACT THAT BIN LADEN IS STILL ALIVE AND STILL
SENDING OUT MESSAGES", AND BUSH HAS CLOSED DOWN THE
"BIN LADEN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT", PROVES THAT IT
"WASN'T BIN LADEN THAT THE FASCIST BUSH REGIME WAS
AFTER, INSTEAD...THE OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN TO
BUILD THE OIL PIPELINE.
---
Subject:The Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline: BP's Time Bomb--6-02-06
---
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12340
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline: BP's ...
---
The Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline: BP's Time Bomb
**********************************************
by Hannah Ellis, Special to CorpWatch
June 2nd, 2005
-------------------
In recent years, British Petroleum (BP)
has been working hard to remake its public image.
***********************************************
---
Their well-crafted print and television ads
feature upbeat electronic music and
a vibrant new yellow and green starburst logo.
---
With it's cutting-edge content on human rights, biodiversity and
macro-economic theory,
their website is designed to look like that
of "a developmental think tank."
----
In reality, BP is the world's third largest oil and
**********************************************
gas company and
**************
one of the "largest polluters" on the globe.
**********************************************
---
Exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas are the
company's main activities and
---
it operates in 100 countries in Europe,
**********************************************
North and South America, Asia and Africa.
**********************************************
---
Its revenues for 2003 were over $16 billion;
its profits were over $10 billion.
**********************************
---
BP's profits come with "enormous human cost" and "environmental
damages", and
its latest venture --
---
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline
which opened in late May --
*************************
has done little to make amends.
----
BP is the lead shareholder
**************************
in the 1,100-mile long oil pipeline,
which runs from:
---
Baku,
Azerbaijan,
through Georgia
to the Turkish seaport of Ceyhan.
---
In addition to:
opening up an alternative supply to the US
******************************************
(which has long been in search of an oil source
"outside" the Middle East),
*************************
---
the project has led to allegations of:
human rights abuses,
sparked regional conflict, and
deprived local people of their livelihoods and land.
---
By 2010,
*******
The pipeline is scheduled to
deliver an estimated one million barrels of oil a day,
****************************************************
predominantly to:
the already saturated Western markets.
---
The pipeline legal agreements also:
**********************************
"give BP effective governing power"
**********************************
over a strip of land 1,750 miles long,
************************************
where the company will likely
override all:
national environmental,
social,
human rights
laws for the next 40 years.
**************************
---
70% of the $ 3.3 billion it cost
********************************
to build the pipeline came
via loans from banks.
*******************
---
A large proportion of "this debt" came
from "public financial institutions"
led by the
---
International Finance Corporation (IFC),
***************************************
the part of the World Bank
*************************
which lends to companies rather than governments)
and
---
the "European Bank of Reconstruction and Development."
---
This allowed BP to secure further private investment funding from
banks, "like Citigroup".
---
The additional 30% came in the form of equity
(capital provided by the oil companies
which "hold shares in the project").
---
Construction began in May 2003
*****************************
and the pipeline was "officially declared open"
**********************************************
two years later (2005),
***********************
some 16 months behind schedule.
---
The construction of the pipeline has been monitored by the (1)
"Baku-Ceyhan Campaign",
---
a consortium of NGOs including the:
--
(2) Kurdish Human Rights Project,
--
(3) The Corner House,
---
(4) Friends of the Earth and Environmental Defense.
---
The campaign has uncovered 173 violations of
**********************************************
"World Bank":
***********
"environmental" and
"social standards"
in the Turkish section of the project
during the design stage alone.
---
The project is governed by an "Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA)"
between the governments of:
Azerbaijan,
Georgia and
Turkey,
---
which was drafted by BP's lawyers, and
by individual "Host Government Agreements" (HGA)
between each of the three countries and
the BP-led consortium.
---
Georgia's new president,
Mikheil Saakashvili,
has described the Georgian agreement
for BTC as:
"a horrible contract, really horrible".
************************************
---
These agreements have:
largely "exempted BP and its partners"
*****************************************
from local laws –
****************
and "allow BP to demand compensation"
*********************************************
from the governments should any law
(including environmental, social or human rights law) make the pipeline
less profitable.
*************************************
---
There is also concern that,
rather than adding to the local economies
in the areas surrounding the pipeline,
BP will pressure the three nations to give them
**********************************************
"tax breaks."
************
---
BP already "controls three major existing
*********************************************
pipeline systems":
******************
---
(1) the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS, also known as Alyeska) in
the USA,
---
(2)the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) in Scotland, and
---
(3) the Oleoducto Central pipeline system (OCENSA) in Colombia.
---
Over the last 30 years,
BP has continually lobbied UK governments
to "lower the tax on oil extraction"
in the North Sea --
the location of the Forties pipeline.
---
Today, the North Sea has the "lowest taxation"
of any oil province in the world.
---
BP followed the same pattern of driving down taxes, and thereby
"depriving the local communities revenue,"
**********************************************
in Alaska and Colombia.
**************************
---
Shattered hope
****************
Despite widespread media pledges that the project would "generate
plentiful work",
many communities expecting job opportunities have had their hopes
shattered.
---
In both Azerbaijan and Georgia --
areas where unemployment is already severe --
the pipeline has created very few jobs for local people.
---
BP estimates the pipeline created about
"10,000 temporary jobs during construction",
******************************************
but permanent positions are another story.
---
In Georgia, for instance,
only about "250 people will be permanently hired."
---
Ed Johnson,
BP's former project manager
in Georgia told the St. Petersburg Times,
---
"People were told that:
there would be 70,000 Georgians
*******************************
that were going to be employed
******************************
because of this pipeline.
************************
---
The (Georgian) government
"needed to sell the project to its own people"
********************************************
so some of the benefits were overblown."
*************************************
---
Many local people have also raised concerns over:
(1) "exploitation and lack of insurance" for workers,
---
(2) corruption in recruitment and
---
(3) the outlawing of trade unions.
---
Partly in consequence, there have been
"hundreds of strikes and disruptions"
to construction work,
notably in the Krtsanisi and Borjomi regions,
with more than 80 in the first six months
of construction alone.
---
Corruption by officials in assigning land
********************************************
compensation, for both privately owned and
***************
municipal land, is an enormous worry in both countries.
---
Concerns have also been raised regarding
"illegal occupation by BP"
*************************
of land not formally sold.
**************************
---
In October of 2004,
members of the Baku-Ceyhan Campaign
went on a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan.
---
There they met with several BTC workers who
worked 12 hours a day,
seven days a week
(despite the fact that such a schedule is illegal in
****************************************************
Azerbaijan).
**********
---
In Georgia,
a national trade union, "Georgian Trade Union Amalgation" held a
demonstration against BTC arguing that:
--
both Georgian labor laws and
***********************
those of the "International Labor Organisation (ILO)"
****************************************************
were being violated
******************
due to the pressure on the workers
to maintain a tight construction schedule.
---
Similarly, BTC workers in Georgia
are "currently required to work"
12-14 hours per day,
including weekends and holidays,
to secure "a minimum subsistence salary."
***************************************
----
The three host states have also stationed military units along the
pipeline for protection.
---
"Amnesty International"
warned that the project could result in
inferior rights of redress for
some 30,000 people forced to give up their land rights
***************************************
to make way for the pipeline.
********************************
---
The "Kurdish Human Rights Project"
has filed cases in the European Court of Human Rights
on behalf of 38 affected villagers along the route, alleging multiple
violations of the
European Convention on Human Rights including the:
---
(1) illegal use of land without payment of compensation or
expropriation,
(2) underpayment for land,
(3) intimidation,
(4) lack of public consultation,
(5) involuntary resettlement and
(6) damage to land and property.
---
Ferhat Kaya,
a Turkish human rights defender
was detained and allegedly tortured in May 2004
as a result of his work with villagers
"affected by the pipeline."
---
The trial of the eleven Turkish police officers
who were accused of assaulting him
lasted only 15 minutes.
---
In a recent statement, Kaya said he believes the offences against him
were "completely political."
***************************************
---
"I am being subjected to these kinds of practices because I have been
protecting the rights of the victims whose lands are affected by the
BTC pipeline," he added.
---
"The practices against me… are motivated
systematically to intimidate and deter me."
---
Crossing Borjami
********************
The Baku-Ceyhan pipeline
runs the length of a major fault,
*********************************
and would be at "permanent risk"
of "serious spills due to earthquakes."
---
In Georgia, and
to some extent in Azerbaijan,
the construction work has already led to:
---
local roads,
drainage and irrigation systems being damaged,
affecting the ability of local people to go
about their daily lives.
---
In the Borjomi region of Georgia --
a lush tourist destination known for its stunning mountains and
restorative hot springs --
local communities complain that pollution has
**********************************************
affected the water and damaged tourism.
**********************************************
---
The pipeline also crosses
"Borjomi National Park",
a 195,000-acre nature preserve
that is home to some 1,600 unique plant species and some of the last
remaining Caucasian leopards in the world.
---
The Georgian government suspended work on BTC for a week last summer,
following BP's decision to start construction in the "ecologically
vulnerable Borjomi region",
---
despite its repeated failures to obtain the
**********************************************
necessary environmental certification
******************************************
to proceed.
*************
---
According to the UK-based Independent, the resumption of construction
two weeks later came as a "direct result of political pressure."
**********************************************
---
In fact the decision was announced immediately after an unscheduled
meeting between President Saakashvili and US Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld.
**********************************************
---
Since construction work began on the pipeline, there have also been
various reports of construction problems and irregularities.
---
In February 2004,
the British Sunday Times revealed that a "faulty paint" had been used
for the "many of the joints" in Azerbaijan and Georgia, potentially
requiring the pipeline to be dug up and
*******************************************
recoated.
*********
---
In June of 2004,
there were reports from engineers working on the pipeline who
documented:
a number of failings in pipeline construction
**********************************************
methods,
*********
such as the use of "inappropriate materials" and "a failure to hire
proper specialists" to advise on crossing seismic faults in the
earthquake-prone region.
---
One industry expert said:
"We are engineers, not soothsayers. Pipelines are designed on proven
evidence to work. But in the case of BTC
it has an in-built flaw and will eventually fail."
**********************************************
---
In November 2003,
BP secretly suspended construction work on the Azeri and Georgian
sectors of the project for 10 weeks:
after cracking was discovered in the pipeline
**********************************************
coating.
*******
BP "later admitted" that:
*************************
more than a quarter of the Georgian joints
**********************************************
were cracked.
**************
---
The company claims to have rectified the cracking with heat treatment;
however, experience in other pipelines reveals that this solution does
not work.
**********************************
---
Beyond Petroleum
********************
The new BP claims it is going
"Beyond Petroleum."
---
They acknowledge the challenges of climate change and publish a great
deal of information about their efforts to reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gases.
---
Rather than suggesting that climate change is a theory, as many in the
oil industry do, the company appears to want to reach environmentally
savvy customers by admitting to their role.
---
Their website reads:
"One of the great challenges facing mankind is the increasing
temperature of the planet. This increase is believed to be associated
with the production and consumption of carbon based fuels – coal, oil
and gas – which all increase levels of greenhouse gases in our
atmosphere."
---
Below the surface of their public relations efforts, however, BP
continues to steamroll ahead with gas and oil production, prompting
questions about just how serious they are about climate change.
---
Once in full production, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline "will
transport 365 million barrels of oil per
**********************************************
annum."
*******
--
When burnt, this will produce
160 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.
---
To find out more about the Baku-Ceyhan Campaign, visit www.baku.org.uk
---
Hannah Ellis is an activist working for Friends of the Earth
International.
---
1611 Telegraph Avenue., #702
Oakland, CA 94612 USA
510-271-8080
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239
REGIME" AND STOP LABELING "THE CITIZENS OF A COUNTRY, "TERRORIST" AND
"MILITANTS" WHEN "THE TRUTH IS:"
THEIR COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN "ILLEGALLY ATTACKED AND OCCUPIED BY THE
U.S.", WHO HAS SET UP "PUPPET GOVERNMENTS" AND CALL IT "DEMOCRACY".
---
FACT: THE BUSH REGIME ARE "THE TRUE TERRORISTS AND THE WORLD KNOWS IT".
--
FACT: BOTH COUNTRIES THAT THE U.S. HAS INVADED AND OCCUPIED "WILL NOT
TOLERATE THIS ILLEGAL ACTION" AND THE KILLING OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF THEIR CITIZENS, AS CAN CLEARLY BE SEEN IN IRAQ, WHERE THE NEW IRAQ
PRIME MINISTER IS BEGINNING TO TELL BUSH.."GET OUT OF HERE".
--
AND AS SEEN BELOW, THE TALIBAN, (YES, BIN LADEN'S TRIBE) IS
RE-ORGANIZING AND IS ATTACKING THE "NEW AFGHAN PUPPET GOVERNMENT &
ARMY", AS WELL AS U.S. AND CANADIAN TROOPS.
---
FACT: THE SOVIETS COULDN'T OVERTAKE THE TALIBAN AND CLEARLY THE U.S.
CAN'T. AS SEEN HERE, THE U.S. IS "LEAVING AFGHANISTAN, JUST LIKE THE
SOVIETS DID, AND THE NATO TROOPS ARE GOING IN...WHICH WILL ALSO BE
DEFEATED ONCE THESE COUNTRIES TROOPS START COMING BACK IN BODY BAGS.
--
IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN "WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN KILLING MORE U.S. TROOPS
AND DRIVING THEM ALL OUT AND "WILL TAKE THEIR COUNTRIES BACK AND RUN
THEM THE WAY "THEY WANT TO".
--
THAT MEANS: TAKING THEIR OIL BACK FROM THE OIL CORPS.
***************************************************
NOTE: I HAVEN'T HEARD ANY MEDIA TALK ABOUT THE U.S. LEAVING
AFGHANISTAN...WONDER WHY..OH YEAH, THERE IS A HUGE ELECTION IN THE U.S.
IN 3 MONTHS AND MORE DEAD AMERICANS ISN'T EXACTLY GREAT VOTE-GETTERS.
&;D
---
Subject: TALIBAN REORGANIZING IN AFGHANISTAN
---
Subject:Taliban launches bold attacks - 7-24-06
---
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14009580/
>
---
MSNBC Home » World News » South and Central Asia 7-24-06
---
Hundreds of Taliban attack police post
******************************************
Official says militants suffered casualties; also bomb hits Canadian
soldiers
**********************************
Ismail Sameem / Reuters
---
A blast struck a vehicle carrying U.S.-led forces in the southern
Afghan province of Kandahar on Monday, wounding two soldiers.
---
KABUL, Afghanistan -
Hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked
"a western Afghan government building"
*************************************
with "rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns"
Monday, killing three police officers
and wounding seven in
one of the militia's boldest strikes in the
*******************************************
long-quiet region.
******************
---
The attack in Farah province could reflect
a "drive by militants to expand their fight"
******************************************
against Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces
********************************************
beyond insurgency-wracked
southern and eastern provinces.
----
The battle came amid a flurry of suicide attacks, roadside bombings and
shootings across the country.
---
Four suspected suicide attackers riding on two explosives-laden
motorbikes in Farah province were killed after they were challenged by
police while driving through the provincial capital late Sunday,
said Gen. Sayed Aga Saqib,
the provincial police chief.
---
Two of the suspected attackers were fatally shot. The other two were
killed when police shot at their bike and detonated their explosives.
---
A boy walking nearby was killed in the explosion, while the child's
father was wounded, Saqib said.
---
Near Kandahar, a suicide car bomber seriously wounded two U.S.-led
coalition soldiers.
---
Also, gunmen killed two Afghans delivering medicine for international
aid agency World Vision.
---
Fighting breaks out at police station
**************************************
The heaviest fighting was in the town of Bakwa in Farah province, which
had been spared the worst of the violence between "resurgent
Taliban-led rebels" and
*********************************
--
"Afghan and foreign troops"
*****************************
that has killed "more than 800 people",
*****************************************
mostly militants, since mid-May.
**********************************
---
About "400 Taliban fighters" in about
****************************
35 pickup trucks arrived in the town late Sunday and launched a heavy
assault on a district police and administration headquarters using
dozens of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Saqib
said.
---
The militants fled back toward neighboring Helmand province after a
five-hour battle, carrying an unknown number of militant casualties.
---
A suicide car bomber seriously wounded two U.S.-led coalition soldiers
when he rammed their convoy as:
--
they patrolled with Afghan army soldiers in southern Kandahar province,
on the main highway toward the capital, Kabul, coalition spokesman Col.
Tom Collins said.
---
The coalition declined to identify the wounded soldiers. Maj. Scott
Lundy, another coalition spokesman, said their injuries were "serious
but not life-threatening."
---
World Vision aid agency attacked
************************************
---
In "western Ghor province",
*************************
gunmen killed a doctor and a driver
for the aid agency World Vision,
said Karimuddin Razazada,
deputy governor of Ghor province.
---
"In eastern Afghanistan",
**********************
an attacker traveling in a taxi from neighboring Pakistan exploded two
grenades at a border police checkpoint in Khost province late Sunday,
killing a civilian and wounding three others, police said.
---
Afghanistan is experiencing its worst violence
**********************************************
since late 2001, when the Taliban regime
**********************************************
was overthrown in a U.S.-led invasion.
******************************************
---
The most intense fighting has been in
the "south", where "NATO is bolstering its presence"
********************************************
as it prepares to take over security duties
*********************************************
in the region from the U.S.-led coalition
********************************************
by the end of the month,
*****************************
increasing troop numbers from
**********************************
9,700 to 16,000.
******************
--
It is one of the "biggest and most dangerous"
******************************************
missions in NATO's history and
*****************************
has been met with stiff resistance from
*******************************************
Taliban-led fighters, who appear to be
*******************************************
increasingly "adopting methods" used
******************************************
by militants in Iraq.
********************
Print this Email this
---
© 2006 MSNBC.com
239
INTIMIDATE ALASKANS TO EITHER "GIVE THE OIL CORPS WHAT THE WANT,
OR....THEY WON'T DO BUSINESS IN ALASKA". WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN.
---
E-mail message
From: af...@webtv.net(AFJS) Date: Tue, Jul 25, 2006, 2:24pm To:
af...@webtv.net Subject: ALASKANS WILL GET TO VOTE ON OIL/GAS CORP
TAXES
---
NOTE:
I JUST FOUND THIS ARTICLE WHICH WAS JUST PUBLISHED AND "ONLY" TELLS YOU
WHAT THE "MURKY ADM." SAYS.
I FOUND IT ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS WHEN A MURKY-MOUTHPIECE STATES THAT
"THIS WILL RUIN ALASKA'S REPUTATION"...WHICH WE ALL KNOW, HAS BEEN ONE
OF "STUPIDITY" WHEN IT COMES
TO ALASKA'S NATURAL RESOURCES; POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND GREED; AND HOW
ALASKANS JUST LET IT HAPPEN TO THEM.
--
THIS TIME...I MUST APPLAUD ERIC CROFT'S EFFORTS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS
CLEARLY SELF-SERVING, SINCE HE NEEDED A PLATFORM TO RUN ON, SINCE HE
HASN'T PROTESTED IN THE PAST.
--
ALSO THE MANY ALASKANS WHO "FINALLY DID MAKE THE EFFORT TO DO SOMETHING
ABOUT STOPPING THE ROBBERY OF THEIR TREASURY.
---
THIS ARTICLE DOESN'T SAY:
---
(1) ERIC CROFT "IS" A LAWYER AND CAN CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE "PROPOSED
MURKY GAS DEAL GIVE-AWAY" AND KNOWS IT IS OUTRAGEOUS, THUS PLACING THE
"DECISION IN THE ALASKA PEOPLE'S HANDS, RE "A NEW LAW" FOR "FAIR
TAXATION;
----
(2) I HAVEN'T READ THE "ACTUAL INITIATIVE" SINCE I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT
IT, BUT...MOST "FAIR TAX DEALS" FORCE THE OIL/GAS CORPS TO "START
PAYING THEIR TAXES TO THE STATE OR COUNTRY:
--
"ONCE THE WELL STARTS PRODUCING THE OIL/GAS, WHICH THIS ARTICLE
"DOESN'T STATE", ALBEIT, IT DOES SAY, THAT THE OIL CORPS WILL BE ABLE
TO "RECOVER 45% OF THEIR COSTS" VIA "TAX CREDITS". THIS IS VERY VAGUE
AND BAD REPORTING.
-----
WHEN I GET TIME, I WILL TRY TO FIND AN ARTICLE THAT SHOWS CROFT'S
RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE AND/OR THE ACTUAL INITIATIVE. IN THE MEANTIME,
A "RESIDENT ALASKAN" WHO IS READING THIS COULD DO THIS RESEARCH AND
MAKE SOME POSTING FOR THE OTHERS, SINCE IT "REALLY IS AN IMPORTANT
ALASKAN ISSUE" WHICH SHOULD BE POSTED HERE. SYLVIA &;D
------
Subject:A CITIZENS INITIATIVE WILL BE ON NOV. BALLOT-RE GAS TAXES-
7-23-06
---
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/072306/hom_20060723034.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Web posted Sunday, July 23, 2006
---
Administration: Reserves tax a deal-killer
Governor: If ballot initiative is approved, new exploration would
suffer
---
By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce
---
State administration officials warned
*****************************************
July 19 that "a ballot proposition" appearing on
**********************************************
the November state election ballot
*************************************
"imposing a reserves tax on natural gas"
*******************************************
could apply to newly discovered natural gas as well as large, proven
gas reserves on the North Slope, including any large gas fields found
in Cook Inlet.
---
Jim Clark,
********
Gov. Frank Murkowski's
chief of staff, said in a briefing that:
---
the tax would ruin the economics of a proposed $25 billion natural gas
pipeline and
chill exploration for oil as well as gas throughout the state.
---
Clark said:
Gov. Frank Murkowski's current focus is to include language in a
pending fiscal contract with North Slope producers that would
"shield the pipeline project from the tax",
*******************************************
which is expected to be passed by voters.
*********************************************
---
Roger Marks,
an economist with
the state Department of Revenue,
said that:
---
if the ballot measure is approved by voters,
**********************************************
producers:
**********
(1) BP,
(2) ConocoPhillips and
(3) Exxon Mobil
---
would pay about $1 billion a year in new taxes
**********************************************
to the state beginning in January.
*************************************
---
Under the proposition,
the tax would stay in effect until gas flows
**********************************************
through a new pipeline, which is not expected
**********************************************
until 2016 under the most optimistic scenario,
**********************************************
Marks said.
---
The "initiative allows a partial credit for taxes" paid against future
production taxes,
---
but Marks said:
---
the major producers would actually be able to
**********************************************
recover only 45 percent of their money.
*******************************************
---
The total effect would be:
to add $14 billion in front-end costs to the
**********************************************
pipeline's $25 billion construction cost,
*******************************************
Marks said.
--
"In our opinion that will make the gas line uneconomic," he said.
---
Clark said:
"it would be a terrible blow to the
************************************
"state's reputation if:
********************
the reserves tax initiative becomes law.
*******************************************
---
"We would "present ourselves to the world" as a state where there are
disincentives to new investment. None of us want that," he said.
---
The "reserves tax initiative" was cleared for
**********************************************
placement on the November ballot
**************************************
earlier this year after voter signatures were gathered on petitions.
---
The effort was sponsored by:
*******************************
state Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage,
**************************************
who is also "running for governor" in the 2006 elections.
---
Croft was unavailable for comment on Clark's statement.
---
However, Croft said it is wrong to shield the producers from the tax in
the proposed contract in a recent account by the Associated Press.
---
"No governor can take an initiative off the ballot, but Frank Murkowski
is trying the next best thing, which is trying to contract it away," he
said.
---
Marks also said:
the administration's reading of the ballot proposition is that while
Croft and other supporters intend the reserves tax to only apply to the
large Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson gas fields, the tax could also
apply to newly discovered gas under certain circumstances.
---
That will chill exploration for new gas and even oil, Marks said,
because exploration for oil often results in gas also being found.
----
If explorers are uncertain whether the tax applies it would cause
companies to hesitate, he said.
---
This is important because:
more gas than the 35 trillion cubic feet of gas now known on the North
Slope will eventually be needed to support a pipeline at a planned 4.5
billion cubic feet daily production rate.
---
Tim Bradner can be reached at
tim.b...@alaskajournal.com.
© 2004 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
239
PLACING A "GAS RESERVE TAX" ON A CORPORATION WHICH DOESN'T DEVELOP THE
GAS, AS A SOURCE OF FUEL, WHEN....GAS HAS ALWAYS BEEN USED TO RE-INJECT
IN
"OIL WELLS" IN ORDER TO GET THE OIL OUT..PLUS THE PRICE OF OIL WAS SO
LOW THAT IT WASN'T WORTH PROCESSING, ALSO JUSTIFIED IT "NOT BEING
PROCESSED".
--
SOOO, IT IS PRETTY OBVIOUS, AT LEAST TO ME AND RAY METCALF, WHO IS
RUNNING FOR THE U.S. SENATE, WHO HAS DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH ON THIS
SUBJECT AND AS A FORMER LEGISLATOR, STATES:
--
ALASKA SHOULD "OWN IT'S OWN RESOURCES" AND SHOULD BE THE ONES
DEVELOPING AND SELLING THEM, INSTEAD OF ALLOWING HUGE OIL/GAS
CORPS..LEASE ALASKA LAND FOR DECADES VIA OBVIOUSLY "BAD CONTRACTS".
--
IN OTHER WORDS, ALASKA HAS BEEN ALLOWING ITSELF TO BE ROBBED VIA THESE
CONTRACTS, WHICH APPARENTLY DON'T HAVE ANY CLAUSES WHERE ALASKA COULD
BREAK THE CONTRACTS DUE TO "LACK OF DEVELOPMENT OF OIL/GAS", AT LEAST I
AM ASSUMING THAT IS WHAT CROFT FOUND OUT, SO HE IS GOING THIS ROUTE.
--
I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT "IF" THIS CITIZEN'S INITATIVE IS MADE INTO A
LAW, THE OIL/GAS CORPS WOULD PROBABLY APPEAL IT AND POSSIBLY CLOSE DOWN
THEIR OPERATIONS UNTIL THE COURTS DECIDE THE ISSUE, WHICH COULD TAKE
DECADES. AS STATED, THESE ARE ONLY MY ASSUMPTIONS AND IT WOULD REQUIRE
THE ABILITY TO READ "EACH OIL/GAS CONTRACT", IF THEY ARE EVEN AVAILABLE
TO THE PUBLIC AND NOT HID UNDER "CONFIDENTIALITY LAWS", TO FIND OUT.
--
HAD THE ALASKAN POLITICIANS CONCERNED THEMSELVES WITH "THE PEOPLE" AND
NOT THEIR "POCKETS" AND ALASKANS, THEMSELVES, GOT INVOLVED WITH WHAT
THEIR POLITICIANS WERE DOING "TO THEM", THIS SITUATION WOULD NOT EXIST.
--
SO THE "NON-PERFORMANCE "RESERVE TAX" MIGHT BE THE ONLY LEGAL METHOD
CROFT COULD FIND TO GET THESE CONTRACTS BEFORE THE COURTS.
---
HERE IS ONE SOURCE OF CROFT'S STATEMENTS..I STILL HAVEN'T GONE TO HIS
WEBSITE OR LOOKED UP THE INITATIVE ITSELF.
SYLVIA--&;(
---
Subject:Eric Croft-GAS PIPELINE & INITIATIVE
http://ericcroft.com/index.php/issues/43/52
exam...@webtv.net
AND HEARD, SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER-(R-TENN), WHO IS ON THE "ENERGY
COMMITTEE" STATE THAT:
---
"ALASKA STATE RECEIVES 90% OF THE OIL/GAS TAXES AND THE FEDERAL GOVT.
10%".
---
THESE OUTRAGEOUS AND BLATANT LIES ARE MEANT TO "MAKE THE OIL/GAS CORPS
LOOK LIKE THEY ARE ACTUALLY DEALING IN A "FAIR CONTRACT DEAL", WHEN WE
KNOW IT IS ALL LIES.
--
ALEXANDER IS "SELLING THE DRILLING OF OFF-SHORE OIL/GAS" RIGHT NOW AND
"ADMITS TO HIS STATE HAVING A LOT OF GAS".
--
I DOUBT THAT "HIS STATE HAS MORE GAS THAN THE GAS HE IS SPEWING AND
FARTING" TO ALL AMERICANS. I SWEAR, THESE POLITICIANS "SHOULD BE FINED
AT LEAST $1,000 PER WORD WHICH IS A LIE" UNLESS THEY CAN SUPPORT THEIR
STATEMENTS WITH "LEGITIMATE DOCUMENTATION". THIS INTENTIONAL AND
BLATANT FRAUD ON THE PEOPLE MUST STOP.
---
BELOW IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE "WORST" ARTICLES I HAVE EVER READ, I.E.
EITHER THE WRITER HAS "INTENTIONALLY" TRIED TO WRITE AN ARTICLE THAT IS
"MISLEADING" AND IS CONFUSING, OR THE WRITER DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT
WHAT HE WROTE AND JUST FILLED UP THE SPACE WITH MORONIC-VAGUE
STATEMENTS.
--
I BELIEVE IT WAS DONE INTENTIONALLY, I.E. PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO
HIS STATEMENTS RE:
(1) THE INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING STATEMENTS OF "HOW MUCH REVENUE
MURKY'S DEAL WOULD BRING TO THE STATE, I.E.
$1.6 BILLION, THEN THE REPORTER COMPARES IT TO
"WHAT THE OIL CORP'S TAX BILL WOULD BE, IF ONE OF THE
NEW BILLS WERE PASSED", I.E. COMPARING APPLES & ORANGES TO CONFUSE THE
READER.
--
(2)"THE TAXES ON "GROSS REVENUE" VS TAXES ON "NET REVENUES".
---
NOTE: WHILE THE WRITER TALKS ABOUT HOW MUCH THE "TOP OIL PRODUCERS ON
THE N.SLOPE HAS "INVESTED IN EXPLORATION", HE (REPORTER) DOESN'T TELL
US "HOW MUCH OF THEIR PROFITS GO INTO "MAINTENANCE"; KNOWING FULL WELL
B.P. HAS JUST CAUSED THE BIGGEST OIL SPILL ON THE N.SLOPE "DUE TO THEIR
GREED AND REFUSAL TO MAINTAIN THEIR PIPELINE.
--
CLEARLY THIS ON-LINE ALASKA JOURNAL WRITER IS GETTING PAID TO SPEW THE
PROGANDA FROM THE OIL CORPS AND FOR THAT REASON I WILL NOTE BE POSTING
THEIR ARTICLES ANYMORE OR JUST SELECTIVE ONES, LIKE THE OPENING OF MORE
WELLS.
--
CLEARLY THE BELOW ARTICLE IS "EXACTLY LIKE THE INTENTIONALLY VAGUE B.S.
USED IN ALASKA OIL/GAS STATUTES WHICH, IS "WRITTEN BY THE OIL CORPS",
AND LIKE BUSH, IS "TRANSLATED INTO ANY INTERPRETATION THE CORRUPT
POLITICIANS WANT TO USE".
---
I KNOW FOR A "FACT" THAT THE MAJORITY OF ALASKA LEGISLATORS SITTING ON
THESE OIL/GAS COMMITTEES ARE THE STUPIDEST OF ALL OF THEM AND KNOWING
THAT, WON'T SPEAK UP IN THEIR HEARINGS ASKING FOR A "CLEAR STATEMENT"
OF THE BILLS...THE OTHERS, SLAP DOWN A LEGISLATOR FOR "JUST ASKING A
QUESTION WHICH WILL CLEARLY EXPOSE THIS CON-ARTIST DOUBLE-TALKING
JIBBERISH; I.E.
I SAW THAT FOR MYSELF WHEN "REP. HALCRO (PH)" ASKED FOR SUCH AN
EXPLANATION..HALCRO "WAS A REPUBLICAN" AND NOW I BELIEVE HE IS RUNNING
AS AN "INDEPENDENT".
---
LAST NOTE: WHY ARE "NO DEMOCRATS" OFFERING ANY LEGISLATION (SEE BELOW)
OR IS IT AS I HAVE REPEATEDLY STATED:
"THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPUBS & DEMOS IN ALASKA."
----
Subject:7-30-06-"SPECIAL SESSION" MUST END BY AUG 10.
---
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/073006/oil_20060730004.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY::
---
Web posted Sunday, July 30, 2006
Tax plans rule the session
*******************************
By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce
JUNEAU - Legislators hunkered down in Juneau last week, trying to come
to grips with a handful of tough issues surrounding Gov. Frank
Murkowski's proposed fiscal contract with North Slope producers on a
natural gas pipeline.
-----
This is the Legislature's "third try at passing a revamped state oil
and gas production tax" and
---
"its second try" at enacting a set of amendments" to the state Stranded
Gas Act.
----
Murkowski says "he needs both" to complete a natural gas contract.
---
A special session can last 30 days from the time it is called.
---
Murkowski called for the "latest special session"
to begin July 12, and
legislators' work must be concluded
on the tax and related issues by Aug. 10.
