I was just re-visiting
a correspondence - entered as “written testimony” under oath - between Charles
Hamel and the 100th U.S. Congress, before the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources. Yes, retirement finds a whole lot of slack time to re-visit
that “person of interest” when the fish ain’t biting. It was back from 1987
wherein Hamel Hannibal sweet-talks cheat-talks about how the destructive Valdez
Technicians “ate the heart” of John Zink. I am talking the Thermal Oxidizers, a
main component of the “Vapor Recovery System” required as part of the TAPS “Operating
Permit”. In the early 80s, I along with my Alyeska co-workers in dedication went
responsible for the proper operation of that somewhat complicated “pollution
control device”. At least from the standpoint of the “Instrument & Electrical
Department’s” oversight jurisdiction, when under the “Hoss” Lynn McArthur as a “Best
of the Best Boss”. OK, it was “complicated” only until such time we found an
understanding behind the dynamics at play, after that just a piece of cake. The
Valdez Technicians under McArthur, well we got real good at our jobs keeping
pace this 1000-acre almost $1-Billion infrastructure layout that attracted millions
of barrels of oil from up North, as that was the Hoss’ expectations. There was
no other option, as his management style dictated such with a mile long smile. The
system worked as designed, when we figured out the “Three Square Ts” of heat exhaustion
“oxidation” a little different then pure engine “knock-knock” who’s there combustion
in “Time, Temperature and Turbulence”. Got that? And once there was enough pipeline
“Throughput”, it was then time to fully “commission” the mission of this all-important
environmental device designed by Fluor Engineering. Matter in fact, it worked admirably
to annihilate 99.999% of the hydrocarbon vapors taken away from the 18-crude
oil storage tanks, from natural “breathing” and pipeline upset “burps”, so it worked
under all conditions normal to abnormal what more could you ask for in a
control scheme. We could monitor that atmospheric flight in hydrocarbon vapor “annihilation”
with temporary “air quality monitoring” probes stuck into the stacks of these “beasts”
during the alignment phase. On a comparison, that almighty destruction of
unburned “light end” residuals - all part of the crude oil transportation
desires - it was less wear and tear upon the air we breathe then that which
would promote choking through a bad “inversion” day in interior Fairbanks, during
a bastardly cold winter’s day. When the authorities would warn health vulnerable
citizens to stay indoors, due the vapors from engines running below par for the
course. I lived in Fairbanks, I choked. I lived in Valdez, and never once choked.
And about halfway through Hamel’s “half wracked truths” on a subject his matter
expertise guilty of “fraud” and provided to a gullible U.S. Congress, when you
read between the lines here is what this menace was really trying to say:
“A CENSUS TAKER ONCE TRIED TO TEST ME.
I ATE HIS LIVER WITH SOME FAVA BEANS AND A NICE CHIANTI.”
Charles Hamel, Alaska’s “pain in the ass”
that would align himself with “bigots” and other disgruntled Alyeska workers in
efforts to forward hoe that “sweet-talking cheat-talking” guy thing. Using
others to get even with a nemesis. And he tried to draft me for his pathetic chastising
of “Big Oil” in Alaska, not because he was a “True Environmentalist”, but due
failed $$$$ competition with that “Big Oil” upon his interests in North Slope
leases. He was an “Oil Man” an “Oil Broker”, not some wannabe John Muir or Al
Gore with a cause! Split personality? Anybody that thinks Charles “Chucky”
Hamel was an environmentalist, for creepy dolls sake there is a place awaiting
your arrival - it’s called the Trans-Allegheny-Lunatic-Asylum. How he ever
convinced the Congress of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” that he was an environmentalist
“gadfly”, it is sick! Yes, Hamel Hannibal tried to frame me for his
entertainment reality stage in fame, because I was “black-listed” by Alyeska
due a trumped up charge that I was a “Vocal Union Supporter”, forever
sidetracked by Alyeska’s Human Resources for any and all career promotions. And
I knew where the “skeletons” were well hidden, as in the late 70s the “Vapor
Recovery System” was, for awhile, in a total state of disrepair. When “bomb
samples” taken due malfunctioning equipment and operational handicaps lacking
in understanding how things were supposed to work, such a weakness allowed
3000-BTU gas to perspire from the 550000-barrel crude oil storage tanks. Yes, like
BIC Lighter fuel - because the control system to properly enable the “vent and
inert” loading on those storage tanks was broke. We fixed it and then we were