*****************************************
----
The amendments to the Stranded Gas Act are needed to: give the governor
authority to negotiate items in
******************************
the fiscal contract that
the law now does not cover.
******************************
----
When the Stranded Gas Act was passed in 1998,
******
it "authorized special fiscal terms"
to help an "economically risky major gas project", but
---
ideas like:
*************
(1) "partial state ownership" of the pipeline and
---
(2) the state taking its royalty and taxes "in gas" instead of cash
---
were not envisioned at the time.
---
The "act must be amended" to allow the state
to conclude the proposed contract with the producers.
---
In Juneau last week, lawmakers began their review of the Stranded Gas
Act changes and,
---
in separate meetings, discussed
"federal regulatory issues"
---
with staff from the "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."
----
Legislators divided over oil tax proposals
*********************************************
---
Most of the attention was still focused on proposed oil production tax
changes, which has emerged as the most contentious issue so far of all
the gas pipeline-related questions.
---
Lawmakers appear to be split into three camps.
---
(1) One group "supports the
governor's" proposal of a "20-20" tax,
*************************************
---
a 20 percent tax on "industry net revenues"
**********************************************
with a "new investment tax credit"
********************************
that "allows":
---
20 percent" of "qualified capital investments"
**********
to be credited dollar-for-dollar
"against taxes owed."
***********************
---
(2) A second group of legislators
appears to be "holding out for higher tax rates",
**********************************************
such as "25 percent of net revenues."
***********************************
----
In earlier work on the tax, lawmakers added an "progressivity"
provision that:
---
increases the tax rate "as oil prices rise"
above certain levels.
---
It is a kind of "windfall-profits surtax."
****************************************
---
(3) A third group appears to be:
"searching for some middle ground," such as:
---
"a tax rate of 21.5 percent"
***************************
with progressivity formulas that
escalate the tax at slower rates.
***********************************
---
The "bottom line" of all this is that:
*************************************
the governor's "20-20" bill
would bring in about $1 billion yearly
****************************************
in new revenue,
****************
while:
---
"the alternates" being discussed by legislators would:
---
"hike the industry tax bill" to $1.7 billion to $2
**********************************************
billion per year, or more.
**************************
---
The latest twist on the tax legislation
is a "new proposal" being developed by
---
Anchorage Republican legislators:
********************************
Ralph Samuels and Mike Hawker
****************************
that would "link the tax rate" to
the levels of "industry investment" or
---
in achieving levels of new production.
----
Companies that:
"invest little would pay the top tax"
*************************************
while companies that ramp up
investment would enjoy lower tax rates.
********************************
---
North Slope producing companies
******************************
"now invest" "about $1.5 billion a year" in:
**********************************************
"new" development work and exploration,
**********************************************
---
but state oil and gas officials say:
***********************************
this amount "must be doubled"
****************************
---
if the "current decline in production"
from the producing fields "is to be arrested."
---
The "investment tax credit",
which now seems widely supported in the Legislature, is one tool to
accomplish this.
----
"The link" between:
"tax rates" and "investment" or "new production levels"
would be a second inducement, Samuels said.
************************************
---
Yet another idea is:
---
a new bill introduced July 26 by:
Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer,
*************************
which would simply "enact the progressivity tax",
---
with its "link to rising oil prices",
and attach it to whatever the Legislature passes.
---
If the Legislature winds up passing no restructured tax, Seaton's bill
could attach the progressivity tax to the state's existing production
tax -
---
"a tax on "gross" industry revenues"
***************************************
with an "incentive formula for smaller fields",
called the "Economic Limit Factor."
---
State Sen., Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai,
****************************************
was also expected to bring a
"new production tax proposal"
to the table last week.
----
There is also "some support" in the Legislature for "retaining the tax
on gross revenues,"
---
but "without the ELF incentive formula", which is widely acknowledged
to be obsolete.
----
Department of Revenue officials
spent much of July 25 in discussions with the House Finance Committee
on:
---
the advantages and disadvantages of
a "gross revenues tax" compared with
a "net revenues tax",
---
which the governor has proposed
in his "20-20" tax proposal.
----
The most significant difference between the two is that:
---
"production costs",
both operating and capital,
***************************
"are allowed as deductions"
*************************
from "gross revenues"
*******************
with a "net revenues tax."
---
They are "not allowed as deductions"
with a "gross revenues tax."
----
Roger Marks,
**************
an economist with
the revenue department,
told the Finance Committee
---
that a "net revenues tax structure"
**************************************
is helpful for high-cost and
technically difficult oil projects - like heavy oil - because: costs
can be deducted "before paying the tax."
**********************************************
---
That is "not" the case with
a "gross revenues tax",
where the same tax applies no matter
what the field costs are.
---
Because of that,
"a gross tax can be a disincentive"
for heavy oil development, Marks said.
---
The criticism that has surfaced on a net revenues tax, however, is
that:
--
it is "more complex" than a tax on gross
**********************
revenues, and because of that,
---
"it can be manipulated by industry"
**************************************
to the state's disadvantage.
*******************************
---
Two Anchorage businessmen,
Barney Gottstein and Larry Carr,
************************************
have been running advertisements in newspapers around the state
"criticizing the net revenues tax proposal."
**********************************************
---
Feds weigh in on expansion
*******************************
Discussions last week over
"federal regulatory authority of a gas pipeline"
**********************************************
"centered on the conditions"
under which an "expansion of a pipeline"
can take place "if new gas is found",
***************************************
---
and whether the North Slope producers,
under the "proposed gas contract",
can discourage the expansion
**********************************
if the gas is discovered by a company
"outside the pipeline partnership."
---
Two officials of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the
agency's:
---
deputy director, Robert Cupina and
its staff attorney, Jacqueline Holmes,
---
told the Senate Special Gas Committee that federal legislation on the
gas pipeline;
passed by Congress in 2004
********************************
"set up special rules" for FERC's regulation
**********************************************
of an Alaska pipeline.
************************
---
While the "pipeline contract" would:
lay out ways in which the partners,
including the state,
can do a "voluntary expansion"
to "allow for new gas",
---
in the 2004 legislation,
************************
the "federal agency" was:
****************************
"given new authority" to
**************************
"also order "mandatory expansions"
of the pipeline,
Cupina told the Senate committee.
---
A central issue is:
*********************
"whether a mandatory expansion
"would be paid for by
***********************
all of those shipping gas through the pipeline,
**********************************************
through a "rolled in" pricing procedure, or
---
whether the entity requesting the expansion would pay for all of it,
termed an "incremental" pricing procedure.
---
Cupina told the committee that:
---
the FERC's normal procedure is
"to order rolled-in pricing" and
that this would most likely apply in
the event of a mandatory expansion order on the Alaska pipeline.
---
However, the "law also prohibits"
*************************************
"existing shippers" having to
"subsidize" the expansion, Holmes said.
--
Ordinarily, an expansion of a pipeline
benefits all shippers of gas, because, by allowing for more volume of
gas to move through the pipeline, it lowers costs for everyone.
---
Because of the prohibition against subsidies, the issue of rolled-in
versus incremental pricing for an Alaska pipeline expansion isn't
entirely clear. Much would depend on the circumstances of the
application for expansion, Cupina said.
---
"A mandatory expansion could be rolled-in pricing or it could be
incremental. It would depend on the situation," he said.
----
Bob Loeffler,
*************
a contract attorney for
the state administration, said:
---
that an agreement between
the pipeline owners on expansion
is included in the "partnership agreement" that is still being worked
out.
---
Ordinarily a pipeline company would favor expansions, Loeffler said.
---
"If there is a sound basis in economics for the expansion, it is in the
interest of the pipeline company to expand its business," he said.
---
Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole,
***************************************
said his concern is that:
---
if the "state participates as a partner"
*****************************************
in the pipeline,
its ability to encourage expansions
"might be limited by the partnership agreement
**********************************************
despite the flexibility that the FERC has been awarded under the 2004
law.---
exam...@webtv.net
EARLIER REPORTING OF BP SHUTTING DOWN 12 OF IT'S WELLS...WHY IS THIS,
UNLESS THE BIG MEDIA DIDN'T PICK UP ON THIS EARLIER?
------
Subject:Oil field shutdown likely to hike state's gas prices-8-07-06
---
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/07/MNG7SKCJQ25.DTL
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Oil field shutdown likely to hike state's gas
**********************************************
prices
******
- David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, August 7, 2006 (08-07)
10:46 PDT --
***************************
Sunday's shut-down of a major Alaskan oil field will likely push
California's gasoline prices higher.
---
California depends heavily on crude from the North Slope, including the
Prudhoe Bay field that oil giant BP decided to close after finding
serious pipeline corrosion.
----
Alaska supplies roughly "20 percent" of all the oil used in California
refineries, with the rest coming either from the state's own oil fields
or from abroad.
----
The shut-down, effective until BP can fully assess and repair damage to
its pipeline,
will cut North Slope oil exports in half.
**************************************
---
California's gasoline prices have been stable for several weeks, stuck
just above $3.20 for a gallon of regular. The sudden pinch in oil
supplies threatens to change that.
---
"Throughout the course of the month, you'll see refineries have to cut
runs, which is going to yield less gasoline, less diesel, less jet
fuel," said:
---
Denton Cinquegrana,
West Coast markets editor with
the Oil Price Information Service.
---
The West Coast currently has an ample supply of crude in storage, which
should keep gasoline prices from soaring, he said. He doubted the
state's gasoline prices would climb as far as they did earlier this
year, when they reached an average of $3.38 a gallon.
---
"We probably won't revisit that until next year, if we revisit it at
all," Cinquegrana said.
---
It wasn't immediately clear Monday where the state's refineries would
obtain replacement supplies.
---
Although the federal government announced Monday its willingness to tap
into the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent shortages,
those oil supplies are on the Gulf Coast,
not in California.
*****************
Any crude coming from the reserve would probably need to be brought
here by ship -- a three-week trip.
---
"They have to bring it in by tanker,
because there are "no incoming pipelines" to California's refining
centers," said:
---
Tupper Hull,
spokesman for
the Western States Petroleum Association, which represents West Coast
refiners.
---
E-mail David R. Baker at dba...@sfchronicle.com.
---
URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/07/MNG7SKCJQ25.DTL
>
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle
exam...@webtv.net
REPORTED, JUST AS THIS ARTICLE TELLS US ABOUT "ANOTHER LEAK, WHICH
APPARENTLY BP CAN'T STOP" AND JUST KEEPS SUCKING IT UP AS IT LEAKS.
---
IT SOUNDS LIKE THE ENTIRE PIPELINE IS SO OLD AND CORRODED THAT THE
ENTIRE THING NEEDS TO BE REPLACED OR IT WILL CONTINUALLY LEAK AND AT
IT'S WORSE, A LEAK SO HUGE THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP.
--
FORTUNATELY FOR ALASKANS, THIS IS CLEARLY A "WAKEUP CALL" TO A HUGE OIL
CORP (BP) WHO WANTS TO BUILD AND OPERATE A HUGE GAS-PIPELINE THERE,
SPEWING THEIR SO-CALLED RECORD OF "ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE", YET
DEMANDS TAX BREAKS BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH MONEY IT COSTS THEM TO "MAINTAIN
THEIR PIPE LINE", WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY...JUST ANOTHER LIE.
---
Subject: SUNDAY BP SHUTDOWN-ALSO INVOLVES ANOTHER OIL LEAK ------
http://voanews.com/english/2006-08-07-voa75.cfm
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Shutdown of BP operations in Alaska Causes Spike in World Oil Price
---
By Greg Flakus
Houston
07 August 2006
---
The price of oil has moved sharply higher on "world markets" following
the BP company's decision to:
----
"shut down operations at its Prudhoe Bay,Alaska site" because of "a
pipeline leak."
---
Company officials are not sure how long it will take to rectify the
problems they have found.
---
BP worker uses "ultrasound to scan" a section of pipe looking for weak
spots along an oil transit pipeline
---
In a telephone conference call with reporters Monday, BP/Alaska
officials said the extraordinary action of shutting down operations at
Prudhoe Bay came as a result of inspections carried out in recent days
that revealed
---
"numerous problems in the pipeline"
***********************************
carrying crude oil out from the facility.
---
At first, inspectors found only what they termed "anomalies" in the
pipes,
where corrosion of an "unknown nature"
was weakening the material used to seal the pipe.
---
But the president of BP Exploration Alaska incorporated, Steve
Marshall, says concern deepened after they:
---
"encountered a leak at the
"facility's Flow Station Two"
on Sunday."
----
"At the moment,
all that is shut down is Flow Station 2,"
******************************************
said Marshall.
---
"Then, we are proceeding, starting later today, to "sequentially shut
down other facilities."
****************************************
---
We expect that process will take in the range
of three to five days to accomplish that."
---
Marshall said he could not predict exactly how long operations would be
shut.
---
He said BP is concentrating now on
"the immediate problem of the leak" and
*********************************
"the potential damage it could cause"
to the environmentally sensitive tundra,
where the facility is located.
****************************
---
"That leak resulted in about
"four to five barrels of oil spilled to the tundra,"
**********************************************
said Marshall.
---
"That was contained and,
*******************
while "the leak is still continuing,"
**********************************
it is all being contained and vacuum-trucked away,
and the spill volume remains
at four to five barrels, and
*********************
---
about half of that has been cleaned up as we speak."
**************************************************
---
The shutdown of BP operations at Prudhoe Bay will take 400,000
barrels-a-day of production
**********************************************
offline.
*****
---
That represents nearly 8% of U.S.
**************************************
oil production as of May,
***************************
according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
---
Energy traders say world oil prices could climb even more, if the
Alaska field is shut down for an extended period.
---
The market is already tight because of "increased demand" and "limits
on production"
caused by "unrest in":
---
Nigeria and the Middle East.
---
BP officials refuse to speculate on how long the repairs at Prudhoe Bay
may take,
but experts say such an undertaking could easily take weeks, even
months.
************************************
---
But U.S. energy analysts say the shock to prices may be lessened by
other factors, such as the 4% rise in crude oil inventories in the
**********************************************
United States over last year.
*******************************
---
The U.S. Energy Department says it is also possible that the:
"Strategic Petroleum Reserve"
********************************
could be tapped,
*****************
if refineries are running low.
*******************************
---
The "reserve holds 700 million barrels of oil," and has been used
sparingly in the past
to ease supply problems caused by hurricanes or other disruptions.
Linspire User
exam...@webtv.net wrote:
> CLEARLY THERE IS "MUCH MORE GOING ON IN PRUDHOE BAY" THEN WHAT IS BEING
> REPORTED, JUST AS THIS ARTICLE TELLS US ABOUT "ANOTHER LEAK, WHICH
> APPARENTLY BP CAN'T STOP" AND JUST KEEPS SUCKING IT UP AS IT LEAKS.
> ---
Yah the state house vote a poduction tax and the next day BP shuts down.
They have allways said they sould shut down if taxed. They didn't take
time to send the message.
exam...@webtv.net
ALASKA TO REVOKE THE LEASE WITH B.P. FOR OBVIOUS NEGLECT AND VIOLATIONS
OF THE CONTRACT-AND..
---
SEE PART 2, WHICH PROVES, ALASKA POLITICIANS ARE SPEWING SUPPORT FOR
THIS GREED AND CORRUPTION OF WHICH "THEY ARE IN COLLUSION WITH OIL
CORPS,
---
I.E. VALDEZ, FORMER MAYOR AND NOW "SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE", JOHN HARRIS,
WHO HAS A LOCAL REPUTATION OF "CORRUPTION".
---
HE IS/WAS ALSO BEHIND THE ILLEGAL AND FRAUDULENT "ALASKA PORT AUTHORITY
FOR THE NEW GAS PIPELINE."
-------
Subject: PT 1 OF 2-16 MILES OF BP OIL PIPELINE SHUT DOWN & NEEDS
REPLACED.
---
NOTE: THE TV NEWS SAID THAT THIS PIPELINE HASN'T BEEN CLEANED SINCE
1992...(14 YEARS AGO).
---
Subject:Huge Alaska oil field shut down - 7-07-06
---
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14219844/
>
--
TEXT COPY:
---
MSNBC Home » Business » Oil & Energy
---
BP shuts down largest U.S. oil field
---
Indefinite closure removes 8 percent of U.S. production, raises price
fears
---
(GO TO ABOVE URL TO OPEN THIS LINK)
---
NBC VIDEO
•Crude delay
Aug. 7: BP PLC said Monday its Prudhoe Bay facilities in Alaska will be
shut down for weeks or months. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
---
MSNBC staff and news service reports
---
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - In what could be another blow to consumers already
hard hit by high energy costs, petroleum giant BP PLC said Monday its
Prudhoe Bay facilities in Alaska will be shut down for weeks or months
due to
---
damage that will require it to replace
*****************************************
73 percent of a pipeline from the field.
******************************************
---
The shutdown, which drove oil and gasoline prices sharply higher on
energy markets, removes about 8 percent of daily U.S. crude production.
---
Light, sweet crude oil rose $1.59 to $76.35 a barrel in electronic
trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gasoline prices rose
more than 4 cents to $2.2725 a gallon.
---
BP, the world's second-largest oil company,
**********************************************
began shutting down the pipelines on Monday and said it would replace
16 miles of
*****************************************
the 22 miles of transit pipeline in the
****************************************
Prudhoe Bay field "following a leak discovered"
**********************************************
Sunday.
*********
---
Company officials told a news conference they did not immediately know
how much it would cost to replace the lines.
---
They will continue to keep the oil field closed and bring parts back
into service once it's safe to do so.
----
Because of the disruption of supplies, the "Energy Department" is
prepared to provide oil from the government's emergency supplies "if a
refinery requests it."
---
Spokesman Craig Stevens said the department will be in contact with BP
and West Coast refiners later Monday to assess the situation.
---
"If there is a request for oil we'll certainly take a serious look at
that," he said.
---
Steve Marshall,
president of BP Exploration Alaska Inc., said Sunday night that the
"eastern side" of the "Prudhoe Bay oil field" would be
"shut down first", an operation anticipated to take 24 to 36 hours.
----
The company will then move to shut down the west side, a move that
could close more than 1,000 Prudhoe Bay wells.
**********************************************
---
Possible major impact on oil prices
***************************************
Once the field is shut down, BP said
oil production will be reduced by 400,000 barrels a day.
---
That's close to 8 percent of U.S. oil production or about 2.6 percent
of U.S. supply including imports, according to data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration.
---
BP said Sunday, workers found a small spill of about 4 to 5 barrels,
which has been contained and is being cleaned up.
---
The shutdown comes at an already worrisome time for the oil industry,
with supply concerns stemming both from the hurricane season and
instability in the Middle East.
---
A 400,000-barrel per day reduction in output would have "a major impact
on oil prices",
said Tetsu Emori,
chief commodities strategist
at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.
---
A barrel contains 42 gallons of crude oil.
*********************************************
---
"Oil prices "could increase" by as
much as $10 per barrel given the current
*************************
environment," Emori said.
---
"But we can't really say for sure how big an effect this is going to
have until we have more exact figures about how much production is
going to be reduced."
---
But Victor Shum,
an energy analyst
with Purvin & Gertz
in Singapore,
---
said he expected "the impact to be minimal" since crude inventories are
high.
************************************
---
Alaska pipeline shutdown
*******************************
(GO TO ABOVE URL TO OPEN THESE LINKS)
•Oil surges near record after shutdown
•Reopening pipeline could take months
•Feds: Sludge, lack of testing to blame
*******************************************
•Is BP's "green" image tarnished?
•Video: Impact of shutdown on market
•Sound off: Big Oil making too much profit
-----
"So while this won't have any immediate impact on U.S. supplies, the
market is in very high anxiety.
---
So any significant disruption, traders will take that into account,
even though
"there is no threat of a supply shortage."
********************************************
---
No gasoline shortages seen
********************************
U.S. consumers "will not face shortages" of gasoline and other
petroleum products because of the BP shutdown, the government's top
energy forecasting agency said on Monday. ---
"It certainly isn't going to create any shortages in gasoline, diesel
fuel and other petroleum products,"
Tancred Lidderdale,
an analyst with the
federal Energy Information Administration, told Reuters.
---
Lidderdale said:
West Coast refiners, where most of Alaska's crude oil is shipped, have
plenty of oil supplies as crude inventories
**********************************************
in the region are "above average."
***************************************
---
BP's Marshall said:
tests Friday indicated that there were
"16 anomalies in 12 areas"
*****************************
in an oil transit line on the eastern side of Prudhoe Bay. ---
Tests found: "losses in wall thickness"
*****************************************
of between 70 and 81 percent.
**********************************
---
Repair or replacement is required
**************************************
if there is more than an 80 percent loss.
********************************************
---
"The results were "absolutely unexpected," Marshall said.
---
CONTINUED: Indefinite closure
1 | 2 | Next >
Print this Email this
---
MORE FROM OIL & ENERGY
---
. Huge Alaska oil field shut down.
Did sludge buildup prompt pipeline closing? . BP's 'green' image in
jeopardy.
Oil near record after Alaska shutdown.
Gas prices hit $3.04 a gallon.
Natural gas prices jump with temperature. Who's to blame for gas
prices? Senate approves more offshore drilling.
Cuban oil renews embargo debate.
Would $100 oil slam global economy?
---
. Oil & Energy Section Front
CNBC VIDEO
----
•BP's fallout
Aug. 7: CNBC's Sharon Epperson reports on the impact of the shutdown of
a major Alaskan oil field, which sent oil prices surging Monday. CNBC
NBC VIDEO
---
•Tighter supply
Aug. 7: CNBC's Ron Insana speaks with Ann Curry of NBC's 'Today' show
about how shutting down the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska will affect
oil prices.
Today show
----
Related Stories | What's this?
•BP shuts down major Alaskan oil field
•Alaska pipeline shuts down
•Alaska pipeline shutdown will likely raise gas prices •Pipeline
Closing Adds to BP Woes in U.S. •Russian crude can substitute for lost
Alaska oil
---
© 2006 MSNBC.com
exam...@webtv.net
Subject: PT 2 OF 2-AK POLITICIAN-P.R. & BP RECENT RECORD.
Subject:PT 2 OF 2-Huge Alaska oil field shut down -8-07-06 ----
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14219844/page/2/
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
MSNBC Home » Business » Oil & Energy
---
BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone said:
---
Prudhoe Bay will not resume operating until the company and government
regulators are satisfied it can run safely without threatening the
environment.
---
"We regret that it is necessary to take this action and we apologize to
the nation and the State of Alaska for the adverse impacts it will
cause," Malone said in a statement.
---
The troubles at the Alaskan oil field
"add to other problems for BP"
in the United States, where the company
is the largest oil producer,
---
following "an explosion" at its
Texas City refinery
that killed 15 workers in March 2005
****************************************
and a trading scandal.
************************
---
The shutdown comes six months
*************************************
after the North Slope's "biggest ever oil spill" was discovered on a
Prudhoe Bay transit line.
---
Some 267,000 gallons of oil spilled.
***************************************
---
"BP installed a bypass on that line in April"
**********************************************
with plans to replace the pipe.
*********************************
---
Only "one" of BP's "three"
****************************
transit lines is now operating.
********************************
---
BP puts "millions of gallons" of
***********************************
"corrosion inhibitor" into the
******************************
Prudhoe Bay lines each year.
---
It also examines pipes by taking X-rays and ultrasound images.
---
BP has a "26%" stake in the Prudhoe Bay field,
**********************************************
meaning its "own production" would be
cut by 100,000 barrels a day, or
********************************
around 2.5% of the company's worldwide
**********************************************
production,
***********
said spokesman
David Nicholas.
---
He declined to provide any forecast on the impact of the shutdown on
earnings.
---
Even a short shutdown of Prudhoe Bay
could be crippling to Alaska's economy.
*********************************************
---
Alaska House Speaker, John Harris
****************************************
said "it was admirable that BP"
*********************************
"took immediate action",
**************************
although it's sure to hurt state coffers.
******************************************
---
"This state cannot afford to have another Exxon Valdez," said Harris,
R-Valdez.
----
The Exxon Valdez tanker emptied
"11 million gallons of crude oil"
into Prince William Sound in 1989,
killing hundreds of thousands of birds and marine animals and soiling
more than 1,200 miles of rocky beach in nation's largest oil spill.
---
BP trouble spots
*****************
ALASKA:
*********
BP is shutting down its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska following the
discovery of a corroded pipeline. The move takes 400,000 barrels a day
off the market.
---
BP is already facing a criminal investigation
**********************************************
over a March spill of some 267,000 gallons of oil at the same field.
----
TEXAS:
********
BP and U.S. officials are investigating the death of a contractor last
month at the Texas City refinery where 15 workers were killed and more
than 170 were injured in an explosion last year.
---
That accident led to a $21.4 million fine by
**********************************************
regulators who said they found more than
***********
"300 willful or serious violations"
**********************************
"of health and safety regulations."
---
BP has set aside $700 million for compensation claims.
----
GULF OF MEXICO:
**********************
The $1 billion Thunder Horse platform,
left listing by a hurricane in 2004, is now set to begin production
early next year, instead of the second half of this year.
---
REGULATORY:
*****************
U.S investigators allege that
"BP traders cornered the U.S. propane market" in the winter of 2004:
---
to manipulate prices, which drove up heating
**********************************************
costs for rural consumers.
****************************
---
The company has denied any wrongdoing but has called in external
auditors to review compliance systems.
---
< Prev | 1 | 2
exam...@webtv.net
CONGRESS PEOPLE TO "PROVE" THEY JUST "BLOWED OFF" THE TESTING OF THE
PIPELINES FOR 14 YEARS,
(LIKE MOST GREEDY AND CORRUPT GHETTO LANDLORDS) WHICH HAS CAUSED GREAT
DAMAGE TO ALASKA'S ENVIORNMENT AND LOSS OF MONEY VIA ROYALTIES, THAT BP
SHOULD "NOT BE ABLE TO DO ANY FURTHER HARM OR COVER-UP OF THEIR
INTENTIONAL REFUSAL TO
MAINTAIN THE PIPELINE.
---
ALASKANS SHOULD FINALLY STAND UP AND TAKE OVER "THEIR OWN RESOURCES"
AND SUE B.P. FOR THE OBVIOUS LACK OF MAINTENANCE AND DAMAGE THAT IT HAS
DONE SO FAR, AS WELL AS AN IMMEDIATE REVOCATION OF THEIR LEASE/S OF
ALASKA LAND FOR OIL DRILLING AND EXPLORATION.
-------
Subject:Did sludge buildup prompt pipeline closing? - 8-07-06
----
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14233534/
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
MSNBC Home » Business » Oil & Energy
Sludge, lack of testing cited in pipeline failure
**********************************************
Clogging likely caused corrosion,
*************************************
pipeline last cleaned in 1992, feds say
********************************
----
WASHINGTON - The North Slope oil pipelines being shut down:
---
"because of corrosion were clogged for years
**********************************************
by sludge buildup that may have prevented
**********************************************
the most sophisticated internal corrosion tests, officials said Monday.
---
The "last time the pipelines were cleaned"
*********************************************
and "tested, using a "smart pig"
**********************************
- a device pushed through the pipe to detect structural problems - was
in 1992,
**************
according to federal regulators and
***************************************
congressional investigators.
*********************************
---
Investigators have been told that:
*************************************
the Alaska pipeline, which sends oil
"from the feeder lines to the port of Valdez, "conducts operations"
************************
to clean line sludge "every two weeks.
*******************************************
---
In Anchorage, BP Alaska President,
Steve Marshall said:
---
the company believed that
ultrasound tests were an adequate substitute
**********************************************
and
---
that the "smart pig" tests weren't necessary.
**********************************************
---
He acknowledged in hindsight that was not sufficient.
----
After "a major spill" on one of BP's three North Slope feeder lines
last March,
"federal officials became concerned"
about "inadequate testing" and
possibly a "wider corrosion problem"
and:
ordered the company to conduct a "smart pig" test within three months.
---
But the company said:
---
"it could not meet the deadline"
in part because it was responding to a federal grand jury investigation
into the March spill and that "it was working to determine the volume
of solids likely to be encountered" in the lines, according to federal
officials. ----
In mid-June, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., pressed the federal Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on:
---
why the required pig tests were not being conducted.
----
Three weeks later,
the agency's chief,
Thomas Barrett, and
two senior officials traveled to the North Slope.
----
"We came away with significant concern about BP's progress" in dealing
with the sediment that had built up in the pipelines and were hinder
the testing,
Barrett recently wrote Dingell.
----
"The presence of "significant volumes"
of sediment and sludge in the lines
"poses a risk of further corrosion" and
"interferes with internal inspection operations
---
that are useful in detecting pipe anomalies," Barrett continued.
---
Then, BP Alaska officials
"came up with new estimates"
that "lowered the amount of sludge"
believed in the lines, and
---
"told federal officials the material no longer
**********************************************
prevents pigging the lines."
*****************************
---
BP had "tried to use the pig tests in 1999" but did not complete the
process,
according to Dingell's investigators.
---
Last May
**********
there was believed to be
"up to a foot of sludge"
in some parts of the 30-inch diameter lines.
----
"It is appalling that BP let this critical pipeline
**********************************************
deteriorate to the point that a major production
**********************************************
shutdown is necessary,"
*************************
Dingell,
the ranking Democrat
on the Energy and Commerce Committee,
said Monday
----
Bill Hedges,
BP's technical expert on corrosion,
said in Anchorage on Monday
---
that the company has
"an extensive anticorrosion program"
that relied heavily on ultrasound technology.
----
Thousands of points on the 22-mile pipeline system are checked
annually.
---
"My assumption is that:
we didn't do it in the right spots,"
Hedges told reporters.
---
The company announced:
it was replacing 16 miles of the transit system - two of the three
lines
-
and preventing 400,000 barrels of oil a day from moving out of the
Prudhoe Bay fields.
---
"We've learned ... that:
"BP had not cleaned many of its pipelines for years."
---
In contrast, other pipelines up on the North Slope are cleaned every
two weeks,"
****************************************
said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.,
a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
----
At a House hearing last April,
Stacey Gerard,
chief safety officer
at PHMSA,
the federal pipeline regulator,
said:
---
he could not say why BP Alaska did not use "this basic technique" of
running a scraper pig through the lines to regularly remove sludge
which he said is known to be hazardous to the pipelines.
----
"Is it just basic incompetence on their part?"
**********************************************
asked Markey.
----
"We have no single logical reason why they did not use the scraper
pigs," Gerard replied.
----
Print this Email this
---
© 2006 MSNBC.com
239
COLLUSION, CAN ANY STATE CONTINUE TO DO BUSINESS WITH A CORPORATION
THAT IS ALREADY BEING INVESTIGATED FOR CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS OF "SPILLING
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BARRELS OF OIL (270,000) DUE TO NEGLECT", HAS A
SECOND OIL LEAK, THEN IT IS "PROVEN AND "ADMITTED" THAT BP HAS "NOT"
USED IT'S PIPELINE PIG TO CLEAN OUT THE PIPELINE IN.....14 YEARS, THUS
ALLOWING IT TO CORRODE WITH ALL OF THE CRUD STAYING IN THE PIPELINE,
AND "NOW" BP BLAMES THE "CAUSE OF THE CORROSION".. ON BEING
"WATER"..THIS IS SUCH A PATHETIC AND OBVIOUS LIE THAT IT SHOWS HOW
LITTLE RESPECT BP HAS FOR THE "INTELLIGENCE OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS WHO
READ THEIR BULLSHIT".
---
IN THE MEANTIME, THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA AND ALL OF HIS
MERRY GREEDY AND CORRUPT BUREAUCRAT BUDDIES, CONTINUE TO SETUP, YET
ANOTHER "BILLION DOLLAR DEAL" WITH THIS "SAME LYING CORP (BP), THIS
TIME... TO BUILD A "NEW GAS PIPELINE".
---
WHAT DO ALASKANS THINK ABOUT ALL OF THIS? APPARENTLY, "NOTHING", ZIP,
ZERO, BLANK...THERE IS APPARENTLY "NO OUTRAGE" AND NO CALL TO ELIMINATE
BP FROM BEING INVOLVED IN THE NEW GAS PIPELINE DEAL, MUCH LESS
CANCELLING THE CONTRACTS THEY ALREADY HAVE IN ALASKA AND MOVING ANOTHER
CORPORATION WITH SOME INTEGRITY TO REPLACE THIS PIPE.
---
IT'S NOT AS IF BP HAS A GOOD RECORD AND THIS IS JUST THE FIRST
"ACCIDENT"....BP HAS AN HISTORICAL RECORD OF DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
WHERE EVER IT DRILLS, AS WELL AS BLATANT BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION WITH
STATE OFFICIALS.
---
ALASKA "CITIZEN" STUPIDITY?....OF COURSE, BUT THIS IS "TYPICAL OF HOW
ALASKANS DO BUSINESS, I.E. "THEY LET OTHERS, I.E. THEIR CORRUPT
POLITICIANS, DO ALL THE THINKING AND DOING...IT GIVES THE AVERAGE
ALASKAN A HUGE HEADACHE, TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN
THEMSELVES.
------
Subject:8-09-06-BP USING "WATER" IN PIPELINE AS EXCUSE FOR
CORROSION-NOT- LACK OF MAINTENANCE FOR PAST 14 YEARS.
-----
http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20060809/78979888.shtml
>
----
TEXT COPY:
----
Prudhoe Bay raises questions
********************************
about aging oil fields
***********************
---
MARY PEMBERTON
Associated Press Writer
----
ANCHORAGE, Alaska —
BP's problem of corroding pipes is "worsening"
**********************************************
as the nation's largest oil field ages and
"more water and less oil" is produced during
**********************************************
drilling.
*********
---
"Really, we are "a giant water field,"
***************************************
said Bill Hedges,
BP PLC's corrosion expert,
*****************************
explaining that:
---
what comes up now during drilling is
****************************************
three-quarters water. Water contains
*****************************************
carbon dioxide, ideally suited to
************************************
'corroding pipelines.'
************************
---
The shutdown this week of the Prudhoe Bay oil field 'because of severe
corrosion'
found in transit lines is raising questions about 'the condition of the
rest of the field.'
****************************************
---
Oil first flowed at Prudhoe Bay on June 20, 1977.
---
The Prudhoe Bay oilfield, which accounts for 8 percent of domestic
output, is very different now from what it was when it was first
brought onstream,
said
ING Financial Markets
analyst
Jason Kenney.
---
"The 'changing quality of the crude'
***********************************
that is being produced has presented
'an issue with the infrastructure'
that's in place and the development and
'that is what BP are battling against,"
***************************************
Kenney said.
---
The world's second-largest oil company announced
Sunday it was shutting down the oil field 'after a small leak was
found' in one of its three transit lines, which bring oil to the
800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline.
---
BP has 22 miles of transit lines and will be replacing two of the
lines, or 16 miles of pipe.
---
The Prudhoe Bay field produces about 400,000
**********************************************
barrels a day
***************
— about half of all North Slope production — with production divided
equally between the eastern and western sides.
---
The phased shutdown began Sunday on the east side, where the leak was
discovered.
---
It will likely move to the west side, where in March, corrosion in
another transit line caused a spill of
**********************************************
up to 270,000 gallons
***********************
— the biggest spill in the history of the North Slope or portion of
Alaska north of the Brooks Range mountains.
---
Company officials said Tuesday they hope to avoid a complete shutdown
on the west side.
---
Bob Malone,
*************
chairman of
BP North America
who took over July 1,
defended the company Tuesday.
*************************************
"I'm not able to see a systemic issue,"
*****************************************
Malone told analysts.
---
"These are very, very unfortunate incidents.
**********************************************
I can say "with comfort"
I'm "seeing" a high level of "focus on
safety and operation integrity."
----
The discovery of the corroded pipe is not the first major problem at
Prudhoe Bay
— BP is already facing a criminal investigation
**********************************************
over a March spill of up to 270,000 gallons on the west side of the
field.
---
Both spills are being blamed on corroded
**********************************************
transit pipes.
**************
BP is spending $72 million this year
***************************************
on its "anticorrosion program",
*********************************
with about "half that money" going for
millions of gallons of corrosion inhibiting chemicals placed in the
pipelines.
---
The amount of inhibitor is roughly double what it was a decade ago.
---
The company uses a variety of techniques to "detect corrosion",
including:
---
X-raying the pipe and gauging thickness by ultrasound.
---
Workers "place gel" on sections of pipe and "move a transducer" along
it to detect thin spots.
---
More than 100,000 points along roughly more than 1,000 miles of Prudhoe
Bay pipe
are checked annually.
************************
---
Flow pipes
— the ones that carry oil, water and gas —
also are cleaned and scraped and "smart
**********************************************
pigged,"
********
---
where an "ultrasound device" is put into the pipe to check for the thin
places in the wall of the pipe.
---
It was "that test",
ordered by the
Federal Department of Transportation
following the huge March spill,
that revealed problems in the transit line
that leaked Sunday.
---
BP had "relied mostly on exterior ultrasound" to "monitor the
integrity" of its three transit pipes in the belief that:
---
they were low-risk for corrosion because they
**********************************************
carried market-ready crude oil,
**********************************
the "processed oil"
with the water, gas, and solids "removed."
**********************************************
---
On any given day,
between 60 and 70 workers
are doing tests on Prudhoe Bay's
"aging pipeline system", Hedges said.
---
BP "now says":
****************
it will use a "maintenance pig to scrape"
********************************************
and "smart pig" all its transit lines.
**************************************
---
CSFB
analyst
Edward Westlake
---
said the outage in Alaska confirms that some non-OPEC production
infrastructure is becoming old.
---
"These are not new fears," he said.
"However, they are causing more concern to company managements."
----
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that the "corrosion in the
Alaska pipeline"
could indicate other trouble in the U.S. system.
---
He called on the Transportation Department to immediately survey the
nation's pipeline network.
---
He urged the "federal government"
to be "more aggressive" in seeking out and
correcting "flaws" in the U.S. energy infrastructure.
---
"The bottom line is we cannot afford for this incident to be a canary
in the mineshaft," Schumer said.
---
"Now is the time to aggressively search for and fix any other problems
before another disruption causes a national energy emergency."
---
Schumer said officials should
"review the inspection schedules companies file" to:
---
determine whether pipeline operators are
"adhering to" their "required plans."
************************************
---
BP has said:
**************
"it"... determines how often" to test its pipes
*********************************************
"depending on":
****************
the particularities of the pipe and
if it is likely to corrode.
************************
---
The severe corrosion found in the pipe
that leaked Sunday "was a surprise."
************************************
---
"Others with operations with mature assets would no doubt be checking
procedures for own infrastructure integrity," Kenney said.
---
Thomas J. Barrett,
administrator of
the Department of Transportation's
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration, said"
---
his office "has issued BP"
several compliance orders" since the March 2
***************************
spill and
"will issue several more" when
*************************
the current onsite investigations are complete.
**********************************************
---
"Our goal is "to restore" the safe operations up there as quickly as we
can. BP is doing the types of things we would like to have seen done
sooner," he said.
————
Associated Press Writers Steve Quinn in Dallas and Jane Wardell in
London contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
exam...@webtv.net
ARTICLE TO KNOW THAT "THE ALASKANS WHO VOTED FOR THIS DIM-WIT" DESERVES
THE STATE OF INSANITY THEY HAVE.
---
E-mail message
From: exam...@webtv.net(239I Invalid) Date: Wed, Aug 9, 2006, 4:36pm
To: exam...@webtv.net Subject: THERE REALLY SHOULD BE AN AWARD FOR
THE STUPIDEST STATE IN THE NATION.
FIRST, MURKY HAS BEEN PROMOTING THE HELL OUT OF BP & THE NEW GAS
PIPELINE CONTRACT, "KNOWING" THAT B.P. THRU GREED AND MURKY'S LACK OF
CONCERN ABOUT PIPELINE OPERATION, WAS THE CAUSE OF THE 270,000 BARREL
OF OIL SPILL IN MARCH.
--
YET MURKY "DID NOT" GET "HIS EMPLOYEES" OF THE AK. GAS/OIL PIPELINE
AGENCY UP THERE TO CHECK IT OUT, THUS THE MOST RECENT SPILL AND SHUT
DOWN.
--
YET, MURKY'S RESPONSE IS:
***********************************
PUT ON A "HIRING FREEZE", RATHER THAN FIRING THE HELL OUT OF HIS
INCOMPETENT-PAID OFF OIL/GAS PIPELINE ENFORCERS.
---
I.E. MURKY SHOULD BE "CLEANING HOUSE" AND "HIRING QUALIFIED EXPERTS"
INSTEAD OF KEEPING HIS SLEEZEBALL INCOMPETENT SCUM.
---
BUT HEY, ALASKANS VOTED "FOR MURKOWSKI" AND THEY WILL PROBABLY RE-ELECT
HIM...BECAUSE "CORRUPTION; FRAUD; AND INCOMPETENCE", IS APPARENTLY
"WHAT ALASKANS WANT", BASED ON THE DECADES THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWING THE
MOST GREEDY AND CORRUPT LUNATICS..RUN THEIR GOVERNMENT..WHICH INCLUDES
MEN WHO CLAIM "BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES", I.E. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THEM OR THE STUPIDITY OF THE VOTERS.
--
Subject:Alaska Gov. Institutes Hiring Freeze - 8-09-06
---
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/08/09/ap2938298.html
>
------
TEXT COPY:
---
E-mail | Comments | E-Mail Newsletters | My Yahoo! | RSS
Associated Press
---
Alaska Gov. Institutes Hiring Freeze
****************************************
By MATT VOLZ ,
08.09.2006, 02:14 PM
---
Gov. Frank Murkowski instituted a state hiring freeze Wednesday
because:
----
of the millions of dollars Alaska is
losing in tax revenue and royalties due to the
**********************************************
Prudhoe Bay oil field shutdown.
************************************
---
The governor also said:
*************************
he would direct the attorney general to investigate the "state's right
to hold BP fully
**********************************************
accountable for losses to the state."
***************************************
---
Murkowski made the announcement
"three days after" BP said it would
shut down a Prudhoe Bay oil field after
a small leak was found.
---
Energy officials have said pipeline repairs are likely to take months,
curtailing Alaskan production into next year.
**********************************************
---
The expected loss of 400,000 barrels per day at today's oil prices
means:
---
the state is losing about $6.4 million a day in
**********************************************
royalties and taxes,
**********************
Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus said.
---
The state receives 89 percent of its income
**********************************************
from oil revenue.
*******************
---
"BP must get the entire Prudhoe Bay back up and running as soon as it
is safely possible,"
Murkowski told a joint session of the state Legislature.
---
Murkowski also said:
---
he will "appoint a state cabinet", led by:
*****************************************
---
Natural Resources Commissioner,
Mike Menge,
to deal with the Prudhoe Bay shutdown,
*******************************************
"to make certain:
"we retain the ability to
"exercise all of Alaska's prerogatives,
under our Prudhoe Bay:
***************************
leases,
unit agreements,
state laws and
rights of way agreements."
----
The hiring freeze will be in place until more is known about the
duration of the oil field shutdown, he said.
---
State officials will also
"prepare a plan to protect public services.
**********************************************
---
Murkowski questioned why BP abruptly shut down the entire Prudhoe Bay
field after finding a leak of only four to five barrels.
---
"What did BP learn "last Sunday"
***********************************
that it "did not know previously"
********************************
that would cause BP to
take such precipitous action?"
Murkowski asked,
*******************
noting "he was concerned"
the state "was not consulted"
before the decision was made.
********************************
1 of 1
E-mail | Comments | E-Mail Newsletters | My © 2006 Forbes.com Inc.™
exam...@webtv.net
ALASKA IN FOR MORE SURPRISES FROM BP!
---
Subject:BP's Prudhoe Bay pipeline shutdown could continue into next
year-8-10-06
-----
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,1840964,00.html
>
---
TEXT COPY:
--
Former Nato chief becomes BP's voice in Russia
---
BP's Prudhoe Bay pipeline shutdown could continue into next year ·
Company strives to keep some Alaskan oil flowing · Rundown of US stocks
causes crude price rise
----
Mark Milner, industrial editor
Thursday August 10, 2006
*****************************
The Guardian
-----
US government officials have warned that BP's huge Prudhoe Bay oilfield
---
could be closed until early next year as the
*****************************************
company continues to assess the extent of the corrosion in its
pipelines that forced a shutdown at the beginning of the week and
propelled crude prices to record highs.
-----
"BP and the US authorities":
*****************************
have until tomorrow to decide whether the
**********************************************
company "can maintain some production"
*********************************************
at the Alaskan oilfield as the company carries out a huge pipeline
replacement programme.
---
BP said it was "working on two plans",
*****************************************
(1) one involving "total shutdown"
of the 400,000 barrels-a-day field which provides 8% of US production,
and
---
(2) a second allowing it to keep oil flowing from the western side of
the 250,000-acre site.
----
"While we have one plan moving forward for the orderly shutdown, we
also have a second independent, but parallel plan to look at the
possibilities of safely keeping portions of the field operating," Bob
Malone,
chairman and president of
BP America, said.
----
BP is carrying out "further inspections" of
1,000 ft (300 metres) of pipe in
"the western section" to assess whether it can continue production,
which would
run at just under 200,000 barrels a day.
*******************************************
----
"The authorities and the company"
**************************************
have to reach a conclusion by the weekend,
**********************************************
when its shutdown plan is due to be triggered.
**********************************************
---
"We will be "making a decision" with:
*****************************************
the "federal and state governments" by Friday
**********************************************
as to whether we need to continue to take down that [western] line for
safety purposes or whether we can maintain production,"
Mr Malone
told US energy analysts in a conference call.
---
BP announced at the beginning of the week it was shutting the Prudhoe
Bay field after the discovery of corroded pipes and a small oil spill
last Sunday and has pledged to replace all 16miles (25km) of the main
transit pipes at the field.
----
It has not said:
****************
how long it expects the replacement programme to take but
---
"late on Tuesday":
*******************
the "US Energy Information Administration"
**********************************************
said:
-----
that "if the field was shut down in its entirety", full production:
might not be restored until January.
****************************************
---
"This production outage forecast is based on:
**********************************************
BP's initial estimate that the shutdown would last 'several' months.
---
Our forecast could change as new information becomes available," the
EIA said.
----
Brent crude rose 77 cents to $78.32 a barrel
**********************************************
"yesterday" after:
******************
---
a "larger-than-expected decline"
in US fuel stocks and concerns about
the cut in output from Alaska.
********************************
----
BP executives said it had already ordered about 10 miles of pipe, some
of it scheduled for delivery in December.
**********************************************
---
The company said:
*********************
it was trying to speed up delivery but acknowledged it still needed to
order a significant amount of pipe to complete the replacement
programme.
----
BP said:
"the new pipes would be smaller in diameter"
**********************************************
than the existing ones, which were designed
**********************************************
to cope with much higher rates of production.
**********************************************
---
That could "remedy the slow flow rate" which BP believes was a "key
factor" in the corrosion.
**********************************************
---
Steve Marshall,
president of
BP Exploration Alaska,
---
told a conference call that:
---
"the onset of the Alaskan winter"
would "help rather than hinder"
the company's replacement programme.
---
"We are far more restricted in the summer months "when the tundra is
unprotected"
by a layer of snow and ice.
---
"The winter is our friend"
when it comes to the construction and installation of new equipment and
pipe.
---
Productivity does slow down when the
*******************************************
temperatures approach minus 60 degrees,
**********************************************
but that is several months away."
---
BP said it was "unable" to calculate how much the shutdown would cost.
---
"Head of investor relations",
Fergus MacLeod noted that :
-----
"BP's share" of the field's production
**************************************
ran at about 100,000 barrels a day
***************************************
and its "second-quarter net profit margin" was $25 a barrel.
---
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
exam...@webtv.net
----
Subject: BP set to use clout to get workers, pipe for Alaska job -
8-09-06
----
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B8D955788-28F7-4540-85DA-4CE63FD323DB%7D&keyword=
>
---
BP set to use clout to get workers,
pipe for Alaska job
----
Print
E-mail
---
By Norval Scott
Last Update: 5:04 PM ET Aug 9, 2006
---
CALGARY (MarketWatch) --
The "global labor and equipment shortages"
*****************************************
in the energy industry appear unlikely to
severely affect BP PLC's (BP) repair plans
for its Prudhoe Bay pipelines,
as the firm is powerful enough to secure
the manpower and resources it needs.
----
However, the company "still won't be able"
to resume production at "the 400,000 barrel-a-day"
***********************************************
Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska for some time.
---
The repair work "is significant enough"
that it will be months, rather than weeks,
before full production can start,
according to analysts.
---
What's more, BP will have to:
*****************************
secure access to the steel
to replace the corroded transit lines
at a time when companies are
****************************
scrambling to meet "the global demand"
**************************************
for "large-diameter, tubular steel" used to
********************************************
build the pipelines that transport oil and gas.
**********************************************
----
"The repairs will be quite expensive,
but not impossible," said Deborah White,
energy analyst with
Societe Generale in Paris.
---
"BP will get "as many men" and
"as much material as they can", and
that will affect the speed of the repair work."
---
On Sunday, BP began a "phased shutdown"
of all of Prudhoe Bay,
the largest producing field in the U.S.,
after discovering "severe pipeline corrosion"
and a small oil leak.
---
The company has been vague on how long the repairs, comprising fixes to
16 miles of pipeline, will take.
---
Robert Malone, president of BP America,
said Sunday that:
in a worst-case scenario,
they could take weeks or months -
although the company has said "it will decide"
by the weekend whether it can continue to partially produce oil from
the western part of the field.
---
"The U.S.'s Energy Information Administration"
expects curtailed production
from Prudhoe Bay until the end of the year.
*****************************************
---
"Replacing 70% of the pipeline isn't an easy job,"
************************************************
said Simon Wardell,
energy analyst at
Boston-based consultancy Global Insight.
---
"Given the amount of work required,
repairs will probably extend until
the end of the year."
---
Although there's a "global shortage"
of "skilled workers" throughout the energy industry,
BP, as the biggest producer in the U.S.,
ought to be able to source the staff
required from its existing operations
in the southern 48 states, he added.
---
"BP appear to be mobilizing as many of
their U.S. staff as possible and
sending them to Alaska," he said.
"It's all hands to the pump."
---
Finding Workers
******************
By the end of the week,
around 180 additional BP staff
*****************************
will have been sent to Alaska
****************************
to carry out inspections.
*************************
---
How many extra staff would be required thereafter depends both on the
results of their inspections and whether BP does partially restart
production from the western side of the field, BP spokesman Neil
Chapman said.
---
While the energy giant doesn't yet have a firm sense of how many staff
might be required, the figure is likely to be in the range of hundreds,
rather than thousands, Chapman added.
---
The firm is relocating staff from the U.S. and working with contractors
to bring in the necessary expertise, he said.
---
"The labor market for the oil industry is tight," he said. ---
"But there are a lot of skilled workers here in Alaska already."
----
Even if BP does have to source workers through contractors, it
shouldn't have any problems doing so as long as it pays top dollar,
said:
---
Kyle Keith,
director of operations at
the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.
----
"Capable workers can always be found," he said. "If outside help is
required there is still a lot of expertise and equipment capacity
available within the North American industry, but a large premium must
be paid in some cases." ----
Systematic Approach
***********************
No matter how many workers it can send,
the work will still take time as it's
"not possible" to fix everything at once,
SG's White said.
---
She expects the repairs to proceed on a systematic basis, whereby:
----
BP fixes one of Prudhoe Bay's:
***********************************
six gathering centres, which each handle
**********************************************
65,000 barrels a day of crude, at a time.
*********************************************
---
It's unlikely that even one gathering centre could be restarted for at
least three weeks, while bringing the whole field back on stream
could take "perhaps five months,"
************************************
White said.
---
BP has already ordered replacements for about "half its pipe
requirements" from
***********************************
U.S. Steel Corp.(X)" and
---
Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.TO), and
----
is in "active discussions" with steel manufacturers worldwide to
acquire the rest.
---
An additional
**************
52,000 feet of 18-inch line and
30,000 feet of 24-inch line
----
must still be ordered, said
***********************
Steve Marshall,
President of BP Exploration Alaska Tuesday.
---
"We are also going
"through our global supply chain"
to understand where we can find the necessary steel,"
he said.
---
The delivery date for the pipe from
***************************************
Nippon Steel is currently December, and
***************************************
U.S. Steel Corp.'s is set to arrive in October,
**********************************************
but BP is looking for ways of expediting that,
Marshall added.
---
While the global steel and pipe market is tight, it's unlikely that
sourcing the amount necessary will be too problematic for a company
like BP, said CEPA's Keith.
---
"Pipe can always be found some place in North America or the world," he
said.
---
"Bigger companies have a lot of clout"
with high priority contracts, but again they will have to pay a premium
to get what they want."
**********************************************
---
Ultimately, while the repair is "a large one",
the amount of pipeline required shouldn't
really be enough to cause a company of BP's
size too much trouble to acquire,
said:
----
Neil Earnest,
vice president of
Dallas-based energy consultancy
Muse Stancil.
---
--- "The pipeline is only 22 miles long," he said. "It shouldn't be too
hard to get the welders and the pipe you need for a repair of that
size," he said.
---
-Contact: 201-938-5400
E-mail |
Print |
---
7:05pm 8/9/2006
BP proceeds with Prudhoe Bay shutdown,
buys oil elsewhere
--------
IN THIS STORY
Companies
Bp Plc (BP)
Conocophillips (COP)
United States Stl Corp New (X)
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM)
---
Copyright © 2006 MarketWatch, Inc.
exam...@webtv.net
---Subject:8-06-06-MURKY MEETS WITH CEO'S RE CHANGES IN CONTRACT ----
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/080606/oil_20060806015.shtml >--- TEXT
COPY: --- Web posted Sunday, August 6, 2006 ---- Governor meets with
oil CEOs over contract **********************************************
changes *********--- By Tim BradnerAlaska Journal of Commerce ---- Gov.
Frank Murkowski met with ConocoPhillips chief executive officer Jim
Mulva and Jim Bowles, president of the firm's Alaska operating company,
in Juneau July 27 to discuss possible revisions in the contract the
state has negotiated with North Slope producers on a $20 billion-plus
natural gas pipeline. ******************************************----
The governor had "also set a meeting with BP"
********************************************** chief executive Lord
John Browne for Aug. 4," **********************************************
a spokesman for the governor said. ---- Murkowski met alone with Mulva
and discussed legislative action on the pipeline contract, --- his
proposed "Petroleum Production Tax" on oil and other legislation
related to the pipeline, spokesman Will Vandergriff said. --- The
contract and proposed tax changes have run into opposition in the state
Legislature, which is meeting in special session on the contract. ---
State Revenue Commissioner, Bill Corbus
********************************************** said that any
renegotiations with producers on the contract will be complete by Aug.
23. **********************************************--- Among possible
changes being discussed are "a shorter period for a guarantee" on "tax
levels for oil and gas production"
******************************************** and the pipeline,
******************--- and changes to provisions giving preference to
Alaska workers, according to state administration officials. ----- Tim
Bradner can be reached attim....@alaskajournal.com. © 2004 The
exam...@webtv.net
PAST 14 YEARS OF "NO CLEANING OF THE OIL PIPELINES", WHEN IN FACT, THE
STATE'S OWN POLITICIANS AND REGULARS "KNEW ABOUT IT AND ALLOWED IT", NO
DOUBT WITH A LOT OF MONEY GREASING THE PALMS.
--
THIS IS "TYPICAL ALASKA POLITICAL BUSINESS" WHICH IS WELL KNOWN BUT THE
ALASKANS COULD CARELESS...THEY ARE TOO BUSY DRINKING OR SLEEPING.
--
NOT UNTIL "THE ALASKA PEOPLE DECIDE TO BE MATURE ADULTS AND TAKE SOME
RESPONSIBILITY FOR "THEIR GOVERNMENT" WILL THIS CORRUPTION STOP.
SYLVIA---BEEN THERE--SAW IT UP CLOSE---&;D
------
Subject:8-09-06-BP & AK. POLITICIANS- KEEP PIPELINE PROBLEMS COVERED UP
DUE TO GREED.
----
http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20060808/78802497.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY:
---
Critics: Alaska oil field problems insulated by
**********************************************
remote location
*****************
RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press Writer
---
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Perched at the edge of Alaska's north coast,
Prudhoe Bay is a vast industrial hub so remote that oil workers stay
two weeks at a time, eating, exercising and sleeping between shifts.
---
But the nation's largest oil field also
"is isolated politically",
************************
according to critics who said Tuesday that:
---
"state regulators" have long been too lenient on
**********************************************
the industry.
************
---
As a result, they said,:
"years of neglect and cost-cutting practices led
**********************************************
to two recent oil spills and BP's shutdown
**********************************************
this week of operations because of severe corrosion in transit lines at
the field 625 miles north of Anchorage.
---
"Out of sight, out of mind is a huge problem," Richard Fineberg, a
former state oil analyst.
---
"We've got this oil field so vital to the state, but you can't just hop
in your car and go see it, like you could in Texas."
----
Alaska and BP officials defended their
*******************************************
practices, saying the industry is policed by
**********************************************
"stringent procedures and oversight."
*****************************************
---
But they added that the troubles in Prudhoe Bay will lead to
improvements at various levels.
---
"Our corrosion program is one "we felt" was sufficient.
***************************************************
---
We felt we had applied the "right kind of focus",
felt we had a "world-class program" in place,"
**********************************************
said: BP spokesman, Daren Beaudo.
****************************************
---
"Obviously it's not good enough. Changes have to be made." ---
The field was built in the late 1970s,
designed with a 25-year life span in mind, according to: officials with
the
Alaska Department of Environmental
*****************************************
Conservation.
***************
---
The crude being pumped out below the arctic tundra today contains more
corrosive elements, including a higher water content, than in the past,
said:
Larry Dietrick,
the agency's director
of spill prevention and response.
---
The "state is looking at imposing new rules"
**********************************************
on oil field lines that have been subject to "little government
scrutiny" in the past.
******************************************
---
"Stricter regulations" for hundreds of miles of lines that carry crude,
water and gas from the oil wells to separation centers are expected
to be implemented before the end of the year,
*********************************************
Dietrick said.
----
Regulators next may look at
"imposing rules for transit lines"
**********************************
— such as those being replaced at Prudhoe — which carry market-ready
oil to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
---
The state "currently requires" that
*************************************
such lines have leak detection systems in
**********************************************
place.
****
"The good news is that improvements in technology have allowed us to
squeeze out more oil," Dietrick said.
---
"What we have to do now is manage the changing composition of the
product."
---
Dan Lawn, with the
Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility, said the state — which
receives 89 percent of its income is from oil revenue —
---
(1) has tiptoed for years around the lucrative oil
**********************************************
companies,
************
---
(2) "reassigning regulators" who
***************************
try to hold the industry accountable for safe
***************************************
operations and stringent maintenance efforts.
---
(3) Exacerbating the problem, he said,
***************************
oil companies regularly rotate managers to give
*********************************************
them experience in a hugely complex industry.
---
It's not unusual for supervisors to serve just a few years in Alaska,
"still considered a colony in the hinterlands," before moving up the
corporate ladder, said:
Lawn,
a former investigator with
the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
---
"The new guy doesn't really get it for a year, year-and-a-half," he
said. "I've had firsthand conversations with these people."
---
When problems such as:
***************************
"inadequate maintenance efforts" or
"aging equipment" arise in the field,
---
managers may downplay them or put on a
**********************************************
bandage fix, critics said.
**************************
---
"Regulators and politicians"
*****************************
on carefully guided tours
don't see that, said:
---
Stan Stephens,
president of
Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Committee, (set up in
response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.)
---
"When you go there, it all looks pretty good unless you know the
details and the problems," Stephens said.
---
"That's why when politicians go there, they get dog-and-pony shows.
What they show you is a nice clean facility."
---
Dietrick adamantly disagreed with that assessment.
---
"Prudhoe Bay is without a doubt,
************************************
"one of the "most heavily regulated oil fields"
**********************************************
in the world,"
************
he said.
"And one of the cleanest."
**************************
———
On the Net:
http://www.bp.com/us
http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/
http://www.alaskaforum.org/
http://www.pwsrcac.org/
>
© 2002 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
pog...@webtv.net
ALASKA'S GOVERNORS AND THE OIL CORPS IN ALASKA IS CLEAR.
---
WHAT WILL ALASKANS DO TO STOP THIS CORRUPTION?
HOW ABOUT IMPEACHING MURKY AND SUING BP? THE ONLY THING THAT WILL STOP
THIS IS "SENDING A STRONG MESSAGE" THAT THE CRIMINALS WILL BE HELD
LEGALLY ACCOUNTABLE. &;D
---
Subject: 8-10-06-BP COST OF PIPELINE REPLACEMENT-WARNED 2 YEARS AGO
---
Subject: Alaskan shutdown to cost BP at least US$100m - 11 Aug 2006 -
Business
----
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10395689
>
---
Alaskan shutdown to cost BP at least US$100m
**********************************************
Friday August 11, 2006
By Stephen Foley
---
Oil refineries on the west coast of the US face shortages of crude
because of the closure of BP's corrosion-hit pipelines in Alaska.
---
ConocoPhillips, one of BP's co-investors in Alaska, informed its
customers yesterday that it "would not be able to make good" on some
shipments, raising the spectre of petrol shortages on the west coast.
---
Conoco has declared force majeure.
****************************************
BP, which is in charge of the operations at the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in
the Alaskan wilderness, has shut down half of the 400,000 barrels-a-day
field and will decide today whether it must close the remainder.
---
It is expected to spend about US-$100m to replace 16 miles of pipeline
after corrosion caused two oil spills in the past six months and
threatened an ecological disaster.
---
"Conoco,
********
which takes 36 per cent of the oil"
*************************************
pumped from Prudhoe Bay, was not immediately able to say many
refineries would face cuts in deliveries, or byhow much.
----
Exxon Mobil,
*************
which takes another 36 per cent, and
************************************
---
BP,
****
which takes 26 per cent,
**************************
---
have been fighting to "find other sources" of supply in order to be
able to meet their commitments.
---
Additional oil is being shipped from:
***************************************
Russia,
the Middle East and
Angola.
---
The "cost of chartering oil tankers"has soared,
but BP said:
---
it had been able to
"source 3.5 million barrels of oil"
***********************************
to meet the needs of its west coast customers.
**********************************************
---
It will not be declaring force majeure, the company said.
----
BP's Alaskan operations:
have been dogged by accusations of
*****************************************
"negligence for several years,"
*********************************
but "regulators"
****************
forced it to conduct a full inspection of its pipelines
--
"only after" 200,000 gallons of oil spilled
*******************************************
on to the Alaskan tundra in March.
**************************************
---
The company discovered at the weekend that the pipeline:
---
has become dangerously corroded in 12 other
**********************************************
places, and had already begun to leak again.
**********************************************
---
"Replacing the pipelines"
***************************
will cost about US-$100m,
****************************
a company source said.
---
That includes up to US-$30m
********************************
just to buy new steel pipes,
******************************
much more than the US-$15m
that one steel analyst estimated on Wednesday.
---
The higher cost was because:
the company was "a distressed buyer".
********************************************
----
"Whistleblowers inside BP" in Alaska
***************************************
have claimed "it skirted safety procedures" and
"was warned about corrosion"
************************************
more than two years ago,
****************************
but the company says: "it acted responsibly."
**********************************************
----
It could be "January" before Prudhoe Bay, which accounts for 8 per cent
of US oil output, is back in business.
--
Copyright © 2006, APN Holdings NZ
pog...@webtv.net
THE OIL CORPS AND POLITICIANS HAVE HAD A GREAT LAUGH WHILE TREATING
ALASKANS LIKE THE MORONS THEY HAVE BEEN.
--
PERHAPS THIS TIME...WHEN THERE IS "NO MONEY" TO GO IN THE TREASURY AND
THE FAT-ASS BUREAUCRATS WILL BE THROWN OUT OF THEIR CUSHY DO-NOTHING
JOBS...BECAUSE THEY WON'T GET PAID, I.E. NO OIL MONEY...ALASKA
MIGHT...OUT OF TOTAL LACK OF FUNDS TO PAY THE INCOMPETENT 20,000 MORONS
WHO HAVE RUN THE STATE INTO TOTAL DESTRUCTION...WILL FINALLY HAVE GET
BACK TO THE CONDITION IT WAS IN WHEN IT WAS A TERRITORY.
--
I.E. THE SLUM LANDLORDS; CON-ARTISTS; AND POLITICAL HACKS WILL GET OUT
AND THE STATE CAN START HEALING.
-----
Subject: 8-10-06-MURKY WON'T ENFORCE OIL PIPELINE REGS-SAYS HE NEEDS
MORE REGS- WHAT B.S.
---
Subject:Alaska governor mulling new pipeline regulations - MarketWatch
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B99EBB40B-ACEA-47A5-81B7-2CC5EA888563%7D&keyword=
>
----
TEXT COPY:
---
Alaska governor mulling
**************************
new pipeline regulations
**************************
Print
E-mail
By John Biers
Last Update: 7:42 PM ET Aug 10, 2006
---
PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska (MarketWatch) -- Alaska is considering stiffer
regulations on pipelines in light of BP PLC's (BP) emergency shutdown
of the Prudhoe Bay field because of pipeline corrosion, the governor of
Alaska said Thursday.
---
The emergency shutdown raises questions
**********************************************
about BP's maintenance of the lines,
*****************************************
suggesting "the state" may need to impose a
**********************************************
"new level of scrutiny on the industry",
*****************************************
Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski told reporters on a tour of Prudhoe
Bay.
---
"The state currently trusts BP"
********************************
and other operators to
"maintain its oilfields and pipelines."
*****************************************
---
In the future, the "state may need to hire a contractor to review BP's
data", he said.
*********************************
---
It's a "distinct possibility on"
whether "the state should independently monitor"
********************************************
with an engineering firm,"
**************************
Murkowski said.
---
BP's information on the condition of the lines "was incorrect,"
****************
Murkowski said.