successful in taming that “Beast”, when that once upon-a-time highly explosive
gas was turned downwards and settling in at 400-BTUs of nothing, or what was
called “Waste Gas” and so easily destroyed to carbon dioxide and water vapor. See,
Hamel Hannibal thought that John Zink was his very own “Buffalo Bill”, that “sphinx
moth” calling card his hostages “squeak”. Hamel went disgruntled when “good
news” surrounded his sabotage attempts against “Big Oil” like a John Wayne
posse surrounding those covered wagons of outlaws - as anybody that aligned himself
or herself with this lunatic, it was sad and still sick. Said again, he was an
independent “OIL BROKER” and an “OIL MAN”! And thus his character took on that “split”,
as now Hannibal was losing out as one cannot compete against such Tiger “might”
and so disgruntled started a vendetta to get even. Through a network, he drafted
people that could help with one thing, his own personal objective - get even at
any cost. Those that set foot in his arena, there was nothing in it for
themselves, just a pompous self-serving SOB that relished in using others for
his advantage. So he started a grudge match, and invited some of Alyeska’s worst
of the worse technicians to help in that pursuit, like Bigot Bob and Miracle
Barrel Pollyanna. Hamel aligned himself with “filth” and since he had friends
in Congress that “foot in the door”, set out to discredit what we did for a
living working for Alyeska, mind you in dedication we performed our duties. I
was raising a family in Valdez, and no way in hell would I subject my family to
destructive pollution like Mr. Lecter tried so hard to entertain in misery what
his rat fink posse thought was going on with the “Vapor Recovery System”. And
even award-winning “writers” paid tribute to Hamel Hannibal’s deceiving in a Louis
Friend friendship, writing “fool’s gold” articles that found no merit in
journalism. I would say that an interview with Hamel was no different then when
Clarice braved being a hostage to Hannibal’s mental mindset in quid pro quo. Take
the Anchorage Times’ Ortega’s penmanship, while using Charles Lecter provided “stolen
property” like the Alyeska Operational “log-books”, to try in vain and make
heads over tails what it means in “operation’s lingo” which is written in a
code. That the John Zink was only “fully operational” for 2-days in a month or
1-day in 5 and for 8-years since “Oil In” has allowed 40-tons each hour to be
carried away in the clear blue skies over the “Sound”. Dear Mr. Newsman Ortega,
“REMARKABLE BOY. I DO ADMIRE YOUR COURAGE. I THINK I’LL EAT YOUR HEART.”
Look, in this case downtime means success! Because when we succeeded in
re-aligning the system so that rocket-man gas was no longer produced from irate
valves opening prematurely and sucking vapors off of the tanks, instead it
allowed for a “float” zone in tranquility as was per the design specifications.
With that, there was no need but for 2-Zink stacks to be in operation at any
given time, with a manageable 60% load factor. And believe me, not once when
this system was fine-tuned by our dedication in obligation, not once in 4-years
did a storage tank have to rely on its pressure relief valves, as that is when
shit can roam the atmosphere unaccounted for. And when all was working, it allowed
for maintenance time the unit out-of-service. What a brilliant concept, “Downtime”
and something no bird brain idiot could or would understand! That is how things
are supposed to work. Any dip-shat that reads Hannibal Lecter’s lecture to
Congress, and takes it to heart - that heart is missing. Said again, our efforts
to make sure idiots like Charles Hamel stayed far and away, we made things work
and this is when the pipeline’s throughput was maximized! WTF is wrong with
these experts that took Hamel Hannibal’s advice and made friction for Alyeska? The sad fact, Alyeska’s very own environmental
engineers went along with Lecter, because they were out of touch what was
happening in Valdez. They were all wrong, and when Hamel’s frontal lobotomy assault
seemed to be loosing steam and soon to be “water under the bridge” his Lecter grip,
his posse of misfits would purposely cause the pollution systems to malfunction
- and send smoke signals to the DEC police who was also on the take with Hamel!
It was a coordinated effort, to make Alyeska look bad which made the workers
look bad. And that is what I could not stand down upon and stood up for - even
if it meant the “threat” of “organized labor” to protect our interest in raising
families in Valdez without the risk of our growing kids getting some type of
weird “benzene” cancer. The freak’n madness with this Hamel character showing a
true Hannibal Lecter personality, it was scaring our families, in pure nonsense.