---
"We do not monitor within the field the normal
**************************************
maintenance. We may need to do that."
*******************************************
Murkowski,
appearing on a press tour organized by BP, spoke in measured terms
about the company.
---
In exchanges with reporters, he avoided aggressive criticism of BP, but
---
affirmed that:
"the state will proceed with a claim" against the
**********************************************
company for lost revenue."
****************************
"Everybody's a loser here," said Murkowski.
---
"Obviously it's in everyone's interest to maintain the pipeline,"
Murlkowski said.
"The question is, why wasn't that done?"
*********************************************
---
BP owns about 26% of the Prudhoe Bay field and "is responsible for
operating it" for:
Exxon Mobil and
ConocoPhillips.
---
The company said on Sunday it was shutting down Prudhoe Bay, the
largest field in the U.S., after discovering severe corrosion in a
pipeline.
---
Murkowski imposed a state hiring freeze Wednesday because of the
millions of dollars in revenue Alaska is losing as a result of the
Prudhoe Bay closure.
---
He also said he would direct Alaska's attorney general to investigate
whether the state could hold the oil giant fully accountable for the
state's losses.
---
-Contact: 201-938-5400
E-mail |
Print |
Copyright © 2006 MarketWatch, Inc.
pog...@webtv.net
ARE OVER THE AGE OF 45 YEARS, YET AS YOU CAN READ..THEIR MENTAL
CAPACITY IS STILL AT 10 YEARS OLD.
---
ALASKA HAS "NO FUTURE" WITH AN OBVIOUS CORRUPT POLITICAL GOVERNMENT AND
IT'S PEOPLE SO RETARDED THAT CAN NEITHER UNDERSTAND OR CARE THAT THE
STATE THEY ARE LIVING IN IS QUICKLY BEING DESTROYED...OF COURSE...THEIR
"STATE OF RETARDATION" SUPERCEDED THE POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN THAT IT
TOOK THESE FEW DECADES OF STATEHOOD FOR THESE TWO ENTITIES TO BE AT
"THE TOP OF THEIR GAME", BEFORE TOTAL DESTRUCTION COULD TAKE PLACE.
--
READ THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD THEN READ THE OBVIOUS RETARDED POSTS OF
THESE ALASKANS WHO:
"TRY" TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.
--
Subject:53 EXAMPLES OF TRUE ALASKA MORONS-& REASONS WHY ALASKA IS
DOOMED!
---
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.culture.alaska/browse_frm/thread/88f249995e624486/4c35e7aaca1cf7c3
exam...@webtv.net
AFTER BP, "KNOWING HOW ROTTEN THE PIPELINES ARE, CLOSED DOWN "ALL OF
THE PUMPING"...THEN... APPARENTLY SET UP BUSH AND CHENEY TO TAKE A HUGE
POLITICAL FALL, IF THERE IS ANOTHER BIG OIL SPILL AT PRUDHOE.
--
I.E. THE "FEDERAL REGULATORS" ARE GIVING BP "PERMISSION" TO OPEN THE
"WESTERN SIDE" OF THE PIPELINES, "AFTER" THEY HAVE CONDUCTED "THE SAME
TESTS (ULTRASOUND) THAT "DIDN'T WORK BEFORE", WHICH IS "WHY THE HUGE
OIL SPILL TOOK PLACE WITHOUT DETECTION". PLUS, THEY APPARENTLY CAN'T
EVEN USE THE "SMART PIG" UNTIL THE END OF THIS YEAR. WHY NOT? PROBABLY
BECAUSE "THE PIPES ARE TOO CORRODED AND THE FORCE OF THE PIG WILL BREAK
THE PIPES".
------
PLAYING ROULETTE IS WHAT THE PSYCHOPATHS, BUSH AND CHENEY TEAM LIKE TO
DO, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY "THINK" THEY ARE IMMUNE FROM BEING HELD
ACCOUNTABLE. WHAT THE HELL, THEY CAN'T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION IF PRUDHOE
ENDS UP LOOKING LIKE SOME GIANT BLACK GEYSER AND THE TUNDRA LIKE SOME
OILY COAL PIT, THEY WILL JUST TRY BLAMING THEIR EMPLOYEES, "THE FEDERAL
REGULATORS" (MORE BUSH PROSTITUTES) IN ALLOWING BP TO PUMP OIL
"KNOWING" THAT IT ISN'T SAFE.
------
NOTE: IF YOU SAW THE MURKOWSKI SPEECH TO THE ALASKA LEGISLATURE, YOU
WOULD SEE WHERE HE ASKED "WHAT DID BP KNOW LAST SUNDAY WHEN THEY
DECIDED TO SHUT DOWN THE WHOLE FIELD AND DIDN'T EVEN CONTACT HIM
(MURKY).
--
THE ANSWER LOOKS LIKE:
"B.P. KNEW THE PIPES WERE SO ROTTEN THAT THEY HAD TO BE SHUT DOWN AND:
---
IF "REPUB. AK. GOVERNOR MURKOWSKI
(WHO WANTS TO BE RE-ELECTED) AND
(IS YELLING THAT "HE WILL SUE B.P. FOR LOSS OF REVENUE)
--
CRIES TO "GREEDY REPUBS-BUSH & CHENEY" TO OPEN THE PIPES, B.P. WILL
MAKE SURE THE "BLAME GOES BACK ON MURKY, BUSH, AND CHENEY" VIA THE
APPROVALS FROM THE FED AND STATE REGULATORS, WHO WANT TO KEEP THEIR
JOBS.
---
I SAY, IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE PRUDHOE BAY BECOMES ANOTHER
EXXON/VALDEZ, BUT ON LAND. CLEARLY ALASKANS WANT THE OIL PUMPED SO THEY
CAN GET THEIR PFD CRUMBS, AND HAVE THE "SAME PERSONAL GREED" AS ALL OF
THE ABOVE. YEP...IT'S VERY INTERESTING WATCHING HOW GREED CAN TOTALLY
DESTROY ALL KINDS OF LIFE..WHICH RESULT..IS WELL DESERVED. &;D SYLVIA
---
Subject: FED REGULATORS TELL BP-DO TESTS-THEN CAN OPEN SITE OF 267,000
BARRELS OF OIL SPILL
---
TEXT COPY:
---
HoustonChronicle.com --
http://www.HoustonChronicle.com
>
Aug. 12, 2006, 2:08AM
---------------
BP to keep oil flowing from Prudhoe Bay
*********************************************
By ALLISON LINN AP Business Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
---
ANCHORAGE, Alaska;
---
BP PLC announced:
******************
it would keep "one side" of the Prudhoe Bay
oil field open as it:
---
"replaces corroded pipes",
enabling it to funnel up to half its previous
output and avert a larger crimp in the nation's
oil supply.
---
BP had "previously said":
***********************
it would "have to completely shut down"
**************************************
the nation's largest oil field
*******************************************
---
The company said Friday:
it decided to continue supplying oil
*************************************
out of the "western side of the field" after:
*****************************************
---
(1) "reviewing 1,400 ultrasound inspections" on
******************************************
---
(2) "five miles of the 22-mile pipeline" and
***************
---
(3) discussing the matter with:
******************************
federal and state regulators.
******************************
---
BP said:
---
it "will monitor the pipeline around the clock" and
"use infrared cameras from the sky" and
"the ground to detect small leaks."
---
It will run a "high-tech "smart pig" device
*********************************************
through the line:
*****************
"by November" to search for weaknesses in
**********************************************
pipe walls.
**********
---
"With greatly enhanced:
"surveillance" and "response capability",
---
I am confident we can continue to safely
*********************************************
operate the line,"
****************
BP America, Chairman and President
Bob Malone said in a statement.
************************************
---
The company said:
---
it is currently producing about 150,000 barrels
**********************************************
of "oil and natural gas per day" from the
********************************************
western side of the field, but
hoped to reach about 200,000 barrels a day.
**********************************************
---
The "natural gas" accounts for
between 11,000 and 12,000 barrels of the total.
**********************************************
---
Before the discovery of the leak,
BP was pumping as much as 400,000 barrels a day out of the entire
field, 8 percent of the nation's domestic output.
---
BP also said:
---
"it was looking at ways to restore some production
from the eastern side of the field,
"subject to approval by federal regulators."
**********************************************
---
The cost to repair and replace leaking pipelines at Prudhoe Bay could
be about $170 million,
**********************************************
---
BP spokesman, Neil Chapman said.
---
That was an early, rough estimate for the current repairs "and" "for
cleaning up a major oil spill in March.
---
The British company has not yet said exactly "how it might divide costs
with":
ConocoPhillips Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp., which "share ownership of the
site" on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.
---
BP said:
--
it had "secured orders for all 16 miles of pipe" it plans to replace at
the oil field. It expects to have: "the supplies in place" by the end
of the year.
**********************************************
---
Contracts with steel mills operating in the U.S., including United
States Steel Corp., will allow the pipeline to get to Alaska faster.
---
The company had previously said part of the pipeline would come from
Japan's Nippon Steel Corp., but Chapman said that order would now be
used for other BP projects.
---
"Federal regulators gave BP permission"
*********************************************
late Thursday to keep the field's western line operating, but "ordered
it" to conduct "more rigorous pipeline inspections."
---
BP also "must pass a series of tests"
****************************************
"before restarting pipes.. it shut down."
****************************************
---
"Right now, I haven't seen any data that suggests we would need to
order a shutdown," of the western line,
---
said Tom Barrett,
administrator of
the pipeline and hazardous materials
safety administration for
U.S. Department of Transportation.
---
Analysts say pressure to keep oil flowing
**********************************************
_ albeit safely _ probably came from several sides, including the state
of Alaska,
********************************
which is highly dependent on the energy industry, and
---
"production partners"
Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips,
************************************
both of whom "have bigger stakes"
*************************************
in Prudhoe Bay than BP.
***************************
---
"Everybody is watching them,"
said Dave Pursell,
a former production engineer
who worked in the state's North Slope,
now an analyst for Pickering Energy Partners.
---
"If you keep Prudhoe Bay offline for six months, there is a bigger
market impact and gasoline prices will certainly go up," he said.
---
The leaks and corrosion that prompted the shutdown "were discovered on
the eastern side" of the oil field, although ---
a much larger spill of 267,000 barrels last
**********************************************
March was on the western side.
***********************************
___
Associated Press writers Mary Pemberton in Anchorage and Steve Quinn in
Dallas contributed to this report.
---
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com
---
This article is:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4112547.html >
---
pog...@webtv.net
Defeat Seems Imminent for Gov. Murkowski in GOP Race
***************************************************
By Rachel Kapochunas
Wed Aug 16, 8:11 PM ET
----
After a 22-year Senate career spent in the long shadow of senior Alaska
Republican colleague Ted Stevens, Republican Frank H. Murkowski stepped
onto center stage in November 2002 as he was elected as governor of his
home state.
--
But the bright light that then bathed Murkowski began to fade almost
from the moment he was sworn in a month later. ---
His term has been so filled with turbulence and controversy, and his
public approval ratings have dropped so low, that
---
the failure of his bid for a second term in
next Tuesday's Alaska Republican primary
***************************************
appears not just possible, it appears a near-certainty.
---
A poll of "514 likely Republican primary voters"
conducted by Dave Dittman, a former Murkowski consultant, and released
Monday had Murkowski running a distant third in the GOP contest.
---
The poll showed:
****************
"former Wasilla Mayor, "Sarah Palin leading"
********************************************
with support "from 40 percent" of the respondents to
---
29 percent for former state Sen. John Binkley;
********************************************
---
Murkowski had just 17 percent.
*****************************
Undecided voters made up 14 percent
**********************************
of those surveyed, and the poll had a 4.3 percent margin of error.
---
Sensing Murkowski's vulnerability, Palin and Binkley did not hesitate
to launch their bids early, even though the incumbent hedged about his
own plans until just six days prior to the June 1 candidate filing
deadline.
---
And the return candidacy of popular former two-term Democratic Gov.
Tony Knowles, who held the seat immediately prior to Murkowski,
appeared to raise the sense of urgency among Republicans to replace the
unpopular incumbent as their nominee.
---
The latest blow must have Murkowski loyalists reciting the old saying,
---
When it rains, it pours. With Murkowski's campaign already wobbling on
the brink, the state suddenly faced the prospect of fiscal chaos with
the news of:
---
a leak that shut down a key pipeline from the state's North Slope oil
fields--- the source of most of the revenue on which the state
government runs.
---
A Gruff Transition.
*******************
Murkowski, who is now 73 years old, had thrived in his relatively
low-profile position in an Alaska congressional delegation dominated by
the big personalities of Stevens; a former chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee who now chairs its Defense subcommittee as
well as the full Commerce Committee and
---
at-large Republican Rep. Don Young (news, bio, voting record), who
heads the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
---
Murkowski, a former banker, was known for his gruff, aggressive style
in the Senate, but it benefited him during a turn as:
---
chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, in which he
made a name for himself as a fierce advocate for his home state and for
opening its Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas
drilling.
---
Murkowski easily won re-election to the Senate three times, the last
time coming in 1998.
---
He then won an easy victory in the 2002 race for governor, defeating
Democrat Fran Ulmer, then the lieutenant governor, by 16 percentage
points.
---
But Murkowski's manner as governor, viewed as heavy-handed by his many
critics, has placed him in political difficulty from the very start.
---
The politics of running a state are substantially "different" from
those of being a "member" of a state's congressional delegation, said
political scientist,
Gerald McBeath of
the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
---
You've got to compromise,
************************
you've got to bring people into it,
***********************************
and of course,
"that runs against his style in the Senate" ...
*****************************************
where he was used to charging ahead.
---
Bequeathing a Senate seat.
*************************
Murkowski's tenure as governor began with a public relations nightmare
from which he never regained his footing.
---
One of "his first acts in office" was to fill the Senate seat he had
vacated with two years left on his fourth term and he stunned the
Alaska political community
---
by "picking his daughter, Lisa Murkowski",
who had served just four years in the state House just before her
appointment and a short stint as Anchorage district attorney in the
late 1980s.
---
The decision sparked cries of nepotism from many average citizens and
enraged other would-be Republican Senate aspirants, some of much
greater political experience at the time than the younger Murkowski.
---
Some Republicans who the governor had hinted were on his short list of
potential appointees complained they were never contacted nor seriously
considered for the job.
---
The Senate appointment flap ultimately has had a curious political
trajectory.
---
Lisa Murkowski fully utilized her two years in her father's unexpired
term to impress voters with her personality and devotion to ANWR and
other Alaska priorities.
---
This in turn enabled her to stave off a serious challenge by Democrat
Knowles and win a full term in 2004 with 49 percent of the vote and a 3
percentage-point margin
--
spurring the regularly blunt Stevens to remark that she is a hell of a
lot better senator than her dad ever was.
--- ---
But many state residents have never forgiven Frank Murkowski for having
the audacity to make the appointment in the first place.
---
Other troubles ensued.
*********************
Six months into his term, the governor took the politically "unpopular
step of:
---
"eliminating the Longevity Bonus Program",
****************************************
which since 1972 had provided Alaskans
65 years of age or older with up to $250 a month.
---
Murkowski said the termination was necessary because of "budget
concerns."
---
Though past lawmakers had attempted to reform the program and
Murkowski:
--
"did establish a replacement system called Senior Care", his actions
were immediately met with harsh criticism.
---
There weren't hearings.
There wasn't notice . . .
it wasn't phased in.
It was immediate,
said Dittman,
president of
Dittman Research and Communications Corp. in Anchorage.
---
Dittman, who has "worked with Murkowski"
in "all of his campaigns"
since his initial successful
Senate bid in 1980, said:
*******************
---
he left the governor's re-election campaign
*******************************************
"last month due to a difference of opinion"
regarding "strategy."
---
Murkowski also:
"cut funding" for the
"Municipal Assistance Revenue Sharing Program",
about which, smaller, rural communities places that mainly provide
statewide Republican candidates with solid support were the most
apprehensive, having received state resources since 1969 under the
program.
---
Downward Spiral.
***************
But the political point of no return for Murkowski may have come with
"his proposal in June 2004"
---
to use $2 million in federal homeland security funds
****************************************************
allocated to the state to purchase a jet airplane
***************************************************
for "his use" as governor.
*************************
--
The federal Department of Homeland Security
"rejected his proposal", and
*********************
a number of members of the state's
Republican-controlled legislature
**********************************
joined a "public outcry against the plan",
*****************************************
which they debunked as an "unnecessary luxury"
that might be employed by Murkowski for non-essential personal use.
---
Murkowski did "not help himself politically"
when he argued that "he needed the jet"
not only to have a faster means of transportation
but also to have a bathroom at his disposal.
******************************************
---
Murkowski, undeterred,
then pushed for $1.4 million to "pay for a jet"
**********************************************
to be inserted into the state budget in January 2005,
****************************************************
and later, suggested "selling a plane" currently
"owned by the state" to provide capital to lease a jet.
---
Last fall, Murkowski finally:
received access to a $2.6 million jet that is shared with
*********************************************************
the Alaska Department of Public Safety and
**************************************
since then,
---
his "personal and campaign use of the plane"
********************************************
has been called into question.
******************************
---
Murkowski also suffered "fallout" from
"government officials embroiled in ethics scandals" and
**************************************************
---
for "attempting to use the state's Permanent Fund"
*************************************************
which is largely financed by oil revenues and provides annual stipends
to state residents
---
to boost the fiscal 2004 budget,
********************************
something critics viewed as a
violation of a campaign pledge he made in 2002.
***********************************************
---
Up the Tubes?
************
Murkowski appeared to stake his hopes for a turnaround on a "major
natural gas pipeline project", something the state has been interested
in developing for at least 30 years.
---
After two years of negotiations, Murkowski in late May announced a
contract between:
---
the state and
Exxon Mobil,
BP and
ConocoPhillips
to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from the North Slope, which if
it comes to fruition would increase the state's revenues and provide
the nation with increased energy resources.
---
But the "timing of Murkowski's pronouncement",
just before he made clear that he would run for re-election,
---
led many to view the move as a "last-ditch effort"
to boost his campaign something the governor and his supporters deny.
---
People are trying to say we were timing it to help him ... and we're
trying to scare the people of Alaska into thinking that only he can
bring this to table, said Will Vandergriff, the governor's deputy
press secretary.
---
It's not about him, it's about the future of the state.
---
Critics say the:
(1) deal doesn't require the companies to begin actual construction of
the pipeline,
--
(2) places the state at a disadvantage in terms of bargaining, and
--
(3) creates the possibility of fixing oil production taxes for three
decades.
---
Murkowski called the legislature into their second special session to
try to get approval for the contract, but the session concluded Aug. 10
without such action.
*********************************************
Though, "Murkowski could sign the contract on his own",
****************************************************
his staff has rebuffed the suggestion.
*************************************
---
Down Go the Polls.
*****************
---
Even with all of Murkowski's woes,
political scientist, McBeath speculates that
"the governor might survive a primary"
in which "only registered Republicans"
about a quarter of the state's electorate
were allowed to vote.
----
But that is not the case:
*************************
Voters "registered as undeclared or non-partisan"
*************************************************
can choose to participate in the Republican primary
**************************************************
election, and
together they made up 53 percent of registered voters
as of June 6.
---
And Murkowski's standing among the state's broader electorate could
hardly be much worse.
---
According to a July 17 SurveyUSA poll, Murkowski had a
"21 percent job approval rating",
*******************************
the second-lowest ranking among the nation's 50 governors. ---
The only governor who came off worse was Ohio Republican Bob Taft, who
was convicted last year on misdemeanor charges of failing to report
gifts while in office.
---
The combination of controversial events in the not-so-distant past has
earned Murkowski an
unfavorable reputation as a "gubernatorial imperialist."
******************************************************
---
“He’s in a position where it almost doesn't matter what he says or
does, people don't want to hear it, said Dittman.
---
It is no secret, even to Murkowski's staff, that the political veteran
has struggled to shed some of his Senate characteristics.
---
In Washington, you have 100 senators... power in numbers, said
Vandergriff. You can't just expect to use your Senate tactics to get
things done, and that's one of the things that we've had to adapt to.
---
Vandergriff says, though, that Murkowski chooses to overlook his slump
in public opinion surveys:
--
You're going to "have a lot of voter apathy"
no matter who's in power. ...
---
He believes so much in his vision for Alaska that
he doesn't even pay attention to polls.
*************************************
---
But his would-be primary opponents certainly were looking at those
numbers, and they were ready to pounce.
---
Palin, who along with her past local office is:
*****
a former chairwoman of the
**************************
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission"
******************************************
entered the contest with at least some statewide presence: ---
She ran for lieutenant governor in 2002 and
finished second in the Republican primary to Loren Leman, who went on
to win the office that November.
---
Palin announced her bid for governor last October, giving her a head
start on both Binkley and Murkowski. But she has trailed at
fundraising.
---
According to reports filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission,
Palin had $353,000 in total receipts through Aug. 12.
----
Despite the usual fundraising clout of incumbency, Murkowski reported
total receipts just barely higher than Palin's: $370,000 as of the same
date.
*************************************
---
Both figures pale in comparison to the $1.1 million Binkley amassed,
much of which he has spent on increasing his statewide name recognition
through signs and ads in radio, print and television media.
---
The CEO of Riverboat Discovery, a family tourism business, Binkley has
contributed a considerable sum from his own pocket to his campaign
treasury.
---
The Republican primary field is rounded out by:
******************************
minister Gerald L. "Jerry" Heikes and
---
engineer, Merica Hlatcu,
*************************
each of whom is expected to receive a minimal vote.
---
Knowles, meanwhile, is the "strong front-runner"
in a Democratic primary that also features
---
Anchorage-based state Rep. Eric Croft.
---
Retired fisherman, Bruce J. Lemke
also qualified to appear on the Democratic ballot.
----
Knowles also has been competitive in fundraising with all candidates
but Binkley, pulling in $368,000 through Aug.
---
12. “He’s very likely to win the Democratic primary, and will be
looking for the weakest opponent he can get, said McBeath.
---
And his hypothesis is that Murkowski is the weakest of the three.
---
According to Dittman's most recent poll, though, it doesn't look likely
that Knowles will get his wish.
**************************************************
---
CQ rates the general election as No Clear Favorite. Please visit
CQPolitics.coms Election Forecaster for ratings of all races.
---
Email Story
IM Story
Discuss
Printable View
pog...@webtv.net
----
THE URL FOR THIS ARTICLE:
---
Subject:Defeat Seems Imminent for Gov. Murkowski in GOP Race - 8-16-06
---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20060817/pl_cq_politics/defeatseemsimminentforgovmurkowskiingoprace_1
>
skew...@webtv.net
"2005" ARTICLE WHICH I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO POST.
--
GIVEN THE FACT THAT MURKY WILL "NOT" BE THE ALASKA GOVERNOR IN ALASKA
RE THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS, IT APPEARS THAT HE "NOW HAS THE ABILITY TO
SIGN A GAS PIPELINE DEAL ALL BY HIMSELF, ACCORDING TO THE PAST NEWS
ARTICLES, ALTHOUGH I THINK THE LEGISLATURE HAD TO "FIRST" INSERT THE
"TAX LANGUAGE IN THE CONTRACT AND I AM NOT SURE THEY DID IT BEFORE THEY
RECESSED FROM THE "SPECIAL SESSIONS".
---
I HAVEN'T RESEARCHED IT...(PERHAPS ONE OF "YOU" ALASKANS WANT TO MAKE
THE EFFORT). IF THIS IS TRUE, MURKY COULD ENSURE HIS "FINANCIAL STATUS"
QUITE A BIT IF THEY DID AND HE GOES WITH BP.
--
IF NOT, YOU CAN BET THAT KNOWLES WILL SIDE WITH BP, AND SARA PALIN WILL
PROBABLY SIDE WITH MURKY REPUBLICANS, WHO I AM SURE WANT TO "KNOW THAT
SHE IS ON THE REPUBS OIL-CORP WAGON", WHICH WILL ENSURE "HER ELECTION".
---
DO NOTE "WHEN" CONGRESS APPROVED THIS MASSIVE "LOAN GUARANTEE", I.E. IN
2004, WHEN A "NEW SEPARATE FEDERAL LAW WAS PASSED RE ALASKA'S NEW GAS
PIPELINE.
--
VERY IMPORTANT: AS YOU KNOW, MURKY "REFUSED TO PROVIDE AND INFORMATION
ABOUT THE CONTRACT AND ESPECIALLY ABOUT "THE DETAILS WITH BP...YOU WILL
SEE THAT "THIS NEW FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES THIS INFORMATION, WHICH
MEANS...ALASKANS WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO "READ EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE
GAS CONTRACTS".
---
IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT THE FASCIST ALASKA GOVERNMENT IS "REQUIRED TO MAKE
THESE PUBLIC, AND YET, MURKY SURE AS HELL SAID NOTHING ABOUT "THESE
LOAN GUARANTEES OF "THE REQUIRED CORP INFORMATION". NOW IT IS TIME THAT
"ALASKANS HOLD THE STATE LEGISLATOR'S FEET TO THE FIRE AND GET THIS
CRITICAL INFORMATION OUT TO THE ALASKANS.."BEFORE THEY ELECT THEIR
GOVERNOR AND RE-ELECT THE "SAME CORRUPT POLITICIANS THAT THEY HAVE
NOW..REMEMBER, THIS INFORMATION (BELOW) WAS "KNOWN BY THESE LEGISLATORS
FOR "TWO YEARS" NOW.
--
NOW HERE IS SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:
*********************************
(1) B.P. IS BEING INVESTIGATED RIGHT NOW FOR "MANIPULATION OF OIL
PRICES (SEE BELOW LINK) AND THEIR OBVIOUS LACK OF SAFETY AND OIL LEAKS,
ALASKANS SHOULD BE YANKING THEIR CONTRACTS FROM B.P. NOW;
--
(2) THE ONLY OTHER "KNOWN GAS COMPETITOR TO MY KNOWLEDGE IS THE
FRAUDULENT, ALASKA GAS PIPELINE PORT AUTHORITY" THAT I FILED SUIT ABOUT
WHICH WAS "DISMISSED BY THE CORRUPT VALDEZ JUDGE" WHO SAID "I HAD NO
STANDING", WHICH WAS PURE B.S. BUT WITHOUT A LAWYER WHO THE JUDGE
COULDN'T KICK AROUND, I DIDN'T PURSUE IT. BUT, IT LOOKS LIKELY THAT
THIS MIGHT BE NEEDED NOW. NOTE: JOHN HARRIS WHO IS THE "SPEAKER OF THE
HOUSE (AK), IS UP TO EYEBALLS IN THIS "GAS-PIPELINE PORT AUTHORITY" AND
I AM SURE IS FIGHTING FOR IT AT THIS WRITING.
--
(3) SARA PALIN MADE "SOME CAMPAIGN STATEMENTS" ABOUT SEEING THAT
"ALASKANS GET A GAS-LINE "SPUR" OFF THE NEW GAS PIPELINE SO THEY WOULD
HAVE A "DIRECT BENEFIT OF THE GAS"...ALASKANS "SHOULD" GET HER
STATEMENTS "IN WRITING" AS WELL AS, TO TALK ABOUT THESE BILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN LOAN GUARANTEES SO.....ALASKANS COULD "OWN AND OPERATE"
THEIR "OWN GAS PIPELINE" AND CUT OUT ALL OF THE GREEDY CORPS..ALASKANS
COULD ALWAYS "HIRE THE TECHNICAL EXPERTS" AND BE ABLE TO "FIRE THEM" IF
THEY ARE CORRUPT.
--
HERE'S THE ARTICLE:
--
Subject: DID YOU KNOW THAT CONGRESS APPROVED $18 "BILLION" IN LOANS FOR
AK. GAS
---
Subject:Regulators OK Alaska pipeline capacity rules - Oil and Gas -
Energy - Commodities
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B70D87E34%2D3333%2D414A%2DA281%2D3AE7DC8DD669%7D
>
---
TEXT COPY:-2-09-05
---
Feds set bid rules on Alaska gas lines
******************************************
By Stephanie I. Cohen, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:46 PM ET Feb 9, 2005
******************************************
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) --
---
Federal energy regulators on Wednesday
**********************************************
"approved rules governing commercial access
********************************************
to capacity in "Alaska's natural gas pipelines."
**********************************************
---
"Congress ordered" the:
***************************
"Federal Energy Regulatory Commission"
**********************************************
to establish "open season" rules following
**********************************************
enactment of the:
*******************
"Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act"
*************************************
in October 2004.
******************
----
"Open season" is:
********************
a period in which "potential customers can bid" on shipping capacity in
Alaska's proposed or current natural gas pipelines.
---
"Open season" helps companies building or expanding pipelines to assess
shipping demand.
---
"The new regulations" will be used
"in bidding rounds" for space in a
"proposed line running from Alaska's North Slope and connecting to
pipeline systems serving the lower 48 states."
---
Last year, Congress authorized up to $18 billion
**********************************************
in "loan guarantees to build the pipeline."
*********************************************
---
In December, Alaska officials said they "received proposals to build
the pipeline from BP Plc.
********
The commissioners said:
***************************
"the new rules" will promote
*******************************
additional exploration and development
********************************************
of Alaska's natural gas fields.
********************************
---
"Our actions today are consistent with our mandate from Congress to
"promote competition" in the development of Alaska natural gas," said
Commissioner Joseph Kelliher.
---
The rules "also provide opportunities" for the "transportation of
natural gas"
********************************
---
from sources other than Alaska's Prudhoe Bay
**********************************************
or Point Thomson "if" the open seasons show
**********************************************
"demand exceeds the initial capacity" of a
**********************************************
pipeline project, the commission said.
****************
---
"To prevent preferential treatment" among gas
*************************************
shippers, "the rules require applicants":
---
to give the commission "detailed information"
**********************************************
(1) on their development projects,
---
(2) how much gas they need to ship to market, and
--
(3) "the identities of any affiliates involved" in the production of
natural gas in Alaska.
---
Stephanie I. Cohen is a reporter for MarketWatch based in Washington.
---
E-mail |
Print |
Digg it |
---
(OPEN ABOVE URL & GO TO "HOME" TO OPEN THE BELOW LINKS)
******************************
---
U.S. probing alleged BP crude-oil, gasoline manipulation 7:24am
8/29/2006
---
CNOOC profit rises on higher output, crude prices 1:27am 8/29/2006
----
Oil falls under $70, nears a five-month low on relief over storm
---
U.S. stocks down after confidence poll; FOMC minutes ahead
---
Copyright © 2006 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.
skew...@webtv.net
pog...@webtv.net
IT INTERESTING, I.E. LOOK AT "LISA MURKOWSKI" A MEMBER OF THE U.S.
SENATE ENERGY COMMITTEE JUST LIKE HER POPPA WHICH IS PROBABLY "WHY SHE
GOT ON IT".
--
HERE SHE IS ASKING THE SENATE TO SEND "MORE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO
ALASKA FOR "GAS EXPLORATION" WHICH ALASKA'S GAS COMMISSIONER, GARY
MEYERS, CLEARLY STATES THAT "ALASKA HAS BEEN EXPLORING FOR IT'S
GAS"...WHAT? THAT IS WHAT B.P. AND THE OTHER OIL/GAS CORPS SAID "THEY
WERE DOING" WHICH COST THEM SO MUCH MONEY THAT THEY NEEDED THE "HUGE
TAX EXEMPTIONS" FOR...WERE THEY "UNDER OATH"? HMMM.
--
THIS GETS SMELLIER AND SMELLIER AND BILLIONS OF FEDERAL MONEY IS BEING
SENT TO ALASKA...JUST WHERE "IS" THESE BILLIONS GOING AND "WHY CAN'T
ALASKANS DEMAND THAT "THEY" OWN AND OPERATE THEIR OWN OIL AND GAS
CORPS, AS WELL AS REFINERIES, SO ALASKANS, NOT THE CORRUPT AND GREEDY
ALASKA POLITICIANS AND CORPORATIONS TAKE "EVERYTHING", AND LEAVING
ALASKANS TO LIVE IN A "THIRD WORLD COUNTRY" WITH "NO JOBS AND AT
POVERTY LEVEL WAGES"??
---
WELL, I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR THE PAST 16 YEARS AND NEITHER THE
STATE OR THE SO-CALLED "ALASKANS" WHO LIVE IN THE STATE HAVE DONE
ANYTHING TO CHANGE THIS FASCIST ALASKA GOVERNMENT, SO I AM DONE WITH
IT.
--
I HAVE JUST GONE THROUGH MY ALASKA FILE AND PULLED OUT SOME LINKS THAT
ARE VERY RELEVANT FOR THIS GROUP BUT I DON'T WANT TO SPEND ANY MORE
TIME...WASTING MY TIME WITH THE ALASKANS WHO READ THIS GROUP, SO.....I
AM GOING TO MAKE A COUPLE MORE POSTS WHICH I HAVE OPENED AND COPIED
SINCE A LOT OF THEM HAVE ALREADY BEEN REMOVED...THEN, I AM GOING TO
MAKE MY LAST POST FOR THIS THREAD WITH THE LINKS TO THE OTHER POSTS,
WHICH...HOPEFULLY ONE OF YOU WILL "DECIDE IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP UP WITH
AND POST THESE OIL/GAS ARTICLES ON A REGULAR BASIS SO YOU CAN ALL KEEP
"INFORMED".
--
SO WITH THAT SAID...HERE IS THIS ARTICLE:
OH...ALSO NOTE THAT IT LOOKS LIKE LITTLE LISA'S PLANS
INVOLVE "SHIPPING ALASKA GAS OVERSEAS" ALSO.
-----
Subject: DID YOU KNOW: ALASKA DOES IT'S "OWN GAS EXPLORATION"?
---
Subject:Alaska: the Saudi Arabia of gas hydrates, says Myers - January
30, 2005 - Petroleum News
---
http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/962284904.shtml
>
---
TEXT COPY: 1-30-05
---
Vol. 10, No. 5 Week of January 30, 2005
*********************************************
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry
---
Alaska: the Saudi Arabia of gas hydrates,
*********************************************
says Myers
-----
"State official" asks U.S. Senate for $70M
**********************************************
for gas hydrates production testing;
***************************************
committee seeks ideas to improve gas provisions in federal energy
program
---
Rose Ragsdale
Petroleum News Contributing Writer
---
"Alaska Division of Oil and Gas"
Director
Mark Myers
*************
---
is seeking $70 million from Congress
over the "next five years" to
"conduct field tests" of the production of gas hydrates.
*******************************************************
---
Testifying Jan. 24 before the "U.S. Senate
**********************************************
Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
**********************************************
Myers said the funds are needed to "demonstrate the commerciality of
gas" hydrates
production from Alaska's North Slope.
**********************************************
---
His request came early in a half-day of testimony in a seminar convened
by
"Energy Committee, Chairman
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M."
---
to gather ideas on enhancing natural gas-related provisions within an
energy bill he is expected to introduce later this winter.
---
"We've got a natural gas crisis in this country, and we wanted to begin
this session with renewed effort to pass a comprehensive energy
program," Domenici said in opening the seminar.
---
According to:
"Energy Information Administration" estimates,
---
the nation will consume 84 billion cubic feet of
**********************************************
gas daily ---by 2025
**********************
— compared to the "59 bcf per day" currently being used.
----
Throughout the afternoon,
"various stakeholders" representing:
***********************************
industry,
consumer groups,
government agencies and
financial markets
----
offered two-minute presentations on proposals to forestall the looming
U.S. natural gas supply shortage and curb rising gas prices.
---
Natural gas prices hovered at about:
$6.50 per million Btu at Henry Hub on Jan. 25,
**********************************************
more than double the $2-$3 per million Btu
**********************************************
it sold for a few years ago.
*****************************
----
Access is key
***************
Reiterating pleas from speakers throughout the day,
---
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska,
***********************************
called for the government to:
"grant more access to public lands" to permit
**********************************************
more exploration for new conventional gas
**********************************************
supplies,
***********
---
noting that "Alaska" can help alleviate the nation's projected gas
shortfall.
---
Murkowski,
************
a "Senate Energy committee member",
********************************************
also "urged more funding for "new technologies"
to permit "unconventional gas"
*****************************
to be produced and
---
"gas transportation systems to be developed"
**************************************************
"more economically" to
move any new supplies to market.
----
"The key is access,
access both to the land and
access to the research dollars and
technology incentives
---
needed to allow natural gas to be produced and shipped economically.
---
We need to do more to make the increased production of natural gas from
Alaska happen," said Murkowski, after the seminar.
---
Besides the 35 trillion cubic feet of
**************************************
"proven reserves" on the North Slope",
*****************************************
Alaska "likely holds another":
*******************************
122 tcf, part of an estimated 600 tcf
*****************************************
of "conventional natural gas" estimated
as likely to be found on shore in America, Dave Houseknecht,
***********************
a geologist with the
U.S. Geological Survey,
told the committee.
---
The USGS predicts another "400 tcf" will be
**********************************************
found in offshore waters,
including the outer continental shelf off Alaska.
**********************************************
---
Alaska: the Saudi Arabia of gas hydrates
**********************************************
Myers estimated likely "state reserves"
of conventional natural gas at "250 tcf."
---
He also said "Alaska likely holds"
more than 32,000 tcf of gas hydrates —
******************************************
-methane locked in:
**********************
permafrost and
rock formations
on the North Slope and
offshore in the Beaufort Sea.
----
Described as the Saudi Arabia of gas hydrates, Alaska could offer vast
supplies of gas
"once technology is perfected" to capture and produce it commercially,
he said.
---
The large quantity of hydrates that
**************************************
underlie the existing:
**********************
Kuparuk River,
Milne Point, and
Prudhoe Bay Fields
-----
could in themselves,
"remove all potential reserve risk"
for an Alaska natural gas pipeline
producing at 4.5 bcf per day,
****************************
from years 20 through 35 and beyond,
******************************************
he added.
---
"Reducing reserve risk" will have
"a positive effect on project financing" and potentially result in "a
lower tariff",
-----
which in turn could lead to increased exploration and early expansion
of the ,"
Myers said.
---
The only testing on gas hydrates "to date"
**********************************************
has been done with the help of "government
**********************************************
funding",
**********
said Myers, pointing to "the fact"
that the "largest source of that funding" comes from:
---
the federal Methane Hydrate Research and
**********************************************
Development Act which expires this year.
**********************************************
---
$70 million would fund "production testing"
**********************************************
He urged Congress to make $70 million available
over "the next five years"
for continued "state exploration" of:
****************************************
likely gas hydrate deposits at Prudhoe Bay and to demonstrate
technology that can produce the gas economically.
---
"It is proposed that the "Act be reauthorized" for a "period of five
years",
---
with appropriations of no less than $10 million
**********************************************
per year in years 1-3 and
*****************************
---
$20 million per year in years 4-5,"
*************************************
according to a statement Myers
entered into the federal record.
---
Alaska, Myers said, has been working with:
**********************************************
"a team" from:
*************
---
industry,
government and
the university
---
which is "taking the first steps"
towards the "use of gas hydrates"
"by investigating known deposits"
on the central North Slope.
*****************************
---
The economics of the gas hydrates look good, but "uncertainties remain"
related to commercial production.
*******************************************************
---
Murkowski "endorsed the state's request", saying:
---
federal assistance is needed to develop the technology, for it to
advance far enough for Alaska to get its hydrates into production.
---
She said "the country" is facing a significant future shortage of
natural gas,
even "with construction of a pipeline to bring Alaska gas to market."
---
Gas line incentives approved last year
*******************************************
An "Alaska project is expected to deliver" 4.5 bcf per day to the Lower
48 starting in 2012.
**********************************************
---
Last year, Congress approved federal financial incentives to help
finance an Alaska gas line project
— either a pipeline through Canada to the Lower 48 or -the All-Alaska
liquefied natural gas pipeline project.
----
During the conference, several groups
"asked Congress to approve"
"similar federal financial incentives" to:
---
spur the nation's small coal-fired electric plants
**********************************************
to add the ability to use natural gas and
---
small gas-fueled plants to be equipped with clean coal-burning
capability,
---
projects estimated to cost about $500 million each.
---
Murkowski joined other senators in questioning "the wisdom of the
idea."
---
She said aid to the Alaska gas pipeline is vital, given the high cost
and technological hurdles of building an $18 billion to $20 billion
project.
**********************************************
---
But, she asked,
---
should the government offer "such incentives" for a $500 million
project?
*****************************
"It's a tough question,"
she said.
"Do you put a price tag to a project?"
---
Murkowski also questioned whether
"there are enough" liquefied natural gas tankers in existence to:
---
allow America to "import sufficient gas", if new deposits can't be
found quickly enough domestically.
---
U.S. Coast Guard,
Captain
Mike Scott
---
said there are 160 LNG tankers worldwide, about 40 currently serving
the United States.
---
He said in the near term another 25 to 30 are "currently on order" from
the nine shipyards worldwide capable of building the tankers
----
— enough to meet currently forecast demand.
----
Murkowski, however, noted that:
"none of those shipyards are in America",
********************************************
and under the terms of the "Jones Act",
**************************************
---
"Alaska gas could only be delivered to:
********************************************
the West Coast from an all-Alaska LNG project,
**********************************************
if the gas was delivered in American-built tankers.
---
"We may need to look at the Jones Act,"
*********************************************
she said.
---
Information gained during the seminar could result in:
---
changes to the new comprehensive energy bill likely to be introduced by
Domenici this winter.
---
The Senate announced Jan. 24 that the energy bill will be one of the
top 10 Republican priorities for the year, and that it will be given
bill number 10, (S 10).
*************************
Print this story
---
Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469 - Fax: 1-907 522-9583
circu...@PetroleumNews.com --- http://www.petroleumnews.com --- S U
B S C R I B E
skew...@webtv.net
YOU IN, I.E. THEIR PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT WITH B.P. DEALS AND NO
OVERSIGHT INTO HOW THE PIPELINES WERE BEING MAINTAINED, THUS THE
MASSIVE OIL SPILLS AND NOW SHUT DOWNS, HAS ESCALATED TO CONGRESS NOW
GOING TO SET UP HEARINGS RE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CHARGES.
--
OF COURSE, CONGRESS IS ON IT'S SUMMER VACATION AND "ELECTION CAMPAIGN
TRAILS", SO THESE HEARINGS WON'T TAKE PLACE UNTIL THEY GET BACK, SO YOU
CAN BET THEY WILL "NOW" SAY THAT THEY WILL HOLD B.P. ACCOUNTABLE, SO
THEY LOOK "LIKE THEY ARE NOW DOING THEIR JOBS", EVEN THOUGH B.P.'S
RECORD IS INFAMOUS, ALL OF WHICH "THEY ALREADY KNEW BUT DID NOTHING
ABOUT".
---
THE REAL QUESTION ALASKANS SHOULD NOW BE CONSIDERING IS:
"WHAT IS THE MURKY ADM. GOING TO DO OR NOT DO" WITH THE OIL NOT BEING
PUMPED AND YET ARE STILL HELL-BENT ON GETTING B.P. TO TAKE OVER THE
HUGE NEW BUILDING OF A GAS PIPELINE? I.E. HAVE ALASKANS "NOT LEARNED
ANYTHING YET" ABOUT THE BLATANT CORRUPTION OF THEIR STATE GOVERNORS AND
THEIR STATE PROSTITUTES? I.E. IF THE FEDS SHUT DOWN B.P. WHO WILL BE
CLEANING UP THE PIPELINES SO THEY CAN START WORKING AGAIN...HMMMM, HOW
ABOUT ALASKANS? AND...HOW ABOUT PUTTING ON THE TABLE "MY 16 YEAR
SOLUTION" OF ALASKANS SETTING UP "THEIR OWN STATE OIL AND GAS
CORPORATIONS" WITH ALASKANS BEING EMPLOYED AND BEING THE "DIRECT
SHAREHOLDERS"?
--
HERE'S A THOUGHT...HOW ABOUT PROMOTING ALL OF THE "WHISTLEBLOWER
WORKERS" WHO HAVE HAD THE COURAGE AND EXPERIENCE TO "KNOW HOW THE
PIPELINE "IS" SUPPOSED TO OPERATE?
--
HERE YOU GO:
-----
Subject: BP UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR OIL PRICE MANUPULATION & AK OIL
SPILL.
---
Subject:U.S. probing alleged BP crude-oil, gasoline manipulation -
8-29-06
---
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/52vMhN88ZQLzdDCWSHffJMC?siteid=yhoo&dist=morenews
>
---
TEXT COPY: 8-29-06
---
U.S. probes BP over crude, gas dealings
**********************************************
Whether markets were manipulated
***************************************
at heart of latest inquiries
***************************
Print
E-mail
---
By MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:54 AM ET Aug 29, 2006
----
LONDON (MarketWatch) --
---
The U.S. government has begun
*************************************
"criminal and civil investigations"
************************************
into whether BP Plc manipulated
**************************************
U.S. crude-oil and unleaded-gasoline markets,
**********************************************
as the "British petroleum" giant's
---
chief executive is being forced to testify under
**********************************************
oath about safety problems.
*******************************
---
The "world's second-largest"
publicly traded oil company, BP
has acknowledged the investigations and
said:
---
it's cooperating with U.S. authorities,
*****************************************
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. See Wall Street Journal story
(subscription required).
---
A London-based BP spokeswoman wouldn't elaborate on the report but said
she didn't see any mistakes in the article.
---
"We always assist regulators in
trying to find out the facts and figures on how our business works,"
she said.
---
BP shares traded in New York were
off 60 cents, or 0.9%, at $67.70 in early action, moving lower in line
with most big oil stocks as crude prices tumbles below $70 a barrel.
---
Disclosure of the investigations comes as "BP has been summoned before"
---
the House Energy and Commerce Committee
**********************************************
to explain the recently discovered pipeline leak
**********************************************
at its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, operation that
**********************************************
has "indefinitely" taken some 200,000 barrels
**********************************************
a day of crude output "off the market."
**************************************
---
It also comes while BP "is trying to recover" from "negative publicity"
stemming from a March 23, 2005, explosion and fire at its giant Texas
City, Tex., refinery that killed 15 workers, injured 180 more and
---
resulted in a record U.S. fine of $21.3 million for
**********************************************
"safety violations."
*******************
---
The Financial Times separately reported Tuesday that:
---
BP CEO,
John Browne
will have to testify, because he had
*******************
"unique and superior knowledge."
---
BP told the newspaper:
"it will appeal the decision
****************************
made by a Texas state judge.
---
And BP "already faces a civil complaint"
********************************************
filed by "federal commodities regulators"
********************************************
for allegedly "manipulating"
******************************
much of the U.S. market for propane.
******************************************
---
BP's shares have slipped 2% this year, "compared to a nearly 6% rise
for rival oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A :
---
BP's London-listed shares declined 0.3% in midday trading. ---
Alleged manipulation
***********************
Now, the Journal reports, the
"Commodity Futures Trading Commission"
has sent subpoenas to BP and
****************************
"energy traders" in the crude-oil probe,
*******************************************
which is focused on possible manipulation of the global
over-the-counter market in 2003 and 2004.
---
The over-the-counter market includes:
******************************************
trades conducted over the phone or electronically in products not
listed on exchanges, or
in marketplaces that regulators can't see.
*********************************************
---
The "separate gasoline inquiry",
which has been under way more than a year and "includes a criminal
probe"
by the Justice Department,
---
is examining a single day's trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange
in 2002, the Journal said, citing lawyers and traders close to the
case.
---
And people at other firms said many trading firms had received CFTC
demands for information, suggesting that the scope of the
"investigation goes beyond BP",
the Journal reported.
---
CFTC and Justice Department spokesmen declined to comment to the
newspaper.
---
In the "broader civil investigation"
into "crude-oil trading", investigators are examining:
---
whether BP used information about
****************************************
"its own pipelines and storage tanks"
*****************************************
at a key "oil-delivery point in Cushing, Okla.", to influence crude-oil
price benchmarks that are set each day and influence billions of
dollars of transactions, The Journal said.
---
That investigation isn't related to:
************************************
(1) the propane case, in which civil claims by the CFTC are pending
against BP in federal court in Chicago, as well as
---
(2) a criminal charge against a former BP trader in U.S. District Court
in Washington;
---
(3) numerous civil lawsuits seeking damages are also pending, the
Journal said.
---
BP has denied wrongdoing in the propane case.
---
An earlier CFTC investigation into BP's "crude-oil trading was closed
without charges", the Journal reported.
richard karr
Alaska, BP is in 128 countries, By shutting the pipeline down completely we
could raise oil prices thus creating higher profits for stockholders of BP.
Actually after all is said and done, socialist will always be the outcast
they have been. (Losers)
LEG...@webtv.net
OIL/GAS ON "FED LAND", AFTER 5 YEARS OF STATING "WE (U.S.) ARE ADDICTED
TO OIL AND WE "HAVE TO IMPORT 60% OF OUR OIL FROM THE MIDDLE EAST"?
---
IF THE TRUTH AND FACTS WOULD BE KNOWN, (NONE OF WHICH HAS BEEN TOLD BY
ALASKA'S CORRUPT GOVERNMENT; OR THE OIL/GAS CORPS DRILLING THERE, (LIKE
BP) OR....THE PRESIDENTS OF THE U.S., THERE IS PROBABLY "ENOUGH OIL/GAS
IN ALASKA" TO TAKE CARE OF AMERICANS NEEDS, UNTIL AMERICANS DEMAND AND
GET THE ALTERNATIVE FUELS/VEHICLES, BE SET UP FOR USE IN THE U.S. AND
"CUT OUT THE CORRUPT AND GREEDY OIL CORPS/POLITICAL CRAP THAT HAS RUN
OUR GOVERNMENT FOR DECADES."
---
HERE YA GO:
------
Subject:8-23-06- U.S. to lease 8 million acres in Alaska for drilling
---
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20060823-0939-energy-alaska-drilling.html
>
---
TEXT COPY: 8-23-06
---
U.S. to lease 8 million acres in Alaska for
**********************************************
drilling
*******
By Tom Doggett
REUTERS
---
9:39 a.m. August 23, 2006
---
WASHINGTON – Despite strong opposition from environmental groups, the
Bush administration Wednesday said:
---
it would "offer energy companies"
next month the "opportunity to search"
for crude oil and natural gas on 8 million acres
**********************************************
in Alaska's western Arctic region.
*************************************
---
The "acres to be leased" will be on:
"696 tracts" in:
---
the northeast and northwest areas of
the "National Petroleum Reserve."
********************************
---
Environmentalists are especially concerned because:
---
"373,000 acres" north of the reserve's wetland-rich Teshekpuk Lake will
also be offered for lease for the first time.
**********************************************
---
About "183,200 acres" relinquished since a 2002 lease sale will also be
reoffered to energy companies.
**********************************************
---
The "Interior Department's"
"Bureau of Land Management",
which will conduct the lease sale Sept. 27,
**********************************************
said:
--
"the reserve's energy supplies are needed" and steps will be taken to
limit the impact of drilling at "biologically sensitive areas"
near Teshekpuk Lake.
----
The "reserve is estimated to hold"
between 5.9 billion and 13.2 billion barrels of
**********************************************
recoverable oil and
****************
---
39 trillion to 83 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
**********************************************
---
Two billion barrels of oil may be around
********************************************
Teshekpuk Lake alone.
*************************
---
"This is a "significant amount of oil"
that will help decrease our dependence on imported oil," said: BLM
"Acting Alaska Director", Julia Dougan.
-----
The "United States consumes"
close to 21 million barrels of oil a day
*****************************************
and must import 60 percent of that amount.
---
However, drilling opponents argue:
the new oil is not worth the risk of harming the habitat for the
reserve's wildlife, some of which
"native Inupiat residents depend on for food. "
----
"The "Teshekpuk Lake area" is:
"biologically rich nursery grounds for birds from many continents and
mammals which sustain our Inupiat families and communities and must be
protected from leasing activities,"
---
said: Rosemary Ahtuangaruak,
former mayor of
the Inupiat village of Nuiqsut,
the community closest to Teshekpuk Lake.
----
The BLM said:
some of the "reserve's sensitive areas", home to:
geese,
waterfoul and
caribou,
---
"will be monitored and studied":
**********************************
for "another three years" before exploration
**********************************************
activities "could be authorized"
beyond the winter months when animals migrate.
----
Green groups also questioned:
whether new areas in Alaska should be opened to drilling: "so soon
after BP Plc shut down part of the
**********************************************
Prudhoe Bay oilfield due to pipeline corrosion.
**********************************************
---
"It doesn't make sense that (BLM) is moving ahead with a drilling plan
for Teshekpuk Lake
"at the same time" that we, as a nation, are still trying to figure out
the extent of the "safety problems involved in North Slope oil and gas
infrastructure," said: Natalie Brandon,
Policy Director for
Alaska Wilderness League.
---
The 23-million-acre National Petroleum
********************************************
Reserve,
*********
about "the size of Indiana",
was created in 1923 to
provide energy supplies for the U.S. military.
-----
It is "located in the northwest corner of Alaska,"
--
"near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge" that the Bush administration
has eagerly sought to open to drilling but so far has been unable to
convince Congress to do so.
--
© Copyright 2006 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. • A Copley Newspaper
Site
quest...@webtv.net
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, UH HUM...B.P. IS BEING SUED AND FACING
CRIMINAL CHARGES, HOW CAN MURKY OR THE 2 GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES
POSSIBLY "APPROVE MURKY'S CONTRACT DEAL WITH B.P. IF THERE ARE ANY SANE
POLITICIANS AMONG THE THREE, OF WHICH, I MIGHT ADD...DIDN'T BRING THIS
ELEPHANT UP WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED; PERHAPS THEY LIKE THE BUSH REGIME
THINK THEY ARE TALKING TO THE "STUPID AND UNINFORMED"...OH YEAH...THEY
ARE, SIMPLY BECAUSE "NO ONE IS WATCHDOGGING THE GOVERNMENT OR PRESS AND
ALASKANS "AREN'T GOING ON LINE TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON", WHICH IS
"WHY"...ACA COULD "REALLY BE THE HUB OF ALASKAN INFORMATION, IF ANY OF
THE ACA READERS WOULD PUT SOME EFFORT INTO IT.".
--
OH AHHHHH, ONE OF YOU "ALASKANS" MIGHT LIKE TO E-MAIL SARA PALIN AND
"TELL HER THAT "ALL OF THE DETAILS ABOUT "THIS PIPELINE DEAL" IS
REQUIRED IN THE "AK. NATURAL GAS PIPELINE ACT (SEE MY ABOVE POST)" AND
SHE SHOULD GET IT; READ IT; AND SHOW UP THE GREEDY AND CORRUPT KNOWLES
AND MURKY WHO ARE "ALREADY ON RECORD" FOR SELLING ALASKANS OUT IN FAVOR
OF THE OIL/GAS CORPS.
--
WHILE I'M AT IT..PALIN IS "NOT FOR MURKY'S DEAL", SHE LIKES THE
FRAUDULENT ONE THAT TAKES THE LINE TO VALDEZ. THIS GROUP IS MADE UP OF
THE MOST CORRUPT POLITICANS, WHOM I AM SURE PALIN HAS BEEN TALKING
TO..THE "RESOLUTION THAT SETUP THIS PHONEY "ALASKA GAS PIPELINE PORT
AUTHORITY" IS UNBELIEVABLE, I.E. THEY GIVE THEMSELVES "IMMUNITY FROM
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PROSECUTION"; DON'T GUARANTEE ANY WORK FOR ALASKANS,
IN FACT, I HAVE A TAPE OF AN INTERVIEW WITH THE THEN VALDEZ MAYOR, WHO
SAID "OH NO, WE WILL BE CONTRACTING OUT THESE JOBS FOR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT
NOT BE ALASKANS...THEY ALSO KEEP SECRET "EVERYTHING" ABOUT THEIR
OPERATION...YEP...JUST LIKE THE FASCIST BUSH REGIME...NO DIFFERENCE AT
ALL, SO SOMEONE SHOULD TIP HER OFF IF SHE IS CLUELESS AND TELL HER TO
EXPOSE THIS FRAUD OF A "GAS PIPELINE AUTHORITY" AND GET A "LEGITIMATE
BILL INTRODUCED SETTING UP AND "ALASKAN GAS & PIPELINE CORP OR CO-OP"
IN WHICH ONLY ALASKANS HAVE OWNERSHIP, ETC.
-----
Subject: MURKY ASKING LEG FOR 3RD SPECIAL SESSION!
---
Subject:KTVA - Murkowski press conference-re 3rd special
session-8-30-06
----
http://www.ktva.com/topstory/ci_4263565
>
---
TEXT COPY: 8-30-06
---
Email Article
Article Last Updated:
08/30/2006 05:59:17 PM AKDT
---
Murkowski press conference
*****************************
By Andrea Gusty,
CBS 11 News Reporter
---
In a press conference Wednesday,
Governor Frank Murkowski, (R) Alaska,
said:
---
he "will be asking the legislature" to consider re-convening for a
third special session in
**********************************************
mid September to decide on:
********************************
"a gas pipeline plan."
*********************
---
The governor says he'll call another special legislative session "if
lawmakers agree"
there "is enough support" for the proposed gas pipeline deal to go back
to work on the deal.
---
The governor "first made his draft contract" with:
Exxon Mobil,
BP and
ConocoPhillips
---
And since that time, the State Legislature has "failed to pass "the
deal" twice."
---
"This administration is committed to proceed, as long as we are in
office, with the
development of this gas line.
---
Because it is the interest of Alaskans and it is in the interest of
either of the two gubernatorial candidates to get this done," said
Murkowski.
---
But even if that special session is called, and the gas line contract
approved,
---
"the plan Governor Murkowski wants" isn't necessarily the plan the
"next governor" will agree with.
---
"We have to do it right. Because if not, we will always look back and
regret the fact that we didn't assert our own power as a sovereign
state to get the right contract for Alaskans,"
said Tony Knowles, (D)
**************************
Gubernatorial Candidate.
---
"This is one of the proposals that should be considered, but we have to
make sure that the "deficiencies within that contract",
*************************************
that they are taken care of,
questions are answered that the
"legislators have been asking for" and
"with this process."
---
If they "do go" into a third special session, they'll be able to
address those concerns," said:
Sarah Palin, (R)
******************
Gubernatorial Candidate.
---
If a third special session is called, legislators would meet in Juneau,
September 19th
********************************************
to decide something "before" the general election in November.
---
The new governor will take office in early
*********************************************
December.
***********
---
To contact Andrea, call 907-273-3186.
All contents Copyright 2006
Alaska Broadcasting Company, Inc.
KTVA or other copyright holders.
---
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed for any "commercial purpose."
---
Print Article Email Article
---
MORE MORE TOP STORIES HEADLINES
---
Teachers' contract goes to vote
---
Some citizens trying to overturn smoking ban Alaska's Tobacco Quit Line
----
Murkowski press conference
---
Contract vote Wednesday
---
Deciding to make Alaska home
---
Eagle River man arrested for sexual abuse
----
Fort Richardson soldier arraigned on child pornography possession
---
Convicted molester tells jurors his past is irrelevant
---
Anchorage Police Department is looking for recruits
---
Senator Ted Stevens speaks at
"Make it Monday" forum
quest...@webtv.net
"ACTIVITY" THAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN "MURKY AND THE FEDS" RE
THE "NEW GAS PIPELINE" AND SEND IT TO PALIN SO SHE CAN BE "LESS
CLUELESS" THE NEXT TIME SHE HAS TO DEBATE KNOWLES.
--
NOTE: EVEN YOU DEMOCRATS HAVE TO BE SMART ENOUGH "NOT TO VOTE FOR
KNOWLES, WHO ALREADY HAS A TRACK RECORD FOR SCREWING THE ALASKAN
WORKING PEOPLE AND BACKING THE CORPORATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT
"HAVE ROBBED ALASKANS OF THE ONLY THING THE STATE HAS TO SUPPORT IT'S
PEOPLE, IE. OIL AND GAS." -PALIN, OF COURSE, NEEDS TO "KNOW THAT SHE
WILL HAVE YOUR SUPPORT IF SHE "PUBLICLY SUPPORTS THE ONLY THING THAT
SHE WILL BE TAKING AN "OATH TO PROTECT",
---
I.E. THE ALASKAN PEOPLE AND IT'S LAWS AND CONSTITUTION...SHE KNOWS THAT
KNOWLES IS A THREAT TO HER ELECTION AND THE ALASKAN PEOPLE "SHOULD
ALREADY KNOW HE IS A THREAT AGAINST THE STATE OF ALASKA AND THE ALASKAN
PEOPLE", BUT CLEARLY THEY DON'T BECAUSE "THERE IS NO ONE GIVING THEM
THE INFORMATION THEY "NEED TO KNOW" LIKE THIS THREAD,
---
I.E. REMEMBER...IF ALASKANS DEMAND THE USE OF "LIO'S", WHICH "THEY PAY
FOR" AND THERE ARE 96 LIO'S IN THE STATE IN MOST OF THE VILLAGES, ALL
YOU HAVE TO DO IS "KICK OUT THE STATE EMPLOYEES, WHO HAVE "NO LEGAL
RIGHT TO OPERATE THEM, PLUS, THE LIO'S ARE OPERATING IN VIOLATION OF
"THE STATE LAWS, I.E.
--
THE STATE POLITICIANS CAN "NOT" APPROPRIATE MONEY FOR ANY "STATE AGENCY
OR DEPARTMENT" (WHICH THE LIO'S ARE-TO THE TUNE OF MULTIPLE MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS)-WITHOUT A STATUTE "SETTING UP THE AGENCY/DEPT. AND THEN THE
"WRITING OF REGULATIONS"..THIS HAS "NEVER BEEN DONE AND I HAVE A LOT OF
DOCUMENTATON AND RESEARCH ON IT", INSTEAD, THE LIOS ARE BEING
"CONTROLLED BY LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY", WHICH ITSELF, IS OPERATING
ILLEGALLY FOR THE "SAME REASONS", YET THE STATE POLITICIANS CONTINUALLY
AND ILLEGALLY FUND BOTH.
--
IF ALASKANS DEMAND THAT THE LIO'S BE PLACED IN STATUTE AND AND INSTALL
"LOCAL ALASKANS" TO "ORGANIZE, GET ON LINE, AND HOLD MEETINGS IN THESE
96 LIO OFFICES, TO "GET LAWS PASSED AND REPEAL OTHERS, VIA "INITIATIVE
PETITIONS" IN "THEIR LOCAL CITY AND VILLAGES, AND THEN "ALASKANS WILL
GET THEIR GOVERNMENT BACK. "THIS WAS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF THE
LIO'S...YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONTACT ERIC CROFT ABOUT ALL OF THIS AND SEE
IF HE WILL FILE SUIT FOR YOU AND GET IT BEFORE THE MEDIA ..AND "BEFORE
THE ELECTION FOR GOVERNOR, SINCE "NO OTHER ISSUE IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN...ALASKANS HAVING "CONTROL OVER THEIR GOVERNMENT, AND THAT STARTS
WITH THE "ABILITY FOR ALASKANS TO "TALK TO EACH OTHER" ABOUT "WHAT
THEIR NEEDS AND FUTURE ARE".
----
HERE YA GO...HERE'S FERC. OPEN THE URL TO CLICK ON THE
REPORTS/DOCUMENTATIONS.
---
(REMEMBER...I AM JUST POSTING MY FILES AND THEN WILL STOP ALL OF
THIS...YOU ACA READERS ARE GOING TO HAVE TAKE THIS OVER IF YOU WANT ACA
TO "ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE SUPPORT FOR ALASKA AND ALASKANS" BY SAVING ALL
OF THESE SITES FOR YOUR RESOURCE SEARCHES IN ORDER TO GET ALL OF THIS
INFO AND REPORT BACK HERE WITH IT.
---
OOOORRRRRR, PERHAPS YOU WANT TO SEE MORE 100 PLUS POSTS IN A THREAD
FROM JUVENILE ALASKANS WHO "TAKE THEIR TIME TO ARGUE ABOUT ARGUING" AND
THEN CLAIM "THEY WON THE ARGUMENT"..YOU SEE WHY ALASKA IS A THIRD WORLD
COUNTRY RUN BY FASCISTS..YOU HAVE SO-CALLED MEN WHO ARE NOTHING MORE
THAN MORONS..AND THE WOMEN DON'T SEEM TO CARE EITHER, EXCEPT THOSE IN
POLITICS WHO "NEED TO HAVE SOME GUTS TO STAND UP AND KICK THE ASSES OUT
OF THE CORRUPT AND GREEDY GOVERNMENT..
---
MOST ALL ALASKA WOMEN WHO ARE IN POLITICS ARE "AS BAD AS THE MEN" AND
HAVE DONE NOTHING ABOUT THIS..NOW YOU HAVE SARAH PALIN WHO IS THE ONLY
ONE OUT OF THE THREE GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES THAT ALASKANS "MIGHT HAVE
SOME CONTROL OVER", ABOUT HER ELECTION "IF SHE WORKS "FOR THEM"...NOT
SOMETHING REPUBLICANS DO...SO THERE YOU ARE..GET YOUR LIO'S AND GET
YOUR GOVERNMENT BACK. .&;D
-----
Subject: FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATIONS COMMISSION-(FERC)-WEBSITE
---
Subject:FERC: Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects - Open Season
Regulations -WEB SITE
---
http://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/angtp.asp
>
---
TEXT COPY:
--
Market Oversight and Investigations
Disclosure of Investigative Materials
Congressional AffairsCongressional Testimony
----
» Press Release on Order 2005
» Standards of Conduct
-----
Gas - Industry Activities
----
Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects
-----
"Open Season" Regulations
*******************************
July 10, 2006 - Second Report to Congress on progress made in licensing
and constructing the Alaska natural gas pipeline [PDF]
-----
February 1, 2006 - Report to Congress on progress made in licensing and
constructing the Alaska natural gas pipeline as required by EPAct 2005
[PDF]
----
"The announcement of an agreement between the State of Alaska and
producers is a highly encouraging step toward building a pipeline to
bring Alaska gas to the lower 48 states.