In time, Hamel’s push & shove through others aiding & abetting this
enemy, it was not gaining much traction trying to take on the EXXONs. He lost,
with his interest in those oil leases he held in partnership a very limited
percentage - like in the Lisburne pay zone, which was a difficult formation to
produce from so was a slow poke to come up to a desirable production. “Big Oil”
knows the business in Alaska, why waste time and energy and effort to roto-rooter
a stubborn formation when across the street there is a more vibrant pay zone -
one that Hamel was not associated with. Save the tough stuff for that rainy
day, and that is what was causing Hamel’s disingenuous “swine flu” epidemic
that affected some Alyeska workers and went as far as influencing members of
this nation’s very own Congress - like George Miller and John Dingell. So Hamel’s
dream of being part of the “Big Oil” club, like speculation to a judge and was merely
an opportunity in “fool’s gold”. This Hamel Hannibal disease went on for some 4-years
before the EXXON Valdez “Wreck”, so what does that have to do with anything? When
failure was dominating that pursuit to get even with EXXON, Hamel Hannibal then
aligned himself with Radio Ralf, that “Buffalo Bill” character in “The Silence
of the Lambs”. I had talked with Hamel’s lawyers and associates that were by
his side like a side-arm that barrel bent 180-degrees - shoot yourself in the
foot, just playing the game so I could get an understanding of not only where
is this guy coming from, but how far would he go before that Hannibal Lecter
kicked in and real harm was done? Now Radio Ralf was a brilliant man, that
understood radio communications and navigational stuff and all that “hocus pocus”
wave-theory. He once worked for Alyeska, but was supposedly terminated because suspicion
he was messing with the Remote Gate Valves “Transit Codes”. These “radio
controlled” valves in the “hundreds” run the 800-mile long “pipeline” and used
to isolate the “mainline” in a coordinated effort, as there is a method to the
madness to slow down all that momentum from the pumping stations and mountain elevation
changes, which can sock-it-to-me knock-your-socks-off with that oil front if
out-of-control. And a “valve” closing “Un-Commanded & Out-of-Sequence” in
the middle of the “wilderness” no time to dispatch help, that could wreck-havoc
on the integrity of the line. Yes, the “Codes” had been compromised. The reason
that “Crowbar” was installed at some of the critical RGVs, in the pass-over critical
elevations wherein the “head” if out-of-control could airborne the pipeline off
of its rocker. A “Crowbar”, fancy term for a control system to short-circuit
the electrical drive fuses and STOP a valve traveling “CLOSED” in its tracks. Now
Radio Ralf caught wind that I was one or was willing to become one of Hamal
Hannibal’s “stoolges”, as there was a mole amongst the troops in Valdez passing
around false information in efforts to play that 5th Floor Bragaw “Corporate
Poop Shoots & Ladders” game for fame. For this guy any affiliation with
Hamel, far from the fact just the other way around, as I was using the failed “Oil
Broker” for my own advantage - as it was a time when “who can you trust” was vacated.
Look, Alyeska “Executives” were “Spying” on the workers due Hamel Hannibal’s
craving for “fresh meat”, my mugshot had a dart where it counts! I was targeted
because of my knowledge of what went on in Valdez, not only with the “Vapor
Recovery” any early on shortcomings, but all the critical infrastructure systems,
including the “Causeway” breaching by drunk tanker crews returning from freewheelin’
furloughs. Anyway, I get invited down to Radio Ralf’s “Man Den” in Valdez, out
at the Robe River subdivision. No, not your typical “Man Den” with a refrigerator
filled with beer and a “Big Screen”, but all kinds of radio equipment filling
every nook’n cranny wall-to-wall, looked like a NASA lab. Hand-held radios,
digital modems, like Radio-Shack central! And I always wondered about all the aerial
antennas on the roof of this place, especially the reason for the “high-gain” directional
YAGI pointing in the secondary-intercardinal-direction of WSW - or an area
covering the Alyeska “Marine Terminal”, the Valdez Narrows and on extended reach, the Tatitlek passage which
includes “Bligh Reef”. This was Radio Ralf’s “at home employment” enjoyment
after Alyeska. And before my very eyes and astonishment, it was demonstrated from
a remote location “cellar” how a knowledgeable radio man could interfere with the
navigational systems in Prince William Sound, around that “Narrows’” passageway?