---
Building this pipeline is a key part of our national effort to secure
abundant and affordable supplies of this environmentally friendly fuel.
---
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stands ready to expeditiously
carry out its regulatory responsibilities
--
"once this agreement is consummated" and we have proposals before us,"
---
Chairman Joseph Kelliher,
February 22, 2006
------
Open Season Regulation Provisions (Order 2005)
---
Require that project proponents
"file open season plans" for
Commission approval (90 days prior to the open season).
----
Follow provisions of "Order No. 2004,"
---
"Standards of Conduct",
while conducting an open season.
---
Include procedures for the allocation of capacity.
---
Include the criteria for and timing of any open seasons.
---
Promote competition in the exploration, development, and production of
Alaska natural gas.
---
Cover "voluntary expansion open seasons" which must then:
--
provide the opportunity for the transportation of
**********************************************
natural gas other than from the Prudhoe Bay
**********************************************
and Point Thomson.
**********************
--
"Include an assessment of in-state needs",
**********************************************
and
a listing of "prospective delivery points"
*******************************************
within Alaska.
**************
---
The "open season regulations" apply to:
*********************************************
---
Any initial or (voluntary) expansion capacity on any Alaska natural gas
transportation project.
--
"Does not apply to":
*********************
"involuntary expansion". if one is ordered
**********************************************
under the:
"Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004 (ANGPA)"
----
»Order 2005 [PDF]
»Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004 »Alaska Natural Gas
Transportation Act of 1976 (ANGTA)
---
(Note: You will be leaving FERC's site)
---
June 1, 2005 - Final Rule, Order 2005-A (RM05-1-001)
---
Final Rule and Order on Rehearing
issued on regulations governing:
--
the conduct of open seasons for Alaska Natural
**********************************************
Gas Transportation Projects
********************************
---
» Press Release
» Order [PDF]
---
December 3, 2004 - Technical Conference (RM05-1-000)
---
This technical conference was initiated to:
--
establish regulations governing the conduct of
**********************************************
open seasons for capacity on any Alaska
**********************************************
natural gas transportation projects.
***************************************
---
"These regulations are required"
***********************************
by section 103(e) of
***********************
the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004,
**********************************************
enacted into law on October 13, 2004.
---
» View Details
----
Contact Information
Richard Foley
Telephone: 202-502-8955
Email: richar...@ferc.gov
---
Office of External Affairs
Telephone: 202-502-8004
Toll-free: 1-866-208-3372
Email: cust...@ferc.gov
-----
Additional Information
» View Presentation [PPS]
» Fact Sheet [PDF]
» Order 2005 [PDF]
» Historical Orders on ANGTS
» Congressional Correspondence
eLibrary Documents
» Commission Notices
» Commission Issuances
----
Updated: August 24, 2006
---
Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Ethics | Accessibility | Webmaster |
FirstGov | Adobe
quest...@webtv.net
***************
(1) THERE HAS TO BE "FEDERAL VIOLATIONS OF LAW" BEFORE THE F.B.I. CAN
GET WARRANTS AND SEARCHES, AND AS STATED IN THIS ARTICLE "THE FACTS
HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC" AND INCLUDED IN THE "AFFADAVITS WHICH STATE THESE
FACTS" FOR THE JUDGE IN ORDER TO GET THESE SEARCH WARRANTS;
---
(2) WE ALREADY KNOW THAT THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE IS "NOW" "INVESTIGATING
B.P. FOR CRIMINAL ACTS, SOME OF WHICH INVOLVE THEIR ACTION WITH
ALASKA'S OIL PIPELINES AND CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS WILL START IN ABOUT A
WEEK OR TWO RE B.P.'S ACTIVITY, AS SOON AS CONGRESS RETURNS FROM THEIR
SUMMER VACATION;
--
(3) BASED ON THE NEWS ARTICLES (ADN) OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY (BELOW),
THE RAIDS TOOK PLACE APPARENTLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF COLLECTING EVIDENCE
THE FBI IS SEARCHING FOR WHICH DEALS WITH:
---
(A) SEVERAL ALASKA LEGISLATORS, WHICH INCLUDES ALASKA'S U.S. SENATOR,
TED STEVENS WHO LIVES IN GIRDWOOD, BUT THE ADN REPORTER IN THE BELOW
ARTICLE, MUNGES THE TWO AK. POLITICIANS, I.E.:
--
THE FATHER (U.S. SENATOR, TED STEVENS-CONGRESSMAN) AND
---
HIS SON, (AK. SENATOR, BEN STEVENS)
--
AND MERELY REFERS TO THEM AS "STEVENS":
*************************************
SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO REALLY KNOW WHICH "STEVENS" THIS ARTICLE IS
TALKING ABOUT;
--
(B) THAT THE SEARCH ALSO INVOLVES "OTHER ALASKA POLITICIANS, ONE OF
WHICH IS THE CHAIR OF THE AK. OIL AND GAS COMMISSION (KOHRING) AND
COINCIDENTALLY, THE STATE OF ALASKA IS INVOLVED IN A $25 BILLION PLAN
TO BUILD A "GAS PIPELINE/S", OF WHICH...A "NEW TAX DEAL LAW" HAS ALSO
BEEN PASSED IN ALASKA, AND IS:
--
APPARENTLY ALSO "PART OF THE EVIDENCE THAT IS BEING COLLECTED BY THE
FBI, WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE FOUND IN THE E-MAILS AND MEMOS, THAT HAVE
BEEN COLLECTED;
--
(C) THE "INFAMOUS VECO CORP", IS OBVIOUSLY A "TARGET" OF THE F.B.I.
SEARCH WITH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE DECADES AGO; AND
--
(D) PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT "ELEMENT", I.E FORMER ALASKA
LEGISLATOR, RAY METCALFE, WHO HAS CONTINUED TO TRY AND GET THE BLATANT
CORRUPTION TAKING PLACE IN ALASKA BETWEEN THE POLITICIANS AND THE OIL
CORPS, INVESTIGATED BY THE U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE, WHO COULDN'T BE LESS
INTERESTED, BUT SO GOES A CORRUPT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHEN THE "TARGETS
OF INVESTIGATION ARE REUBLICANS AS IS THE HEAD OF THE DEPT. OF JUSTCE".
--
AS CAN ALSO BE READ, METCALFE TRIED TO GET A "RECALL" OF BEN STEVENS,
THE SON OF THE POWERFUL REPUBLICAN, AK. U.S. CONGRESSMAN, TED
STEVENS...AND WHICH RECALL WAS STOPPED BY "REPUBLICAN AND INFAMOUS
FASCIST, AK. POLITICIAN, LOREN LEMAN, THE THEN LT. GOV. IN CHARGE OF
"ELECTION ISSUES".
--
THE TIME WAS CERTAINLY RIGHT FOR RAY METCALFE TO "TRY AGAIN TO GET THE
ATTENTION OF THE FEDS TO INVESTIGATE THE CORRUPTION TAKING PLACE, WHEN
"EVEN THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS" IS NOW READY TO HOLD B.P. ACCOUNTABLE
VIA CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CHARGES. YEA....METCALFE!!!
PSS. TAMARA COOK, THE LEGISLATOR"S "IN-HOUSE ATTORNEY" IS EXACTLY LIKE
THE U.S. ATTY.GEN. GONZALES..A CORRUPT AND UNETHICAL PROSTITUTE
ATTORNEY FOR POLITICIANS.
---
HERE YA GO:
-----
Subject:9-01-06- FBI raids legislative offices
---
http://www.adn.com/news/government/story/8144643p-8036875c.html
>
----
TEXT COPY: 9-01-06
---
Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's Newspaper
---
Last Update: September 1, 2006 9:51 AM
---
FBI raids legislative offices
*******************************
Agents are quiet on purpose of Alaska investigation; Veco is named in
the warrants
---
This story was written by Daily News reporter Richard Mauer and based
on reporting by Mauer and Daily News reporters Lisa Demer, Don Hunter,
Richard Richtmyer and Joe Ditzler.
----
Published: September 1, 2006
Last Modified: September 1, 2006 at 09:32 AM
----
Federal agents swarmed legislative offices around the state Thursday,
executing search warrants in a coordinated series of raids that
appeared to:
---
target the long-standing relationship between "the oil field service
company, Veco" and leading lawmakers.
----
The FBI reported making no arrests.
*****************************************
Above Anchorage's Fourth Avenue,
FBI agents spent most of the afternoon behind the closed doors and
drawn blinds of the fifth-floor offices of:
---
Senate President, Ben Stevens and
***********************************
Senate Rules Committee Chairman,
John Cowdery,
****************
both Anchorage Republicans.
********************************
---
Through slits in the blinds, one agent in Stevens' office, wearing
rubber gloves, could be seen packing away evidence in a container.
---
In Juneau,
tourists and residents were greeted with the extraordinary sight of FBI
agents hauling out files from the Alaska State Capitol after searching
offices there.
---
After the FBI searched his "Wasilla office" and questioned him,
Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla,
********************************
the chairman of the
House Special Committee on Oil and Gas,
**********************************************
said "the investigation was focused on Veco."
---
"I fully cooperated and answered all their questions," Kohring said in
a written statement. "I was told that I am not a target of the
investigation and was asked not to discuss details of the interview."
---
On the 10th floor of the "Frontier Building" in Midtown Anchorage,
where Veco has its headquarters,
*************************************
the FBI commandeered the glass-sided conference room of "another
federal agency" that rents space there.
---
In the room,
"Veco president",
******************
Peter Leathard
****************
talked with agents from the "FBI" and "IRS."
**********************************************
---
The FBI agent could be seen referring frequently to paperwork in a
thick binder.
---
Leathard leaned back in a chair, his back to the wall.
---
Attorney, Brian Doherty joined Leathard,
*********************************************
first meeting with his client privately, then with the agents.
---
When they all emerged around 4:40 p.m., none would describe the
inquiry.
---
"At this point, we really don't know,"
Leathard said, smiling as he turned to walk away.
He and Doherty would not say more.
---
Other legislative offices known to have been searched Thursday included
those of:
--
Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and
Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, and
Sen. Donny Olson of Nome.
--
Kott, a former House speaker, and
Weyhrauch
are Republicans.
******************
Olson is the only Democrat in the group.
*********************************************
---
FBI spokesman. Eric Gonzalez
said federal agents executed about
"20 search warrants Thursday",
*********************************
not all in legislative offices.
******************************
---
The warrants were executed in:
Anchorage,
Juneau,
Wasilla,
Eagle River and
Girdwood, he said.
---
Gonzalez said:
---
he was not at liberty to:
*************************
"disclose the target of the investigation",
---
"how" or
---
"when"
it began, or
---
whether it was likely to result in "criminal charges".
---
"It's an "ongoing investigation" is all I can say," Gonzalez said.
---
No one would say:
"what was the target"
*******************
of the "Girdwood warrant."
**********************
---
Ben Stevens' father,
*******************
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens,
**************************
has a home and office there.
*******************************
Both were quiet and dark Tuesday afternoon.
---
A neighbor said she saw no unusual activity
at the Stevens home.
---
A postal clerk reported the same for
"Stevens' office", which
is "in the Girdwood post office."
---
A spokesman for "Ted Stevens" didn't return
**********************************************
several calls or
an e-mail
from a reporter.
----
Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai,
arrived at the legislative offices at
716 W. Fourth Ave. in Anchorage
shortly before noon for a
"Resources Committee meeting."
---
"The place was crawling with FBI,"
Wagoner said. When he tried to enter Cowdery's
office, an agent stopped him at the door,
Wagoner said.
---
Wagoner said a senior legislative aide who
was present when the warrant was served told him
---
"they were looking for files that
---
had to do with Veco" and
**********************
---
the "oil tax legislation"
************************
recently passed by lawmakers in special session.
**********************************************
---
Ray Metcalfe,
****************
a former legislator and
the founder of the
independent Republican Moderate Party,
said:
---
"he has been trying to "get the authorities"
interested in what he described as:
--
the "corrupt" relationship between Veco and
********************************************
the Republican-led Legislature,
--
principally Ben Stevens.
**************************
---
"I put "all the stuff" in front of
********************************
"federal prosecutors" a year and a half ago,"
**********************************************
Metcalfe said Thursday,
clearly relishing the turn of events.
---
"I laid "hundreds of pages" of
"detailed information "alleging bribery", and
***************************************
---
I distributed it to "federal authorities",
---
I distributed it to the "U.S. Attorney's office",
---
I distributed it to the (state attorney general's) Office of Special
Prosecutions, and
---
"we held a demonstration"
----
in front of the "attorney general's office" that hardly anyone showed
up for."
---
Metcalfe attempted to:
************************
"initiate a "recall campaign against Stevens",
**********************************************
but his effort "was rejected by":
Lt. Gov. Loren Leman on legal grounds.
**********************************************
---
After first announcing,
he'd "run for re-election" in November,
Stevens changed his mind in June and
********************************************
"opted to retire."
*****************
----
Ben Stevens
**************
didn't return calls placed to his home,
his personal office or
his legislative office.
--
Messages left at his attorney's office and
cell phone also weren't returned.
---
In disclosures he was required to file as a legislator,
---
Stevens said:
***************
he was paid $243,000 over the last five years
**********************************************
as a "consultant" to Veco.
****************************
---
Whenever he was asked to
"describe what he did for the money,"
"Stevens refused to answer."
**************************
---
The company also refused to say.
*******************************
----
Metcalfe has argued in his complaints that:
**********************************************
"the money amounted to a bribe" --
************************************
that "Stevens has done Veco's work"
on many fronts, including:
---
attempting to spend Alaska Permanent Fund earnings
for:
---
state government operations to "reduce the need for oil taxes" and
---
"pushing the industry's favored" gas pipeline proposal.
---
There was no indication that the investigators were looking into
bribery allegations.
---
Tamara Cook,
***************
a lawyer
who heads the
"nonpartisan legal services division"
of "the Legislature",
said Thursday evening that:
she reviewed a couple of the search warrants at the request of
legislators or aides upon whom they were served.
----
The "search warrants allowed the FBI" to:
---
"search computers" and
"office files"
"including financial records", she said.
---
The "warrants named Veco Corp".,
she said, but she could not say whether:
---
"Veco was a target" or
"whether the investigation concerned oil taxes",
---
its failed push to build a private prison in Alaska or something
else. "They were fairly broad," she said.
----
Staff members asked her whether they could open up locked legislative
offices. After reviewing the warrants and believing them valid,
---
Cook advised them to:
open offices either with a warrant or with a legislator's consent.
---
On the fifth floor of the Anchorage legislative building, reporters
lingered in the hallway but were ordered by federal agents and
legislative staff:
---
out of Stevens' and Cowdery's offices on the north side of the
building.
----
Through gaps in the blinds in:
Cowdery's office,
*******************
agents could be seen systematically going through each folder in a
large file cabinet, occasionally laying documents aside and taking
digital photographs of them before putting them back in place.
---
In Stevens' office,
*******************
an agent appeared drawn to something on the back of a framed picture
wrapped in protective plastic.
---
The documents included what appeared to be:
---
printouts of e-mails,
memos and
other correspondence.
----
Agents also took several photographs of various other items in
Cowdery's office.
---
Cowdery was interviewed by several agents in a conference room around
11:30 a.m. As the elderly legislator walked back to his office with the
assistance of a walker, reporters asked what he was questioned about.
"You ask them," he said.
---
Asked whether he was under investigation himself, he said, "I don't
think so."
---
Stevens was not in his office during the search, but his chief of
staff, Cheryl Sutton, and two other aides were.
---
They stood by as the agents searched the office and took photographs.
The aides left the office just after 6 p.m. and would not answer
questions.
---
Olson, a pilot,
***************
was flying hunters out of Nome Thursday when agents tried to serve
warrants at offices in Anchorage and Juneau. He later gave permission
for the searches, an aide said.
---
It was unclear how much evidence agents took out of the Anchorage
offices. When they packed up and left after 6 p.m., several appeared to
be carrying little more than the equipment they brought into the
building earlier in the day.
---
Earlier in the day, agents were seen carrying a small scanner-printer
among the offices that were searched. Through the day, agents came and
went. Many arrived wearing day packs and badges dangling from their
belts, while others wheeled large molded containers labeled for one
office or another.
---
Daily News reporter Richard Mauer can be reached at rma...@adn.com or
257-4345.
---
The following legislators' offices are known to have been searched
Thursday by federal agents.
---
• Sen. Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage
• Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage
• Sen. Donald Olson, D-Nome
• Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla
• Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau
• Rep. Pete Kott, R-Eagle River Legislators' offices searched
---
Procedure for obtaining a search warrant Federal law enforcement
agencies aren't saying anything about why they searched legislative
offices around the state Thursday.
---
State legislators, who are "immune"
from some "state investigations"
while the "Legislature is in session",
---
have "no special immunity" from a
"federal search warrant."
---
The normal procedure for getting permission to search anyone's home or
office includes:
---
• A law enforcement officer prepares an application for a search
warrant.
---
In high-profile cases like this one, the application is usually
reviewed by the Department of Justice.
---
• The application:
********************
"must specify" that:
*********************
more likely than not
a "specified crime" has been committed"
********************************************
and "offer facts" to demonstrate that",
*****************************************
---
more probably than not,
"evidence of the crime will be found"
in the place to be searched.
---
• The law enforcement officer presents the "application to a federal
magistrate"
in a "closed hearing",
***********************
including "affidavits signed by investigators",
---
"recounting the facts" and
"including a list of items" to be seized.
---
• A "copy of the search warrant":
must be "left at the place searched."
---
The person served with the warrant
may make it public if he wishes.
-- Anchorage Daily News
---
OPEN ABOVE URL TO OPEN BELOW LINKS:
*********
related
more
Investigators search through files in Senate Rules Committee Chairman
John Cowdery's Anchorage office Aug. 31, 2006. Photos by MARC LESTER /
Anchorage Daily News Click on photo to enlarge
-----
More Photos
----
Oil field company an active political contributor FBI raid photo
gallery
oil and gas links
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil & Gas Alaska Oil
& Gas Conservation Commission Alaska Support Industry Alliance
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
BP in Alaska
Conoco Phillips Alaska Inc.
Petroleum News
Senate hopeful blasts Stevens without realizing it FBI raids
legislative offices
‹ Oil field company an active political contributor ‹ FBI raid photo
gallery
Federal agents raid legislative offices
‹ Oil field company an active political contributor ‹ Aides say agents
looking for gifts, financial information ‹ VECO Web Site
Stevens' block on legislation exposed
Legislators huddle with oil executives
More government stories ›
---
© Copyright 2006, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The
McClatchy Company
quest...@webtv.net
CORRECT FOR THE PAST 16 YEARS, 11 OF WHICH WAS SPENT IN THE "MOST
CORRUPT STATE" IN THE NATION, I.E "ALASKA".
---
I KNEW THE CORRUPTION IN ALASKA WAS "WELL-KNOWN" AND "BLATANT",BY
ANYONE WHO HAD AN INTELLIGENCE LARGER THAN THEIR SHOE SIZE, AND IT
DIDN'T MATTER WHETHER THE STATE WAS UNDER THE CONTROL OF EITHER
DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR.
---
IF CORRECT, IT APPEARS THAT THESE "CORRUPT POLITICIANS AND THEIR GREEDY
CORPORATION PROSTITUTES" WERE SO PROUD OF RIPPING OFF THE ALASKAN AND
AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR SO MANY YEARS, THEY "STARTED THEIR OWN CLUB, I.E.
"THE CORRUPT BASTARDS CLUB", OF WHICH THEY ACTUALLY HAD "HATS MADE"
THAT STATED IT...AND ARE NOW INCLUDED IN THE FBI SEARCH WARRANTS.
--
NOTE: I JUST POSTED ANOTHER ADN ARTICLE IN WHICH THEY STATED:
--
(1) 20 SEARCH WARRANTS WERE ISSUED AND
(2) 7 LEGISLATORS WERE SERVED.
---
WHO RECEIVED THE OTHER 13 WARRANTS AND WHO WAS THE 7TH LEGISLATOR,
SINCE THEY ONLY LISTED 6???
IT IS OBVIOUS THAT MURKOWSKI IS BEING INVESTIGATED..WASN'T HE SEARCHED?
AND WHY CAN'T OR WON'T THE ADN GET COPIES OF THESE SEARCH WARRANTS AND
AFFIDAVITS AT THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT?
--
IT'S REALLY TOO BAD THAT THE ADN REPORTERS ARE SO INCOMPETENT IN THEIR
REPORTING, EVEN THOUGH THE OWNER F THE PAPER, "MCCLATCHEY (PH) IS HUGE
AND ALL OVER THE NATION.
---
HOWEVER, IT "DOES ACCOUNT FOR THE LACK OF GOVERNMENT WATCH DOG
REPORTING, OF WHICH OUR "U.S.A. FREE SPEECH NEWSPAPERS ARE SUPPOSED TO
DOING FOR US, THE CITIZENS.
---
IN ALASKA, THE NEWSPAPERS "NEVER DO THEIR OWN INVESTIGATING REPORTING,
THEY APPARENTLY "HAVE TO WAIT" UNTIL SOMEONE LIKE THE F.B.I. COMES IN
TO DO IT THEN THEY HANG ON THEM LIKE DOGS SNIFFING FOR BONES, TO GET A
STORY THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN "ALL ABOUT" YEARS AGO AND SAID NOTHING.
------
Subject:9-01-06: FBI looks for hats in probe
----
http://www.adn.com/news/government/story/8144643p-8038526c.html
>
----
TEXT COPY: 9-01-06
----
Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's Newspaper Last Update: September 1, 2006
12:29 PM
---
FBI looks for hats in probe
*****************************
By MATT VOLZ
The Associated Press
Published: September 1, 2006
Last Modified: September 1, 2006 at 12:46 PM
----
JUNEAU - Among the items federal agents were searching for in Alaska
legislative offices this week are:
---
hats or garments labeled:
*************************
"Corrupt Bastards Club" or
"Corrupt Bastards Caucus,"
according to the search warrant.
************************************
---
"FBI" and "Internal Revenue Service"
agents raided a half-dozen state lawmakers' offices across Alaska
Thursday and:
---
"continuing Friday",
looking for ties between them and
oil field services giant VECO Corp.
---
A copy of "one" of the search warrants, obtained by The Associated
Press,
----
links the investigation to:
***************************
the "new production tax law"
********************************
signed last month by Gov. Frank Murkowski
**********************************************
and
--
"the natural gas pipeline draft contract"
*******************************************
---
"Murkowski" and
**************
the "state's 3 largest oil companies negotiated."
**********************************************
---
Among "the items to be seized",
**********************************
according to the warrant,
"from the period of October 2005 to the present,
**********************************************
---
any and "all documents":
concerning,
reflecting or
relating to:
---
"proposed legislation"
in the state of Alaska involving either:
---
(A) the creation of a natural gas pipeline or
--
(B) the petroleum production tax."
---
VECO and its chairman, Bill Allen,
**************************************
were "staunch supporters" of:
--
"the governor's production tax plan",
****************************************
---
a version of which the Legislature passed in August after twice
rejecting it earlier this year.
---
Lawmakers have also twice failed to pass legislation related to:
--
"the governor's pipeline fiscal contract" with:
**********************************************
BP PLC,
ConocoPhillips and
Exxon Mobil Corp.
---
"VECO's executives are:
***************************
(1) top contributors to Alaska politicians,
---
(2) mostly Republican.
---
Allen flew to Juneau at the end of the
regular session to "lobby lawmakers" and
"watch the vote" on the new production tax.
---
The warrant calls for:
seizure of documents
**************************
"concerning, reflecting or relating to:
---
"any payment" to lawmakers by VECO
*******************************************
executives Allen and Richard Smith.
*****************************************
---
Agents also looked for "documents about":
**********************************************
(1) contracts,
(2) agreements or
(3) employment of legislators
********************************
provided by:
VECO,
Allen,
Smith and
company president, Peter Leathard.
---
In the warrant served on:
"state Sen. Donald Olson, D-Nome",
***************************************
agents were also authorized to:
---
(1) seize any documents related:
---
(A) to fuel payments,
(B) landing strip fees,
(C) storage fees and
(D) similar aircraft costs.
---
Olson owns a flying service.
********************************
Olson was in Nome Friday.
---
His office released a brief statement in which Olson pledged to
cooperate with authorities.
---
"I am certain that I will not be a target of this investigation and
that I have broken no laws,"
the senator said in the prepared release.
----
A "specific item" named in the search for seizure:
*************************************************
---
"Any physical garments (including hats)
bearing any of the following logos or phrases:
----
(1) 'CBC,'
*********
(2) 'Corrupt Bastards Club,'
****************************
(3) 'Corrupt Bastards Caucus,'
******************************
(4) 'VECO.'"
----
Besides VECO and its executives,
"agents were authorized to seize"
"any documents related to":
---
(5) The Petroleum Club,
***************************
(6) Republican pollster, David Dittman or his company, Dittman Research
and
--
(7) Communication Corp.,
pollster Marc Hellenthal or his company, Hellenthal and Associates,
---
(8) Roger Chan,
VECO's chief financial officer, and
---
(9) Olson Air Service,
---
according to the warrant.
----
VECO officials and Dittman, who was duck hunting, did not immediately
return calls Friday.
---
"We have a history of contract work with VECO," Hellenthal said Friday.
---
"There's a ton of businesses"
that have a "political interest",
that want to know
"how the people they are backing are doing."
**********************************************
----
Hellenthal said once or twice a year,
his "firm conducts polls for VECO" and
"other businesses" on:
---
governors' and legislative races.
***********************************
---
The exception was this year,
when he was polling for Republican candidate John Binkley. ---
Binkley came in second to Sarah Palin for the GOP nomination on Aug.
22.
----
Hellenthal said he has not been contacted by federal agents.
--
A "receipt of items seized from Olson's office" by the FBI and obtained
by The Associated Press lists five things:
******************************************************
(1) Olson's 2006 year planner,
---
(2) Murkowski's gas pipeline proposal released in May,
---
(3) a manila folder labeled "APOC,"
the Alaska Public Offices Commission,
---
(4) Olson's interim travel file and
--
(5) a binder related to the Alaska Stranded Gas Fiscal contract.
---
"Department of Justice",
spokeswoman Jaclyn Lesch said Friday"
---
the searches began Thursday and are continuing Friday.
----
FBI:
spokesman,
Eric Gonzalez said:
a total of about 20 search warrants were being executed across Alaska,
but would not say where.
---
"Those actions took place "yesterday"
in cities in Alaska as part of an ongoing law enforcement matter. The
(Justice Department) and FBI won't be able to comment any further,"
Lesch said.
---
No further comment is likely to come from the
**********************************************
Justice Department "unless" charges are filed,
**********************************************
she said.
---
Among the offices searched was that of:
--
(1) Republican Senate President Ben Stevens, the son of the senior
senator from Alaska.
---
Ted Stevens' spokesman Aaron Saunders on Friday said they had no
comment on the search.
---
Ben Stevens could not be reached at his Anchorage home on Friday.
---
(2) Also searched were offices in both Juneau and Anchorage belonging
to:
state Sen. John Cowdery,
the Senate Rules chairman;
---
(3) Republican state Rep. Vic Kohring;
---
(4) Republican state Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch; and
--
(5) Republican state Rep. Pete Kott.
---
(6) Olson is the only Democrat of the six; the rest are Republicans.
---
Calls to Weyhrauch and Kott were not immediately returned Friday.
---
Kohring said he cooperated and was told he was not a target of the
investigation.
---
Cowdery, a Republican from Anchorage, said Friday he didn't know why he
was included in the raid or why agents seized items "unrelated to
anything," including the stubs of his legislative salary checks.
---
Cowdery said he has not retained an attorney to deal with the matter,
but probably will.
---
It's pretty bizarre," he said. "That's all I know, it's pretty bizarre.
I certainly haven't done anything wrong."
---
Daily News reporter Lisa Demer contributed to this story. E-mail her at
lde...@adn.com
---
Photo by MICHAEL PENN / Juneau Empire
Click on photo to enlarge
FBI Special Agent Wade Dudley removes boxes from the office of Senate
President Ben Stevens, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006, at the state Capitol in
Juneau, Alaska. Federal agents raided the offices of:
---
"at least seven lawmakers" Thursday
as search warrants were executed in Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle
River and Girdwood, according to FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez.
---
More Photos
FBI raids legislative offices
VECO an active political contributor
FBI raid photo gallery
Senate hopeful blasts Stevens without realizing it FBI looks for hats
in probe
‹ FBI raids legislative offices
‹ VECO an active political contributor
‹ FBI raid photo gallery
Federal agents raid legislative offices
‹ Oil field company an active political contributor ‹ Aides say agents
looking for gifts, financial information ‹ VECO Web Site
Stevens' block on legislation exposed
Legislators huddle with oil executives
More government stories ›
---
© Copyright 2006, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The
McClatchy Company
----
P.S. I HAD JUST POSTED THAT I WAS NO LONGER GOING TO MAKE ANY MORE
POSTS ABOUT ALASKA AND ASKED FOR ONE OF THE ACA ALASKANS TAKE UP THIS
POSTING SO AS TO BE OF "GREAT BENEFIT TO ALL ALASKANS WHO READ THIS
GROUP". THEN...AS YOU CAN SEE, 4 OF THE GUYS WHO READ & POST IN ACA,
MAKE JUVENILE REMARKS "ABOUT THIS FBI ACTIVITY, YET NONE GAVE A DAMN TO
COPY THE URL TO THE ADN ARTICLES, MUCH LESS COPY AND PASTE THE ARTICLE
SO OTHERS COULD EASILY READ IT.
--
THIS IS THE "HEIGHT OF STUPIDITY, LAZINESS, AND JUVENILE BEHAVIOR OF
THE ALASKANS IN THIS GROUP, AND JUST A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF
PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN ALASKA, WHICH EXPLAINS "WHY" THE BLATANT CORRUPTION
IS SO RAMPANT...NO ONE GIVES A DAMN, THUS "CBC" HATS.-THIS HISTORICAL
STORY ABOUT ALASKA HAS NOT YET BEEN WRITTEN, BUT I AM WORKING ON IT.
quest...@webtv.net
POLITICIANS", BUT WHAT IS NEW..EVER SINCE THE OIL/GAS STARTED FLOWING
OUT OF ALASKA, THE 3 MONTH ONLY ALASKA POLITICIANS, DID LITTLE MORE
THAN PASS LAWS FAVORABLE TO BUSINESSES/CORPS IN ALASKA "FOR A PRICE".
NOTHING HAS CHANGED AND IT IS NO WONDER THAT U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE IS
DOING AN INVESTIGATION "INTO MURKY, THE AK. LEGISLATORS, AND OIL
PRODUCERS AND SERVERS (VECO).
---
ALASKANS, OF COURSE, WERE AGAIN CLUELESS ABOUT ALL OF IT.
--
IF ALASKANS WOULD "DEMAND AT LEAST 8 MONTHS OF SERVICE FROM THEIR
LEGISLATORS, INSTEAD OF 3, YOU WOULD GET PEOPLE WHO ARE "MORE DEDICATED
TO PUBLIC SERVICE" AND GOD ONLY KNOWS THESE GREEDY AND CORRUPT BASTARDS
AND BASTARDETTES SHOULD START "WORKING FOR ALASKANS" AND EXPLAIN "WHERE
MORE THAN $6 BILLION DOLLARS IS BEING SPENT WHEN THERE ARE ONLY 650,000
PEOPLE IN THE STATE, WHO CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY A HOUSE OR HAVE MEDICAL
TREATMENT...BECAUSE THEY CAN ONLY GET TOURIST-RELATED, LOW-PAYING JOBS.
--
NOTE: DO THE MATH AND TELL ME "HOW DO THEY GET A
$2 BILLION INCREASE IN OIL TAXES FOR THIS YEAR?
------
Subject:OIL CORP'S "TAX DEAL" SIGNED BY MURKY-8-26-06
---
http://alaskajournal.com/stories/082606/hom_20060826007.shtml
>
-----
TEXT COPY: 8-26-06
---
Web posted Saturday, August 26, 2006
---
Governor's signature makes oil tax a done deal
**********************************************
New tax is retroactive to April 1,
will not give full investment credit for maintenance
---
By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce
---
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski signed:
---
the "state's new oil and gas
"production tax" into law Aug. 19,
*************************************
---
"hiking taxes on the industry from:
*************************************
$1.4 billion to $1.6 billion per year,
**************************************
depending on oil prices.
***************************
---
The new tax law, which is:
"retroactive to April 1",
--
also contains a "progressivity formula" that
raises the tax rate as crude oil prices rise.
**********************************************
---
Despite "the loss of production"
from a partial shutdown of the large Prudhoe Bay field, Murkowski said:
---
Alaska will enjoy a $2 billion revenue "surplus"
**********************************************
next year thanks mainly to the new tax.
********************************************
---
Although the new law:
--
"increases the oil industry's taxes",
---
a "new investment tax credit"
---
is expected to encourage new spending by producers and explorers,
Alaska officials said.
---
"We expect to see significantly increased investment in oil and gas
exploration and development resulting from this change.
---
"This investment" is:
"crucial to the future of oil production"
on the North Slope,"
the governor said in a Aug. 19 press conference.
---
The new law:
**************
"shifts Alaska's "production tax system" from"
**********************************************
a "tax" on "gross revenues" at the "wellhead":
---
to a "tax" on "net revenues",
******************************
"allowing deductions" for:
*****************************
(1) operating and
(2) capital costs, with
(3) an "additional investment tax credit"
*****************************************
that allows a dollar-for-dollar credit for "up to 20 percent" of
capital investments.
---
In reaction to problems with North Slope oil transit pipeline
maintenance, however,
state legislators inserted a clause disallowing
**********************************************
the equivalent of 30 cents per barrel of
*********************************************
"investment tax credit",
*************************
---
arguing that:
"producers should be spending this amount anyway on maintaining aging
infrastructure.
---
The "overall investment tax credit"
should be aimed at:
---
"stimulating investment in new production",
*****************************************
---
not used for "spending on infrastructure"
****************************************
the producers should be maintaining anyway,
lawmakers felt.
---
Oil producers will pay 22.5% tax
************************************
on "net production revenues"
*******************************
with the progressivity formula
"hiking the tax rate at 0.25%
********************************
for every dollar
****************
"crude oil prices rise"
above $40 per barrel.
*************************
---
At "current oil prices".... North Slope producers will actually "pay
about 26% on "net revenues",
**********************************************
said a representative from one of the producers.
---
In a transition provision,
"the state will allow producers" to:
---
pay under the current tax system until January
**********************************************
and then calculate what
is due the state under the new tax back to April 2006.
*******************************************
---
"Payment on the 2006 tax due"
should be made in March,
state tax director Robynn Wilson said.
---
Murkowski pushed for the "new tax"
"as part of an agreement" with
---
North Slope producers on "a gas pipeline", and
**********************************************
---
because "he wanted to replace the former tax"
--
because of an "incentive formula" that had
--
"become obsolete" under the:
current producing environment on the North
**********************************************
Slope.
*******
The "producers agreed earlier this year"
to "support a plan by the governor" for:
--
a 20% net profits tax
************************
as part of the pipeline deal.
---
Murkowski's chief of staff, Jim Clark said:
---
he doesn't expect the new tax to unravel the pipeline deal.
---
The "state and producers" are
now renegotiating parts of the contract,
**************************************
Clark said, and
discussions on the new tax will be part of that.
**********************************************
---
"They'll recognize that "the tax is higher" than they agreed to, and
they'll want something for that in the
*****************************************
negotiations,"
*************
Clark said.
---
Democrats in the Legislature "criticized" the
"new tax as being too generous to industry.
**********************************************
Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said:
****************
"he objected to deductions and credits"
in the "new net revenues tax" that:
---
will "require the state to pay" for:
************************************
"part of BP's costs" related to the recent
*********************************************
Prudhoe field shutdown.
**************************
---
Gara and other Democrats had proposed an "explicit disallowance" of the
"investment tax credit"
for those costs to BP, but:
---
they were outvoted on an amendment
by the Republican-led majority.
****************************
----
Another objection to the new tax is that:
---
it "will require aggressive auditing" of:
---
operations and
capital costs, and
create opportunities for producers to
employ tax-avoidance measures.
**************************************
---
"If Enron can cook its books,
you know Exxon and BP can too,"
Rep. Harry Crawford,
a Democrat
from Anchorage,
said in a press release Aug. 19.
---
Tim Bradner can be reached at
tim.b...@alaskajournal.com.
---
© 2004 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
quest...@webtv.net
HEAR ANYTHING EXCEPT "VECO" AND $45,000 WAS RETURNED..THIS IS THE
AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT VECO GAVE...
(DRUM ROLL)---LISA MURKOWSKI. I'M SURE THE WHOLE THING WILL BE IN THE
NEWS TOMORROW.
--
THIS ARTICLE IS LONG AND AT THE END ARE LINKS TO MUCH MORE BACKGROUND.
INTERESTING THAT THE SLIME BALL, SENATOR,ROBIN TAYLOR HAS NOW BEEN
ADDED. HE PULLED A REAL FRAUD ON THE PEOPLE AT HYDER, VIA A WEALTHY GUY
IN HYDER, USING THE "PEOPLE'S PETITION" FOR SOMETHING ELSE, WHICH WAS
USED BY TAYLOR AS A PETITION TO "REQUEST A PORT BE BUILT IN HYDER
INSTEAD". I WORKED IN HYDER FOR A SHORT TIME AND WHEN I RETURNED TO
KETCHIKAN I DID SOME INVESTIGATION ON THIS FOR THE HYDER FOLKS AND SENT
IT BACK TO THEM. DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DID WITH IT.
---
THIS INVESTIGATION IS "GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAATTTT.
MAYBE THEY CAN THROW AT LEAST HALF OF THESE CORRUPT POLITICIANS IN
PRISON.
---
AS A SIDE NOTE...OUR DEAR ACA POSTER, TIM SMITH, WHO
IS A "PILOT, LIVING IN NOME, HAS APPARENTLY BEEN TO
BUSY TO POST RECENTLY...HMMMM
---
I WONDER IF TIM IS "INVOLVED WITH THE NOME LEGISLATOR"
WHO OWNS A FLIGHT SERVICE IN NOME--BUT BUT,,,HE IS A DEMOCRAT AND TIM
IS A REPUBLICAN?? WHAT ARE THE
CHANCES? &;D
------
Subject:FBI's searches target Veco ties-9-05-06
---
http://www.adn.com/news/government/veco/story/8149379p-8041116c.html
>
------
TEXT COPY: 9-05-06
--
FBI's searches target Veco ties
---
INVESTIGATION WIDENS: One warrant makes it clear that agents are
looking into financial relationships.
---
By LISA DEMER and DON HUNTER
Anchorage Daily News
Published: September 2, 2006
Last Modified: September 5, 2006 at 04:46 PM
----
Federal agents searched homes and businesses and interviewed CIRI
executives and a political pollster Friday as they broadened their
investigation into possible corruption involving Alaska lawmakers and
the oil field services contractor Veco.
----
The FBI executed three more search warrants in Anchorage and one in
Willow, bringing the total count to about two dozen searches in two
days, said FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez.
----
While the FBI won't say what the investigation is about, one of the
search warrants in the case makes it clear that agents are looking into
financial ties between Veco and legislators, and that they are seeking
evidence of all kinds, even hats or other garments mockingly labeled
"Corrupt Bastards Club," "Corrupt Bastards Caucus," or just "CBC."
----
Agents are looking at whether Veco's top executives, including CEO Bill
J. Allen and vice president Richard Smith, have given "any thing of
value" to any public official, according to the search warrant.
-----
They also want documents related to the proposed natural gas pipeline
and the petroleum production tax signed into law last month.
----
"They are "after people paying for votes" during the recent oil and gas
special sessions. I think that was fairly transparent," said political
pollster Marc Hellenthal, who said he was interviewed Friday afternoon
by two FBI agents from Sacramento, Calif.
----
Agents also told him what they are looking for "goes back longer than
that."
----
The FBI has brought in "agents from around the country"
*****************************************************
for the investigation.
***********************
----
The Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies also are
involved, Gonzalez said.
---
Veco has denied any wrongdoing and says it will cooperate with
authorities. No one has been charged or arrested.
---
The investigation has stretched to past legislators,
**************************************************
including former Sen. Robin Taylor, R-Wrangell,
who was interviewed Thursday by FBI agents.
----
Taylor is now a deputy commissioner in the
state Department of Transportation.
---
"They interviewed him about his past as a lawmaker and his dealings
with Veco,"
said Will Vandergriff,
deputy press security for Gov. Frank Murkowski.
---
"He said they are just expanding their net."
--
Taylor, a lawyer,
*******************
reported receiving $16,800 from Veco in 2002 and
---
$19,300 in 2001 for legal work done while he was a state senator.
----
Taylor maintains all arrangements were proper and disclosed,
Vandergriff said.
---
The governor had nothing to say about the investigation Friday. "What
statement could he have? We don't know anything," said Jim Clark,
Murkowski's chief of staff.
----
Federal agents also want to know about any political polling contracted
for by Veco, Hellenthal said.
----
Hellenthal said the FBI agents did not have a search warrant for his
business but that he willingly talked to them and told them he hadn't
done much Veco polling lately because he worked for John Binkley during
the Republican primary contest for governor, and Veco supported
Murkowski.
----
Agents also executed a search warrant and spent about three hours
Friday afternoon copying computer hard drives at the office of Dittman
Research and Communications Corp., said:
------
Terry Dittman,
the firm's research director and
wife of Dave Dittman,
who was duck hunting with his sons and didn't know about all the
commotion.
----
Both Hellenthal and Terry Dittman said they were told their firms
aren't under investigation.
----
Agents with the FBI and IRS also met with the president and two other
executives of Cook Inlet Region Inc. on Friday afternoon.
---
Barbara Donatelli,
CIRI's senior vice president for
administration and government relations,
----
said the interview "was related to some of the investigation that is
currently under way," but that the agents told CIRI president Margie
Brown that the regional Native corporation is not a target of the
probe.
---
"They were trying to collect information," Donatelli said. "We are
going to cooperate with them and any information we can supply, we
will."
----
Donatelli said the agents did not bring search warrants or subpoenas.
She would not discuss what the agents wanted to know.
---
As to the "Corrupt Bastards Club," the reference first sprouted in a
barroom joke, according to state Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski.
----
It happened earlier this year, after an opinion column highlighting
Veco contributions to 11 lawmakers and Gov. Murkowski appeared in the
Daily News and other newspapers. ---
"I can't remember (who), somebody came up and said, 'Well, you corrupt
bastards,' more as a joke. That's where that came from. There is no
group," he said. "Somebody thought it humorous enough to have CBC put
on some hats."
----
Chenault, who was one of the 11, said he was questioned by federal
agents Friday, but that they didn't serve him with a search warrant.
---
"They had a myriad of questions to ask, some I don't want to go into,"
he said. "Basically, they were asking if I'd heard things or seen
things that may not be ethical or legal. I explained I wasn't aware of
any."
----
The federal investigation is stressful, he said. "Your mind raises 50
different things about what they might be looking for. ... You think
you've done everything right, but then (you think), 'God, did I smart
off sometime and say something that someone insinuates I'm on the
take?'
----
Attorney Amy Menard, who represents Veco Corp. and a subsidiary, Veco
Alaska, said Friday that company officials had received a copy of a
search warrant the day before, but that it was not immediately
executed.
----
"It is several pages long and extremely broad in nature and we are
still trying to get a broader understanding" of what the authorities
are after, she said, adding that she expected to meet with officials in
the U.S. Attorney's Office.
----
Veco wants to assist federal investigators, she said. "Obviously, we're
in a fact-gathering stage and Veco Corp. and Veco Alaska is here to
assist the government to the extent we can," Menard said. "If we're in
a position to provide information they're looking for, we intend to do
that."
---
For well over a decade, Veco has produced a steady and strong river of
campaign contributions to candidates and political committees both in
Alaska and nationally.
---
In 2004, the company's executives, employees and family members donated
more than $217,000 to
---
26 federal candidates or groups,
ranging from $45,250 for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
************************************************
to $400 to the Republican National Committee.
----
In state elections that year, Veco's top three contributors alone gave
more than $122,000 to the Alaska Republican Party and state House and
Senate candidates.
---
Veco executives also are known for prowling the Capitol halls and even
passing notes to lawmakers on the floor to influence votes.
---
Offices of six lawmakers were searched Thursday, when FBI agents
conducted raids in Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle River and
Girdwood.
---
According to the search warrant released by Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome
and one of those whose office was searched, the FBI is looking for:
**********************
• "Any and all documents concerning, reflecting, or relating to any
payment by Bill J. Allen, Richard Smith, and/or Veco to, or for the
benefit of, any political candidate, political campaign, or political
action committee."
---
• Any documents concerning "any contracts, agreements, or employment"
that involves Allen, Smith, or Veco president Peter Leathard.
---
• Any documents relating to ethics standards and regulations for
legislators "including any materials relating to limits on outside
employment, limits on acceptance of things of value, and reporting
requirements."
---
In addition to information about Allen, Smith and Leathard, the warrant
served on Olson seeks documents concerning Veco chief financial officer
Roger Chan, Olson's Nome-based air taxi company, and the Petroleum
Club, an Anchorage private club.
---
The warrant allows agents to search computers and seize all kinds of
documents, including bank records, credit card receipts, loan
documents, telephone records, travel records, expense reports, meeting
notes, letters and calendars.
---
In Olson's office, the FBI seized his 2006 year planner, Murkowski's
natural gas pipeline proposal released in May, a manila folder with
financial reports to the Alaska Public Offices Commission, Olson's
interim travel file and a binder related to the Alaska Stranded Gas
Fiscal contract, a legislative aide said.
---
Olson issued a statement saying that he's not a target of the
investigation and that he's cooperating. "I have broken no laws," he
said.
---
The FBI also searched the offices of two powerful leaders from
Anchorage:
---
Senate President Ben Stevens and
Senate Rules Committee Chairman John Cowdery, who told reporters he
didn't think he was under investigation.
---
And agents searched offices of:
******************************
Rep. Pete Kott, a former House speaker from Eagle River who chairs the
Legislative Council;
---
Rep. Vic Kohring of Wasilla, who chairs the House Committee on Oil and
Gas, and
---
Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, who chairs the House Ways and Means
Committee.
---
Five of the legislators are Republicans; Olson is a Democrat.
---
Kohring issued a statement saying he is cooperating and not a target.
----
Terry Harvey, a Weyhrauch legislative aide, said "My own take is that
he's as puzzled as everyone." Harvey said agents took his own Rolodex
but he declined to say what else was seized from Weyhrauch's office.
---
Numerous attempts to reach Kott and Stevens were unsuccessful.
---
Stevens, the son of Alaska's powerful U.S. senator Ted Stevens, has
said in required disclosure forms that he was paid $243,000 over the
last five years as a consultant to Veco.
---
Neither he nor the company has explained what he did for the money.
---
House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, said the investigation is
frustrating because it has burst into a public firestorm and agents
aren't disclosing much about what evidence they may have or be looking
for.
---
"If the feds have some kind of evidence they should come forward with
it," he said. "What happens is, the media grabs it and you're guilty
unless proven innocent."
---
"If somebody did something that's illegal, that's one thing," he said.
"But all of a sudden it's on the front page ... and for what?"
---
Democrats say the investigation points to what's wrong with the
Legislature and the powerful influence of special interests.
---
"What I've seen is just a culture of corruption,"
**********************************************
said Eric Croft, D-Anchorage.
---
"Lobbyists writing bills.
---
Special interests, not only funding campaigns, which unfortunately I've
gotten kind of used to, but "hiring legislators as consultants."
---
A line between a consultant who does not do any work and a bribe is
hard to define."
---
Republicans have been disturbed, too. During the second special
session, Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, got up on the floor to condemn
the kind of coziness with lobbyists he'd just seen in the hallway on a
bathroom break.
He called it "putrid."
*********************
---
In an interview Friday, he said the incident involved: an oil industry
lobbyist
*************************
-- not from Veco -- and
----
a member of the Murkowski administration.
**********************************************
---
He said:
a "group of industry lobbyists" and
********************************
"administration officials"
**************************
had been sitting in the Republican majority's private caucus room
watching the House floor proceedings on a big-screen TV.
---
There was something in the way the unnamed officials interacted that
set Ramras off, he said -- a "gleefulness," a "coziness."
---
"It was just too much familiarity," he said.
---
Daily News reporters Richard Richtmyer and Tom Kizzia contributed to
this story.
---
Daily News reporter Lisa Demer can be reached at lde...@adn.com and
257-4390.
--
Don Hunter can be reached at dhu...@adn.com and 257-4349. ----
Warrant seeks information from Veco officials Veco officials named:
• Bill Allen, chief executive officer
• Peter Leathard, president
• Roger Chan, executive vice president and chief financial officer •
Richard Smith, vice president
Veco investigation at a glance
---
• Thursday morning: Federal agents begin serving 20 search warrants in
Juneau, Anchorage, Wasilla, Eagle River and Girdwood, including in the
State Capitol and the legislative offices in Anchorage.
---
The offices of six Alaska state legislators are raided, with warrants
seeking materials showing contact with executives from the oil field
services firm Veco and documents concerning proposed natural gas
pipeline and petroleum production tax.
---
• Thursday afternoon: With agents continuing to gather documents in
legislative offices, agents from the FBI and IRS interview Veco
President Pete Leathard and a company attorney at the company's Midtown
offices. Boxes of materials are seized from lawmakers' offices.
---
• Friday: Agents serve more search warrants in Anchorage and Willow,
and interview current and former legislators and others.
---
Photo by MICHAEL PENN / Juneau Empire via The Associated Press Click on
photo to enlarge
----
FBI Special Agent Wade Dudley removes boxes from the office of Senate
---
(OPEN ABOVE URL TO OPEN THESE LINKS
----
Federal agents raided the offices of at least six Alaska lawmakers in
an investigation of Veco, an oil field services company, officials
said.
---
>From barroom joke to federal warrants
---
Follow money to governor's gas deal
---
1984 ADN series on VECO
---
Special session on gas line appears unlikely
---
BACKGROUND COVERAGE
******************
Original 'CBC' column: Follow money to governor's gas deal (03/03/2006)
---
1984 series on Veco fundraising
VECO ONLINE
VECO Web Site
---
FBI's searches target Veco ties
‹ From barroom joke to federal warrants
‹ Follow money to governor's gas deal
‹ From barroom joke to federal warrants
‹ Original 'CBC' column: Follow money to governor's gas deal (03-03-06)
---
Special session on gas line appears unlikely Federal agents raid
legislative offices
‹ VECO Web Site
---
Complaint about consulting work of Ben Stevens dismissed
---
Consulting work pays off for some state legislators;
---
More veco stories ›
----
quest...@webtv.net
NOTE: THERE IS "NO MENTION MADE OF HOW MUCH MONEY
FORMER GOVERNOR, AND NOW CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR,
TONY KNOWLES WAS "GIVEN" FROM VECO & OIL CORPS.
---
Subject:Follow money to governor's gas deal-9-02-06
---
http://www.adn.com/news/government/veco/story/8149379p-8042343c.html
>
----
TEXT COPY:-9-02-06
---
Follow money to governor's gas deal
COMPASS: Points of view from the community
*****************************************
By LORI BACKES
---
Published: September 2, 2006
Last Modified: September 5, 2006 at 04:46 PM
----
the Anchorage Daily News March 03, 2006.
***************************************
---
It is being credited as the article that
launched the name of the 'Corrupt Bastards Club.'
---
After watching the legislative hearings on:
Gov. Frank Murkowski's bill that would:
---
"completely restructure our oil and gas taxing system",
*****************************************************
I am baffled that "certain legislators are arguing"
that "we must pass this as is, right now",
without amendment, or
risk scuttling "the governor's gas line deal."
---
As the Legislature conducts:
an "unprecedentedly aggressive"
schedule of hearings on this legislation,
---
Rep. Norman Rokeberg called the contention that:
********************
the "oil industry exercises undue influence"
over Alaska politics a "myth."
*****************************
---
Is it?
*****
According to APOC reports,
the most prolific and consistent "investor"
in Alaska politics is the oil industry.
**************************************
---
The employees of VECO Corp. stand out as the largest contributing
block.
---
Between 1998 and 2004,
*********************
reports show that VECO employees and
*******************************
their family members
********************
contributed no less than $914,929 to Alaska
**********************************************
political campaigns.
*********************
---
The following totals represent the
amount of "donations received from only the
"top seven VECO executives":
*******************************
Senate Rules Committee Chair,
John Cowdery:
***********
$24,550.
-----
Rep. Pete Kott,
**************
former speaker of the House:
$21,300.
---
House Rules Committee Chair
Norman Rokeberg:
***************
$18,000.
---
House Oil and Gas Committee Chair
Vic Kohring:
***********
$14,708.
----
Gov. Murkowski:
**************
$6,500
(not including
**************
donations to his U.S. Senate races).
----
House Finance Committee Co-Chair
Kevin Meyer:
**********
$12,300.
---
House Finance Committee Co-Chair
Mike Chenault:
************
$12,000.
---
House Judiciary Committee Chair
Lesil McGuire:
*************
$12,000.
---
Senate Labor and Commerce Committee Chair
Con Bunde:
********
$11,500.
----
Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair
Lyda Green:
*********
9,000.
---
Rep. Mike Hawker:
****************
$8,050.
----
House Labor and Commerce Chair
Tom Anderson:
************
$8,000.
----
One should note that these totals
"do not include"
***************
Senate President Ben Stevens'
****************************
"consulting" contract with VECO;
---
Rep. Meyer's salary and benefits
*******************************
from Conoco Phillips; or
---
the salary, retirement and stock options to
the Rep. Hawker household from Conoco Phillips.
*********************************************
---
Also, Rep. Hawker was apprised of:
*********************************
"confidential gas line contract negotiation"
information:
---
"while under contract to ASCG Inc.,"
*********************************
a subsidiary of NANA Development Corp.,
which "has contracts for oil field services"
with VECO and BP.
------------------------
This is not intended to pick on any particular legislator. ---
Many Alaskans make their living off the oil industry, and many
individuals and organizations donate to political campaigns.
---
But it does show how much VECO and the producers are willing to invest
in our state government.
---
Have these financial linkages and political investments afforded "undue
influence" over Alaska's political players and process?
---
Perhaps not, but certain actions might suggest otherwise.
---
Consistently, Rep. Kohring:
**************************
has "patently refused" to move any legislation
that might result in:
increased state revenue from the oil industry.
*********************************************
---
Sen. Ben Stevens has already stated publicly that:
***************
he supports the change in oil and gas tax as introduced, "despite
testimony from experts" that
it is filled with potentially disastrous flaws.
***********************************************
----
Most disconcerting though, is the fact that our governor,
---
with the approval of "his attorney general",
******************************************
---
"former VECO attorney, David Marquez,
************************************
---
ignored all other competing gas line proposals
**********************************************
while negotiating a secret sole-source "deal"
**********************************************
with the producers.
*********************
---
This is the same David Marquez who in 2002 "testified on VECO's behalf"
that the Legislature "should grant all"
*****************************************
the incentives and tax exemptions available
**********************************************
under the Stranded Gas Act,
*******************************
"without negotiation."
*********************
---
He failed to convince the Legislature then, but it seems he has had
more success with this governor.
---
So, how much would you be willing to invest to have government work on
behalf of your business interests?
---
A lot, I bet, if you could afford it. In fact, you might even be
interested in contracting daily "editorial space" as VECO has, in the
largest newspaper in the state to pooh-pooh the public concerns and
vilify all others who suggest the state could do better on behalf of
Alaskans.
---
This is a perfect opportunity for our legislators to take a strong
stand on behalf of our future.
---
Campaign contributions and consulting contracts don't guarantee
loyalty, but do they influence?
Of course they do.
---
I urge you to watch closely the actions of the people elected to
represent you while asking the question:
---
Who or what is influencing their decisions?
---
If you aren't convinced they are loyal only to Alaskans and their oath
to the constitution, be prepared to replace them with someone who is.
---
Lori Backes is the executive director of the:
"All Alaska Alliance",
a nonprofit organization
that supports the all-Alaska gas line project.
pog...@webtv.net
STARTS AT 12:46 A.M. PST. I THINK THAT 11:46PM IN ALASKA.
---
ALSO KEEP THIS URL SINCE THEY USUALLY REPEAT THESE HEARINGS OVER THE
WEEKEND.
---
Subject:C-SPAN-CONGRESSIONAL HRG ON B.P. & PIPELINE SPILLS---HELD
TODAY---9-07-06-
---
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp
pog...@webtv.net
----
THIS HEARING WAS HELD SOMETIME EARLIER TODAY, BUT NOT SHOWN DUE TO THE
SENATE AND HOUSE "REGULAR HEARINGS", SO
IT IS BEING PLAYED TONIGHT.
---
I JUST CHECKED THE ABOVE URL TO MAKE SURE IT WORKED AND SEE THAT THE
TIME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 3:51 AM (EST) OR
12:51 PST OR..I THINK IT IS 11:51 PM TONIGHT AND...
--
ALSO....IT'S ON C-SPAN 2:
************************
THEY HAVE ANOTHER WITNESS LISTED.
HERE IS THE SUMMARY:
---
Home
House Committee
--
Oil Pipeline Spills at Prudhoe Bay
---
Energy & Commerce, Oversight and Investigations
---
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 194177 - 09/07/2006 - 4:04 - $270.00
---
Whitfield, Edward
U.S. Representative, R-KY
---
Marshall, Steve
President, BP Exploration (Alaska)
---
Malone, Robert A.Chairman and CEO, BP America
----
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations held a hearing on the failure of the BP oil pipeline
from Prudhoe Bay.
---
Issues discussed included a proper cleaning and inspection schedule for
such pipelines and allegations that pipeline corrosion concerns on the
Prudhoe Bay Field had been brought to BP's attention in the past.
pog...@webtv.net
THAT STARTED AT 1:00AM MY TIME, BUT, I HAD VIDEO-TAPED IT.
---
READING THE FOLLOWING ADN ARTICLE ON THAT HEARING CLEARLY SHOWS:
--
(1) 2 OF THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE A REPORT CRITICAL OF BP, SUDDENLY BECAME
"NEW EMPLOYEES OF B.P" AND THE FINAL REPORT WAS "CHANGED"...;
---
(2) WHILE THIS HEARING WAS THE FIRST OF FOUR TO TAKE PLACE, ALASKA'S
OWN CONGRESS PEOPLE, TED STEVENS AND DON YOUNG ARE "THE CHAIRMEN" OF 2
OF THE REMAINING 3 HEARINGS.
FAT CHANCE THAT EITHER WILL BUTT-OUT AND RECUSE THEMSELVES DUE TO
"YEARS OF ACCEPTING BP'S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS", BECAUSE "STEVENS AND
YOUNG", LIKE BUSH, FEEL THAT "ETHICS" HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR
JOBS.
---
NOTE: THE MANY LINKS BELOW AND THE SCHEDULE OF THE
NEXT HEARINGS WHICH YOU CAN TRACK USING MY ABOVE C-SPAN URL .
---
Subject: BP TESTIFIES AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING--
----- 1 OF 4
---
Subject:Prudhoe Bay : Congress grills BP execs--9-08-06
---
http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/prudhoe/story/8170280p-8061705c.html
>
------
TEXT COPY: 9-08-06
---
Congress grills BP execs
*****************************
House panel asks if company profit precluded pipeline maintenance
---
By RICHARD MAUER
Anchorage Daily News
Published: September 8, 2006
Last Modified: September 8, 2006 at 05:20 AM ------ WASHINGTON --
"The first of at least four" congressional
*****************************
hearings into why BP failed to prevent pipeline failures on Alaska's
North Slope began dramatically Thursday when:
---
Richard Woollam,
*******************
the company's corrosion chief until 2005, refused to testify, citing
his right against self-incrimination.
----
In a day marked with blistering criticism of BP from Republicans and
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the "British-born
Woollam", derided in an internal BP report as "King Richard" for "his
dictatorial style," declined to answer any questions.
----
The committee's investigations panel is looking into the failure of BP
to monitor and control corrosion on two North Slope transit pipelines
that feed the trans-Alaska pipeline.
---
One of those lines had a catastrophic leak March 2, spilling more than
200,000 gallons of oil:
----
in the tundra and the ice-locked shore of an "unnamed lake.
---
The "other line had a smaller leak" in August. Unsure of the
reliability of either line, BP announced it would shut down all Prudhoe
Bay production Aug. 6, then later limited the closure to the field's
eastern half.
---
Over and over, the committee members grilled BP Exploration Alaska,
***********************
president,
***********
Steve Marshall,
******************
demanding to know "why" BP neglected to conduct the only reliable test
of the decay of an entire pipeline -- a "smart pig" that travels inside
the pipe and records the thickness of the wall along the pipe's length.
---
Marshall replied that:
---
company officials believed the line wasn't as susceptible to corrosion
as others.
---
The last smart pig run on the western line was in 1998;
*********
on the eastern line, it was 1992.
--------------------------*************
---
But was it just an error in judgment, the committee wanted to know, or
was something else at work?
---
Was BP shaving costs to increase profits?
---
Were executives trying to beef up their annual bonuses by meeting
budgets regardless of the consequences?
---
Along those lines,
committee chairman,
Joe Barton, R-Texas,
************************
wondered aloud whether BP was "betting the farm" that the Prudhoe Bay
field would run out before the pipeline failed, saving the costs of
replacing it.
---
"Shame, shame, shame," he said.
---
Marshall and the:
"new" BP America
president,
Bob Malone,
****************
denied that profit motive was the cause, but they were frequently at a
loss to explain exactly what happened.
---
Malone, Marshall, and two others on that panel, Alyeska Pipeline
Service Co.
president
Kevin Hostler and
*************
---
Dan Stears of
***************
Coffman Engineers
in Anchorage,
all testified under oath.
---
Woollam was a late entry on the witness list. House investigators
looking into claims that "corrosion workers were afraid to criticize"
BP's practices:
---
unearthed an "internal BP report from 2004." That report, by the: law
firm
Vinson & Elkins,
******************
said Woollam's "overbearing management style" created a climate "where
the fear of retaliation and intimidation could and did occur."
---
The workers believed the company wasn't doing enough to test for
corrosion and prevent its spread,
according to the report,
made public at the hearing.
******************************
---
After pleading the Fifth Amendment in the packed committee room,
Woollam was quickly dismissed from the hearing. He rushed from the
Rayburn Building without speaking to reporters.
--
The Vinson & Elkins report recommended that Woollam be stripped of his
supervisory duties.
---
In January 2005, three months after the report was delivered, "BP
reassigned him to Houston." ---
Malone said:
Woollam was "recently" placed on administrative leave, with pay.
----
Woollam, and the presence of a battery of defense attorneys, was a
sharp reminder of "grand jury proceedings in Anchorage" hanging over
the congressional hearings.
---
The Justice Department and EPA are investigating whether the March 2
oil spill
---
was "a criminal violation" of
*******************************
the Clean Water Act.
---
Barton reminded the BP officials that their shutdown briefly caused a 3
percent spike in the price of oil, to nearly $77 a barrel.
---
The "two transit lines were "unregulated"
********************************************
by the:
"U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
---
because they operated at low pressure in a remote area.
---
Even after the spill, when:
the "agency decided to impose its regulatory authority,"
---
BP resisted,
*************
said its administrator,
Thomas Barrett,
********************
testifying in a later panel.
---
"It's the kind of thing that would cause us to question their
commitment," said
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.
----
Barrett's, "chief safety officer",
Stacy Gerard, said
***************
BP had a pattern of resisting regulation.
********************************************
---
The "company fought" having its:
"high-pressure lines" included in a
"new" integrity management program
designed to increase safety, primarily through the use of pigs to clean
and test the pipe.
---
Gerard described BP's argument as having less to do with spill
prevention than with downplaying the effects of a spill. Since one
aspect of the regulation was designed to protect endangered species,
---
BP said:
a spill in the North Slope wouldn't hurt any
**********************************************
animal protected by the "Endangered Species Act," so "it shouldn't be
required to join"
the program, Gerard said.
---
Hearing that answer, an incredulous
Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas,
asked, what about humans?
*******************************
---
BP officials said:
"their employees are trained" on
"how to protect themselves"
in the event of a spill, Gerard said.
---
"Therefore, they didn't need the benefit of integrity protection," she
said, describing the BP position.
---
The "mysterious changes in a report"
****************************************
prepared by:
Coffman Engineers for
**************************
the Alaska Department of Environment Conservation
---
also came up at the hearing.
---
The "Seattle-based engineering company"
was "hired by the DEC" to
review BP's corrosion program.
***********************************
---
The "final draft"
*****************
of the Coffman report,
"dated Nov. 2, 2001,"
"was critical of BP's corrosion program" and
********************************************
suggested that a "smart pig"
was the "only" reliable testing method.
****************************************
---
"The full report,"
*****************
issued two months later,
dropped most of those references.
**************************************
---
On Nov. 11, 2001,
*********************
"committee investigators found",
Woollam,
the corrosion manager,
"sent an e-mail to another BP employee"
asking her to find out if Coffman held any BP contracts.
---
Rep. John Inslee, D-Wash., said:
the message seemed like a "blatant attempt" at "intimidating the
company"
into "changing its report."
---
Marshall testified:
he had "not seen" Woollam's e-mail.
---
In any event, BP officials met with the engineering firm's staff and
DEC officials.
---
Barton and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said:
---
"House investigators interviewed"
one of the DEC officials,
Susan Harvey, who said:
*****************
that "she told BP" and "her bosses"
that "she would revise the draft"
**********************************
to "fix factual inaccuracies" but
"not analyses or policy matters."
---
The response from DEC was:
to boot her off the project, she said.
****************************
---
Harvey resigned in March 2002
***********************************
when "all her North Slope responsibilities" were taken away by top DEC
officials.
*******************************************
---
Marshall said:
"he was not aware of Harvey's involvement."