This was a time wherein technology, in its new age fame in infancy, such was
starting to be “integrated” with mainframe computers and more and more “networking”
capabilities. At the time, I did not know what to make of this as maybe this
was just another disgruntled ex-employee showing off, that there was life after
Alyeska as his job was just that, making sure the navigational equipment on the
outbound tankers was working properly. And with far reaching technologies, all
done from “remote” the comfort of that “Man Den” and no need entering the “Terminal”
through security - especially if an “ex” had been banned a “security clearance”
due past suspicious activities! For real, radio access “codes” to the guts of
what keeps those tankers from going off-course! But Ralf also understood what “We the Workers”
were up against with our organized “Union” drive efforts. At the same time an understanding
upon our frustration with the “Drunk Tanker Crews” that which violated our
dignity at the Alyeska “Marine Terminal”, while tipping a few too many while on
that “furlough” waiting for their tankers to be charged up with toxic oil so
they could set sail asleep at the wheel on “auto-pilot”, that hopefully had
been calibrated before send off! Wow, how convenient a trap, had Hannibal been
successful in drafting a guy like Radio Ralf to help retaliate? The ultimate “Buffalo
Bill”! As this sabotage could take place after a tanker left port and had maneuvered
through the “Narrows”. For a competent radio flyer, a 30-mile hijacking would
be an easy take down. And in the darkness of a nighttime passage through the “Sound”,
with few and far between “lighted” navigational warnings of imminent hazards
ahead? No, never could it happen I was falling to a “conspiracy” impairment, as
the U.S. Coast Guard was “on guard” to follow those oil laden tankers through
the “Narrows” and with its “Extended Reach Radar” an expensive undertaking courtesy
the American Taxpayers, the watch could follow the “Asleep at the wheel”
Captain Joe way past “Bligh Reef Island” and then it was “open ocean” sober up
time. Yet, this “Man Den” had a whole lot of opportunity to “wreck-havoc”,
along with the knowledge to perform such an undertaking to undermine things. And
then on another day not to long after that, I just happened to be passing Ralf’s
place and slowed enough to see the Radio Man had company, congregated in his
drive and shooting the “breeze” - it was Hamel Hannibal and the DEC cop! My first
thoughts, our worst nightmare! And then a little time later down the road, sober
Joe Hazelwood’s fully laden EXXON Valdez went off course, hitting the best-known
navigational hazard in the “Sound”, Bligh Reef. As there was not a better crew
to target in cover-up, based on Hazelwood’s past performance in abusing alcohol.
Along with a crew that was late getting back to the ship in a hurried send-off and
of course, late at night in darkness and when that U.S. Coast Guard’s “Extended
Reach” went into fail mode, so would EXXON find its fate on Hamel Hannibal’s
radar. The rest was history, and the true “Silence of the Lambs” has been so
successful in…ever wonder why Joe and EXXON got off the hook with only a slap
on the wrist? And maybe, just maybe Charles “Chuck” Hamel getting away with successfully
planting the seed upon which flourished this environmental disaster of March 24th,
1989! Well maybe this image fits the realization what it was all about:
“KILLING MUST FEEL GOOD TO GOD, TOO.
HE DOES IT ALL THE TIME.
And did not Hannibal Lecter escape solitary confinement
never to be heard of again? For Hamel it is RIP, when on April 9th
in 2015 that “April Fools” came a little behind schedule. I ask, do we “Rest In
Peace” the outcome of that “Wreck”? Let me invite what may help as an answer
this fascination, that stubborn oil lingers on in the “Sound” in “solitary confinement”
please do not disturb the shoreline of “Green Island”, so we are victims held
in “Solitary Confinement”. As the “Truth” has never been revealed as to why Joe
Hazelwood tested “Negative Under the Influence” when the cops first arrived on
the scene of the crime, aboard the helm of the ill-fated EXXON Valdez all the
while a toxic soup escaping through a ruptured hull that amazed the world -
just how fast was Joe going before “Hard Aground”? Yes that first test by a
fish and wildlife officer pulling double duty as a warden and cop, the “negative”
results never used as that test was with oversight from the DEC, a guy that was
on Hamel Hannibal’s calling card just like the “sphinx moth”. I hear the “squeaking”,
take that back the “squealing” is still loud and clear today. The “Wreck”, it
was “Sabotage”, just ask Radio Ralf!