---
"BP investigated the charges" that:
"it was responsible for changing"
the Coffman report and
found "no evidence" that it was true.
---
"After the hearing",
BP "provided a copy of that investigation",
*****************************************
conducted by:
************
"one of its outside "criminal defense lawyers,"
Jeff Feldman of Anchorage.
*******************************
---
Several sections of:
*******************
Feldman's 26-page report,
************************
dated April 24, 2006,
were blanked out.
********************
---
"In his report", Feldman said:
---
he "wasn't able to interview Harvey", and
"Woollam declined an interview"
on the advice of counsel.
---
"Coffman Engineers declined"
to provide Feldman any documents because:
---
the company had "just been served" with
"a grand jury subpoena."
---
Feldman said:
he was also "unable to review"
"internal DEC documents."
----
However, Feldman noted, he:
"was able to talk" to:
---
"at least two of the participants":
----
the "principal" "Coffman" representative
**************************************
"responsible for drafting the 2000 report"
*******************************************
---
had since gone to work for BP,
************************************
as had:
********
"the "second-most critical "DEC official"
******************************************
after Harvey,
Sig Colburg.
*************
---
"BP made both available to him",
as well as "company documents."
---
Daily News reporter Richard Mauer can be reached at rma...@adn.com or
1-202-383-0007.
---
PHOTOS: For a gallery of pictures from the ongoing congressional
hearing, visit the Web.
www.adn.com
---
OPEN ABOVE URL TO OPEN THESE LINKS:
******
Thursday's hearings at a glance
************************************
• QUESTIONS: Members of both parties grill BP over ongoing pipeline
maintenance. Lawmakers say BP's mistakes in Alaska are particularly
unacceptable given industry's record profits and relatively inexpensive
measures that might have prevented the oil spill.
---
• APOLOGY: BP executives apologize and pledge to fix operational lapses
on the North Slope that led to the region's biggest-ever oil spill in
March and the partial shutdown last month of the country's largest oil
field.
---
• SILENCE: The former head of pipeline- corrosion monitoring for BP in
Alaska refuses to testify under oath. What's next?
----
BP and its pipelines are drawing the attention of Congress on its
return from the Labor Day recess.
---
Here's what's coming up:
****************************
---
House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on
***************************************************
Oversight and Investigations
*****************************
----
• The subcommittee's hearing Thursday (9-07-06)
resulted in "a heap of criticism of BP",
but also "a lot of unanswered questions."
--
Several House members are submitting them in writing and "are demanding
answers."
---
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
********************************************
Committee
************
---
• "Tuesday morning hearing"
*******************************
into the effects of BP's pipeline failure on the U.S. oil supply and
how to prevent future recurrences. No witnesses are scheduled yet.
---
House Transportation and Infrastructure
*********************************************
Committee
************
---
• Oversight hearing Wednesday
**********************************
"before" Alaska Rep. Don Young's committee
**********************************************
on preventing future corrosion problems on pipelines feeding the
trans-Alaska pipeline.
----
Senate Commerce, Science and
*************************************
Transportation Committee
*****************************
---
• Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens said "his" committee
**********************************************
will hold hearings on "new legislation"
"authorizing increased regulation of pipelines"
related to BP's failures,
but he hasn't set a date.
************************
---
Photo by CHUCK KENNEDY / McClatchy-Tribune Click on photo to enlarge
---
>From left,
Richard Woollam, corrosion engineer, BP Alaska;
--
Robert Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc.;
--
Steve Marshall, president of BP Exploration Alaska;
---
Kevin Hostler, president and CEO of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.; and
---
Dan Stears, cathodic protection specialist at Coffman Engineers Inc.,
---
are sworn in to testify as the House Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee holds a hearing.
-------
More Photos
oil and gas links
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil & Gas Alaska Oil
& Gas Conservation Commission Alaska Support Industry Alliance
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
BP in Alaska
Conoco Phillips Alaska Inc.
Petroleum News
Congress grills BP execs
BP executive declines to testify
State declined to tighten oversight
----
‹ More Prudhoe stories
Don't deduct Prudhoe fix, BP is urged
----
‹ More Prudhoe stories
BP's problems intensify
----
‹ Asbestos found in corroded pipe
---
‹ Photo gallery
‹ More stories
More Prudhoe Bay stories ›
pog...@webtv.net
AND "FRAUD" FOR THEIR "CONSISTENT LYING, THREATS, AND OBSTRUCTION OF
JUSTICE, BY THEIR TREATMENT OF THEIR EMPLOYEES "WHO KNOW THE TRUTH".
---
THERE ARE MANY LAWS THAT "ARE SET UP TO ALLOW A PERSON OR STATE" TO
BREAK THEIR CONTRACTS DUE TO THE ABOVE CRIMINAL ACTS, OF WHICH BP HAS A
HISTORICAL RECORD. ALASKA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY DO THIS "NOW" AND REPLACE
BP WITH ANY ONE OF THE MANY OTHER LEGITIMATE OIL/GAS COMPANIES, BY
PUTTING THEM ON A SHORT-TERM CONTRACT TO FIX THESE PIPELINES AND GET
THE OIL BACK ON LINE.
--
THEY HAVE TO START BY GETTING AN INJUNCTION REMOVING B.P. AND FILING A
LAW SUIT DEMANDING "PAYMENT OF FIXING THE PIPELINE" AND LOSS OF
REVENUE. IF ALASKANS DON'T ACT ON THIS THEN YOU KNOW THE ALASKAN
POLITICIANS WON'T ACT, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW "ADDICTED TO THEIR
KICK-BACKS." ELECTION DAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. GET THE
POLITICIANS "ON THE RECORD" AT THEIR DEBATES ABOUT THIS.
------
Subject: BP PROVES IT OPERATES LIKE THE "MAFIA"-THREATS & BRIBES
---
NOTE: THIS IS ABOUT THE "THIRD LIE" OF HOW THEIR PIPES GOT
CORRODED..THIS ONE IS "BACTERIA POOP".
---
IT IS CLEAR THAT B.P. IS A GREEDY AND CORRUPT HUGE OIL CORP. IT IS ALSO
CLEAR THAT IT WANTS EMPLOYEES TO:
DO WHAT THEY ARE TOLD AND SHUT UP OR THEY WILL BE FIRED.
--
THOSE PEOPLE WHO "ARE NOT THEIR EMPLOYEES", B.P. WILL BRIBE VIA A
"HIGH-PAYING JOB" OR THREATENED.
--
IT IS CLEAR THAT BP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS OR THE
ENVIRONMENT....MONEY IS THEIR ONLY PRIORITY AND AS SUCH, ALASKA SHOULD
THROW THEM OUT OF THE STATE WITH THEIR CONTRACTS TORN UP AND THROWN AT
THEM, LIKE SO MUCH CONFETTI IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR LEAVING.
---
http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20060907/93447294.shtml
>
-----
TEXT COPY: 9-08-06
---
Former BP executive declines to testify
*******************************************
BRAD FOSS
AP Business Writer
---
WASHINGTON — The former head of pipeline-corrosion monitoring for BP in
Alaska refused to testify under oath Thursday as outraged lawmakers
grilled company officials over the causes of a massive oil spill
earlier this year.
---
Richard C. Woollam, who was transferred to BP's Houston offices amid
concerns that he intimidated potential whistleblowers, invoked the
Fifth Amendment of the Constitution in refusing to answer all questions
from a House subcommittee. "Based upon the advice of counsel, I
respectfully will not answer questions," said Woollam.
---
Other BP executives apologized and pledged to fix operational lapses on
the North Slope that led to the region's biggest ever oil spill in
March and the partial shutdown last month of the country's largest oil
field.
---
for a deadly refinery fire last spring — were particularly unacceptable
given the industry's record profits and the relatively inexpensive
measures that might have prevented the oil spill.
---
month, Thursday's House hearing was not expected to result in any
specific legislative action; it did, however, offer lawmakers an
opportunity to talk tough to Big Oil at a time of soaring prices and
ahead of November elections.
---
"If a company — one of the world's most successful oil companies —
can't do the basic maintenance needed to keep Prudhoe Bay's oil field
operating safely and without interruption, maybe it shouldn't be
operating the pipeline," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said.
---
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said she was especially disappointed in
BP, since it professes in advertising to pride itself on protecting the
environment. "I applaud BP for trying to move beyond petroleum, but
maybe it should start by sticking to the basics and begin to focus on
rudimentary pipe maintenance."
---
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said the spill-related shutdown raises
questions about why there weren't redundancies built into the pipeline
system that carries Prudhoe Bay oil to market so that the shutdown
wouldn't have been necessary.
---
"It is not Monday morning quarterbacking to suggest BP should have had
a plan," Stupak said.
---
Robert A. Malone, the head of BP PLC's U.S. operations, conceded the
company's reputation has suffered, and he vowed to manage Prudhoe Bay
in "a safe, efficient and environmentally sensitive way."
---
In March, more than 200,000 gallons of oil leaked from a 34-inch
pipeline that crosses the Alaska tundra. Follow-up inspections mandated
by federal investigators led to the discovery of another much smaller
leak, as well as "significant" corrosion, according to BP, which
briefly shut down the entire Prudhoe Bay field on Aug. 6.
---
"We have fallen short of the high standards we hold for ourselves, and
the expectations that others have for us," said Malone, who has been
the chairman and president of BP America since July.
---
Shortly before the hearing, BP announced in a press release that the
company has hired three outside corrosion experts to independently
review the incident and make recommendations for improving BP's
corrosion prevention policies.
---
In an effort to address criticism that the company for years has
willfully ignored employee concerns about pipeline safety and other
environmental issues.
--
BP on Tuesday asked a former federal judge to
**********************************************
"serve as its ombudsman" and hear complaints
**********************************************
from workers in Alaska and elsewhere about the company's operations.
---
"The problem has not been in workers raising concerns — sometimes it's
been our responsiveness," Malone testified. ---
Lawmakers on Thursday hammered BP executives about:
---
allegations that the company failed to adequately address: --
concerns raised by its own pipeline workers, in
**********************************************
part because of an atmosphere of fear and intimidation under the
supervision of Woollam.
---
Steve Marshall, the president of BP Exploration Alaska Inc., "conceded"
that:
---
Woollam's "abrasive nature" and "intimidation"
**********************************************
may have silenced workers.
*******************************
---
In 2004, BP hired the Houston-based law firm
**********************************************
Vinson & Elkins to conduct:
******************************
"an internal "investigation" of
*********************************
"alleged workplace harrassment"
************************************
and "pipeline-corrosion data falsification."
*********************************************
---
The "law firm concluded":
***************************
---
that "some pipeline inspectors" experienced:
---
"fear of retaliation" for "reporting safety"
*******************************************
concerns and other issues, but said:
---
there was "no evidence" that:
---
BP employees or contractors
were explicitly told not to raise red flags.
---
Woollam agreed to "undergo counseling" and
*********************************************
was later "transferred to a non-supervisory job" in Houston. He is now
on paid leave.
---
Prudhoe Bay isn't BP's only problem.
****************************************
The London-based company faces victims' lawsuits from a deadly
explosion last year at its Texas City, Texas-based refinery.
---
And in June federal investigators said BP energy traders cornered the
U.S. propane market in the winter of 2004 and illegally manipulated
prices.
---
Investigators are also reportedly looking into whether BP manipulated
crude-oil and gasoline markets.
---
Thursday's hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations was the first of several that will focus
on BP in coming weeks.
---
Until last month's partial shutdown, Prudhoe Bay had been producing
roughly 400,000 barrels per day,
---
or 8 percent of total U.S. output.
************************************
---
BP is currently pumping 220,000 barrels a day, though Marshall said:
"output could be fully restored" as
**************************************
early as the end of October.
*****************************
---
BP officials said:
"early tests show" that "oil-eating bacteria"
**********************************************
may have contributed to the Alaska pipeline corrosion.
--
"Excrement from the bacteria" inside the pipes
**********************************************
produce an acid that eats through carbon steel.
**********************************************
----
Marshall acknowledged that the corrosion problem could have been
mitigated by
"more consistent inspection and removal" — or "pigging" — of sludge
that builds up on the inner walls of oil pipelines,
providing shelter for the bacteria.
---
"Clearly, in retrospect, pigging would have been a positive step we
could have taken," Marshall said.
---
Marshall said BP's spending on major maintenance at Prudhoe Bay would
rise to $195 million in 2007,
a fourfold increase from
********************* 2004;
---
$150 million will go toward replacing 16 miles of
**********************************************
corroded oil transit lines.
**************************
--
© 2002 The Alaska Journal of Commerce and Morris Communications Corp.
skew...@webtv.net
RECENTLY MADE SOME POSTS RE ALASKA CORRUPTION, I AM POSTING THIS
ARTICLE. (IT ALWAYS HELPS TO READ MORE THAN JUST ONE SOURCE".
---
HERE YOU CAN SEE, ALASKA DEMOCRAT LEGISLATOR, ERIC CROFT, WHO "IS AN
ATTORNEY", STATE THAT HE SAW CORRUPTION UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WHEN HE
WAS ATTENDING A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETING...."TWO YEARS AGO", IN
WHICH HE STATES "HE KNEW SOMEONE WOULD BE GOING TO JAIL"...BUT...WHY
DIDN'T THE HONORABLE ERIC CROFT, TELL SOMEONE, LIKE ALASKANS THAT HE
"KNEW A CRIME WAS BEING COMMITTED IN HIS PRESENCE"?
---
AS I STATED IN AN EARLIER POST ABOUT CROFT; I WATCHED GAVEL-TO-GAVEL
FOR TWO YEARS AND VIDEO TAPED THESE HEARINGS.
---
CROFT SAT LIKE A LARD-BUTT WHEN LEGISLATION WAS BEING DISCUSSED IN THE
"REGULATION COMMITTEE", CHAIRED BY ONE OF THE WORST CORRUPT AND GREEDY
"BUSINESS OWNERS/REP", (HER NAME JUST SLIPPED MY MIND) THE OLD
GRAY-HAIRED MOUSY WOMAN WHO WAS/IS AN ACCOUNTANT FOR JUST ABOUT
EVERYONE WHO OWNS A BUSINESS AND IS ON THE ALASKA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
AND FORTUNATELY VOTED OUT A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
--
ALL LAWS REQUIRE A "REGULATION" IN ORDER THAT THEY ARE IMPLIMENTED AND
ENFORCED. THIS IS WHERE THE CORRUPTION AND GREED COMES IN; I.E. THE
ILLEGAL REGULATIONS ARE WRITTEN BY THE STATE AGENCY PROSTITUTE WHICH
CHANGES THE ENTIRE INTENT OF THE LAW, SO AS TO BENEFIT THE EMPLOYER. I
WROTE AND I WENT TO MY VALDEZ LIO AND CALLED IN WHEN THESE HEARINGS
CAME UP PROTESTING THE ILLEGALITY OF THIS. MY CALLS WERE THEN NOT PUT
THROUGH BY THE LIO MANAGER CLAIMING SOME EXCUSE. SO I WROTE, AND OF
COURSE, THAT DID NOTHING. I THEN FILED LAWSUITS, AND I WAS BOMBBARDED
WITH MANY STATE ATTORNEYS.
--
THE REGULATIONS IF WAS MOST CONCERNED ABOUT WERE:
WAGES, MEDICAID HEALTH TREATMENT; WORKMANS COMP; FOOD STAMPS;
SUBSIDIZED HOUSING....ALL MANDATED FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO HELP THE TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF LAID OFF WORKERS IN ALASKA. I "SAW" CROFT AND MANY OTHER
DEMOS ON THAT COMMITTEE JUST SHUT UP AND NOT PROTEST AGAINST THESE
ILLEGAL DENIALS OF SERVICES, VIA THE REGS, SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, I AM
VERY GLAD THAT CROFT DIDN'T WIN IN THE PRIMARIES. ACTUALLY, THIS
SELF-SERVING BASTARD SHOULD BE THROWN OUT, AND THIS ARTICLE PLACED IN
THE ADN. BUT, OF COURSE THAT WON'T HAPPEN SINCE THE ADN IS STRICTLY
PRO-DEMOCRATS.
---
P.S. I E-MAILED THE WEBMUSHER TO FEEL FREE TO ADD HIS POSTS ON TO MY
THREAD AND TO SET UP OTHER ALASKA THREADS SO ACA AND ALL THE ALASKA
LURKERS COULD KEEP ALASKANS INFORMED AND TO PUT ACA ON HIS E-MAIL LIST.
--
I HOPE HE DOES BECAUSE ALMOST ALL ACA REGULAR POSTERS WOULD RATHER
ARGUE AND THROW AROUND IRRELEVANT AND UNDOCUMENTED "FLAMES, THEY CALL
"OPINIONS", RATHER THAN MAKE ACA AN "INTELLIGENT AND INFORMED ALASKAN
GROUP".
--
I WILL BE POSTING A COUPLE MORE OF THE WEBMUSHER'S POSTS SO THEY CAN BE
INCLUDED IN MY THREAD AND SAVED IN THE GOOGLE ARCHIVES.
------
Subject:4 more warrants issued as criminal probe intensifies after FBI
raids on Alaska legislators; no arrests yet | AlaskaReport.com 9-01-06
---
http://www.alaskareport.com/news11023.htm
>
----
TEXT COPY: 9-01-06
---
4 more warrants issued as criminal probe intensifies after FBI raids on
Alaska
legislators; no arrests yet
---
9/01/06 Juneau, Alaska
By Dennis Zaki -
AlaskaReport.com
---
The FBI served four more search warrants today in its investigation of
the relationship between lawmakers and oilfield services company VECO
Corporation, an Anchorage-based oil field services and construction
company whose executives are major contributors to political campaigns.
---
Bill Allen, owner of VECO, and his firm, were involved in a renovation
of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' chalet in Girdwood in the recent past.
---
The Associated Press is reporting that the search warrants seek: "from
the period of October 2005 to the present,
**********************************************
any and all documents concerning, reflecting or relating to proposed
legislation in the state of Alaska involving either the creation of a
natural gas pipeline or the petroleum production tax."
---
An Anchorage FBI spokesman says that about two dozen search warrants
have been executed so far, including three today in Anchorage and one
in Willow.
---
No arrests have been made as of yet.
*****************************************
AlaskaReport has learned that a staffer in one of the offices raided
has been providing information to federal authorities.
---
In an interview with KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Wev Shea,
***********
a former U.S. attorney for Alaska says:
********************************************
---
"he knows "who" created the climate that he
**********************************************
alleges allowed corruption to flourish.
*****************************************
---
"The Republican Party is going to rue the day in this state for
allowing Randy Ruedrich (chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska) to
remain as a chair. He's bringing this party down and it's bad."
---
KTUU also interviewed Rep. Eric Croft.
*******************************************
He says:
"he saw this coming two years ago, during a legislative committee
meeting concerning VECO's pitch for a sole-source contract award for a
private prison.
---
"I said at the time, in 2004, on the Whittier proposal, someone's going
to jail over this 'cause I could see how corrupt the process was," said
Croft, D-Anchorage.
----
Related Stories: OPEN ABOVE URL TO OPEN THESE LINKS:
---
AlaskaReport.com has uncovered exclusive information about the FBI -
IRS raids in Alaska
---
Alaska Senate president Ben Stevens has accepted bribes from seafood
processors, according to Ray Metcalfe, Chairman of the Republican
Moderate Party 6/26/06
----
Ben Stevens Fined $150 & $150: APOC Blind to Corruption
---
Ted Stevens & Corruption: Move Over Duke Cunningham
---
AlaskaReport.com is a privately owned Alaska news, weather and
commercial fishing website based in Juneau.
skew...@webtv.net
----
http://www.alaskareport.com/stephen-taufen30004.htm
>
---
TEXT COPY: 6-28-06
---
Ben Stevens Fined $150 & $150:
APOC Blind to Corruption
6/28/06
-----
Anchorage, Alaska
---
In today's hearing by
the Alaska Public Offices Commission
(continued from last Thursday), regarding:
---
"the second of four complaints" against:
********************************************
---
State senate president, Ben A. Stevens,
*********************************************
two more $150 fines were imposed.
****************************************
---
That's right, a deliberate and repeated pattern of "misreporting
behavior" on
"public disclosure documents"
*********************************
is apparently only worthy of a ruler slap
*******************************************
on the palm, each time:
************************
Three, so far, counting last December.
******************************************
---
All regard
"complaints filed by"
***********************
former legislator, Ray Metcalfe,
***********************************
the founder and chairman of
the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska.
---
In December of 2005,
***********************
APOC fined Stevens $150 for:
---
"failing to disclose" his chairmanship of a "marketing board" that:
--
has doled out millions of federal dollars to
**********************************************
"fishing interests."
*******************
---
Metcalfe recently outlined how:
---
"over $9 million of the Alaska Fisheries
*******************************************
Marketing Board's "salmon allocations"
---
"went to firms who have membership"
in groups or
---
otherwise directly pay (or have paid) Ben
**********************************************
Stevens for "consulting" or other services.
**********************************************
---
It sure looks like "a circle of influence"
and "bribery", but APOC ignores that.
************************************
---
Does "APOC have some hidden guideline"
for when ongoing ill behavior can
finally be worth calling "chronic misreporting?"
---
In its childish and isolated mindset,
does it have some "Pixie dust" that it
plays with "to make the evidence" of
blatant bribery simply disappear?
---
How does APOC conveniently brush aside facts such as:
---
over $120,000 in stocks being given to Stevens
**********************************************
- also unreported -
by SEMCO,
****************
the "energy company" on whose "board he sits?
********************************************
---
Will that, too, merely be a $150 ruler slap
during APOC's next quarterly meeting?
----
No matter. As Metcalfe confidently said
shortly after the fines were levied today,
---
"This just gives us room to sue APOC for not
**********************************************
doing more."
*************
---
And confident he should be, as:
---
"Metcalfe has filed more complaints" and
****************************************
is about "ready to file a fifth complaint"
****************************************
---
based on evidence obtained from court records
**********************************************
earlier this week.
*****************
---
How long can APOC keep up the "3 Monkeys"
approach of "see no evil"?
---
Today's fines were apparently for:
"failing to report" his chairmanship of
the AFMB in 2003, and
********************
---
"for failing to report" his ownership of an Option
**************************************************
(known across Alaska as "a secret option")
to buy 25% of Adak Fisheries for only $500,000,
**********************************************
in the years 2004 through 2006
***********************************
(the latter being for the calendar year 2005).
----
"Claiming technicalities"
due to changes in the law,
---
today APOC let Stevens get away with "not"
**********************************************
reporting the secret option in 2002 and 2003.
**********************************************
---
We'll have to await "a formal announcement" of the fines to make sure
this is exact, but you get the picture.
---
However, to understand the gravity of the unreported option, you must
understand that:
---
Stevens not only sat on the "Senate Resource
**********************************************
Committee", but
*************
"also sponsored fisheries bills", and
**********************************
---
"has received hundreds of thousands of dollars
**********************************************
of:
---
"fees for consulting or business services"
*********************************************
from fish companies,
***********************
many of whom
---
"he helped "grant federal funds to" as:
*************************************
chair of the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board.
**********************************************
---
And it was on November 16, 2004
***************************************
that Stevens wrote a $50,000 check
****************************************
(number 115, Wells Fargo bank account)
"to exercise the option".
---
In doing so, he attached a:
---
"NOTICE OF EXERCISE OF OPTION - CONFIDENTIAL"
letter to:
----
Aleutian Spray Fisheries and
Kjetil Solberg,
---
the "owners of Adak Fisheries, LLC."
*****************************************
---
Therein, Stevens claimed that:
---
if "they do not want to adhere to the option"
to own 25% of the company, then:
************************
---
they should have to pay him
********************************
"the value of my ownership interest"
which "is therefore $1,625,000."
************************************
---
So much for the arguments Ben made about
"how valueless that option was",
******************************
when he faced APOC last December.
******************************************
---
In the "Confidential letter"
***************************
(obtained from APOC records,
as filed on August 12, 2005)
Stevens outlines his role.
***************************
---
The second paragraph read:
********************************
"As you know, the Option Agreement was entered into because:
---
the owners of Adak Fisheries, LLC were 'seeking to increase its value'
and
---
because:
"they wanted to give me an incentive"
***********************************
to use my 'skills to help
******************
increase the value of the Company.'
----
"Under the terms of the Option Agreement,
I timely paid the "required consideration"
for the Option.
---
"It should go without saying" that
I also thereafter "greatly increased the value"
of Adak Fisheries, LLC
through "the strategy "I" developed and executed"
relating to pollock."
----
To readers aware of "how Stevens' father",
U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens,
************************
---
then chairman of Appropriations,
---
snuck a Rider into the 2004
*******************************
"Omnibus Spending Bill"
granting to Adak an allocation of pollock, and
*********************************************
"tied it to a requirement" that:
**************************
---
Adak Fisheries, LLC
********************
"construct a plant" of over $50 million,
*****************************************
that paragraph reeks of corruption.
***************************************
---
But if you have any doubt whatsoever about the
"intention to keep things "secret",
***********************************
check out this quote in a following paragraph
by Stevens to the owners.
***************************
----
"Whether I complete the process of
"becoming an owner" or
--
"you buy my interest for
the price identified [$1,625,000 net]",
---
there are avenues available "that are legal" and that "would negate or
lessen"
"the degree of public disclosure required" with respect to my financial
interest."
---
Could you sit on the APOC board without grilling Stevens as to what he
meant by that sentence?
----
You get the point. The Alaska Public Offices Commission is simply
digging a deep hole for itself, $150 at a time.
---
And with further complaints still on the books, and more to come, the
best that can be said is that:
---
"it appears to be "a political game"
being "played by appointees"
scared of "their party leaders",
---
but one that might turn out to be more like Chinese water torture by
the time Metcalfe finishes with Stevens and APOC.
---
After all, Ben is re-running for his district senate
**********************************************
seat in Anchorage.
********************
---
And "Ray is filed as a Democrat"
running for the US House seat
***********************************
currently occupied by Don Young.
*************************************
---
APOC must deal with the remaining complaints, and also start to
question whether or not it has just entered into the realm of
influencing elections, itself.
---
We hope you watch the public news channels for more detailed reports,
but that's the quick of it.
---
Related Story on KTUU.com
********************************
Stephen Taufen - Groundswell Fisheries Movement
---
A public watchdog and advocate for fishermen and their coastal
communities.
---
Taufen is an "insider" who blew the whistle on "the international
profit laundering"
between global affiliates of North Pacific seafood companies, who:
---
use illicit accounting to "deny the USA"
the proper taxes on seafood trade.
**************************************
---
The same practices are used to lower ex-vessel prices to the fleets,
and to bleed monies from our regional economy. Contact Stephen Taufen
---
2006 AlaskaReport.com and Groundswell
skew...@webtv.net
OFFICE, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE 2004 OR LATER, BUT KNOWING THAT HE
"SPECIALIZES IN WHITE COLLAR CRIME", IS HOPEFUL AND EXPLAINS WHY THE
FBI LAY SEIGE TO ALASKA POLITICIAN'S HOMES, OFFICES AND COMPUTERS.
---
THESE GUYS (FBI & U.S. AG) ARE REALLY GOING TO HAVE THEIR HANDS FULL
BECAUSE ONCE THEY START DIGGING UP THE DIRT THAT HAS BEEN LIKE CANCER,
KILLING OFF THE STATE RESOURCES, I.E. OIL; GAS; MINING AND FISHING,
WHICH PROFITS WENT IN THE POCKETS OF ALASKA'S SO-CALLED "PART-TIME
PUBLIC SERVANTS", I WOULD EXPECT YEARS OF INVESTIGATION AND TRIALS.
--
THIS COULD "REALLY BE THE START OF A HOUSE CLEANING THAT HASN'T BEEN
SEEN SINCE TAMMNEY HALL IN CHICAGO". I LOOK FORWARD TO MANY MONTHS OF
"SHOCK AND AWE" IN ALASKA.
---
OH YEA, OLD TEDDY MAY CONSIDER RESIGNING IF THIS A.G. DOES HIS JOB..THE
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE COLLUSION AND CORRUPTION OF POPPA AND SON
STEVENS, IS A MOVIE READY TO BE WRITTEN.
------
Subject: AK. U.S. SENATOR-TED STEVENS & NEW U.S. ATTY. FOR ALASKA
---
http://www.alaskareport.com/stephen-taufen30009.htm
>
----
TEXT COPY: 8-24-06
---
Ted Stevens & Corruption:
Move Over Duke Cunningham
---
Kodiak, Alaska
---
The Anchorage Daily News ran a story today titled,: "Attorney selection
steams Stevens."
*****************************************
---
The appointment of "Nelson Cohen"
***************************************
as the new "United States Attorney General"
**********************************************
for Alaska
***********
---
has greatly upset U.S. Senator Ted Stevens
**********************************************
(R-AK).
*******
---
Ted's probably upset for good reasons:
*******************************************
Adak Pollock,
real estate deals,
earmarks, and
legislative end-runs in fisheries management and rights allocations
(crab rationalization and other nefarious giveaways).
----
See Related story:
(Ex-Stevens Aide Reports Cable Money). (OPEN ABOVE URL)
----
Cohen was:
************
"the chief" of the "White Collar Crime Division"
**********************************************
when he served as:
---
the "assistant attorney general"
for the United States in Pennsylvania.
---
For many years, Groundswell has been
*****************
"asking federal special agents" from
******************************
multiple agencies for assistance in ensuring that:
---
Alaska gets a new US AG who
***********************************
"is not part of" the Alaska crony and
**********************************
political damage control system.
***********************************
---
We suspected something was seriously wrong when:
--
former U.S. attorney general, Timothy Burgess
**********************************************
"failed to prosecute" the "Adak Crab Allocation"
**********************************************
"perjury charges", after:
*******************
Larry Davison and I "filed a federal petition" in 2003.
---
And amazingly, Burgess soon "got a judgeship.
**********************************************
---
Anytime Burgess wants to provide answers to this situation, he can
start (please) by answering publicly:
---
"Why did the US AG office fail to prosecute the Adak Crab Allocation
perjury and the multiple counts?"
---
And, "Why, once the federal agents found the "plan in writing" to break
through the crab caps, did the "US AG office not prosecute" Dr. Terry
L. Leitzell, chief counsel for Icicle Seafoods?"
-----
An earlier Groundswell article mentions "Burgess' close association"
with Alaska's powerful Republicans, and
---
how crooked we feel those powerhouse players have been.
---
No wonder Ted is deeply upset that the White House has begun:
---
to correct that "inside" bias, and
"ensure that Ted Stevens is "no longer"
*********************************************
"in control of" the Justice department here, too.
**********************************************
---
It's enough "he headed" the
fourth branch of government,
---
"Appropriations", and "still runs" the
Senate Commerce show.
---
Our "Writ of Mandamus",
*************************
an extraordinary writ to:
---
"command" the
**************
National Marine Fisheries Service's
general counsel office to:
*************************
----
"properly handle a perjury"
****************************
(false testimony) before the
North Pacific Fisheries Management Council
was filed on January 13, 2003,
*********************************
in the Western District of the United States Court
in Seattle, Washington.
*********************************
---
We served the pro se
(we wrote it and filed it) writ
(for injunctive relief) on
---
then U.S. Attorney General,
John Ashcroft in Washington D.C.
---
The "NOAA Office of Law Enforcement"
********************************************
soon began a "criminal investigation"
****************************************
regarding Adak.
*****************
---
Eventually, "the largest fine in NOAA history"
**********************************************
was levied against:
**********************
Icicle Seafoods,
*****************
Adak Fisheries and
*****************
related parties,
****************
---
yet the "$3.44 million"
***********************
"Notice of Violation and Assessment"
has still not been finalized.
******************************
---
We are awaiting word from the government, "after an appeal" occurred
"this past January" before an administrative judge, in Seattle.
---
What was remarkable, though, was:
---
the "number of counts" left on the table
*******************************************
when only the "crab cap violation"
(breaking rules under the American Fisheries Act)
was handled.
---
And you've read from John Enge's pieces that
"crab fishermen have talked with "federal agents":
---
who were upset, too, that
the other counts went nowhere.
***********************************
---
Here's a reminder of "how to properly deal" with institutionalized
corruption:
**********************************
----
"March 3, 2006,
*****************
SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) --
Former GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham:
---
was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison
for taking $2.4 million in bribes from at least three defense
contractors.
----
"House Speaker and fellow Republican Dennis Hastert issued a statement
after Cunningham's sentencing stating that:
---
he hopes the congressman's prison term sends "a strong message" that
nobody is above the law.
---
"It is my hope that Congressman Cunningham will spend his incarceration
thinking long and hard about how he broke the trust of the voters that
elected him and those on Capitol Hill who served with him," Hastert
said."
---
Groundswell's advice is that:
Ted should be out buying new stationary,
**********************************************
and the return address should say
"Cellblock 666, Leavenworth County, Kansas.
---
See Writ here--OPEN ABOVE URL TO OPEN IT.
-------
2006 AlaskaReport.com and Groundswell Fisheries Movement
quest...@webtv.net
DOCUMENTS
---
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/gasline/legis.php