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I am dependent on Ultra-Deepwater Drilling for my income. The shutdown of Ultra-Deepwater Drilling is an unfair attack on the petroleum industry. British Petroleum Americas (B.P.) failure to perform their drilling operation in a safe manner is your issue. We as an industry are aware of the many B.P. failures on the Transocean Deepwater Horizon. The 11 Men that lost their lives are our brothers. Unsafe well practices by B.P. must be investigated. The root cause is a failure to resolve a poor primary cement job. B.P. had knowledge that the primary cement job had failed; their continued operation was unsafe. As the operator the men on the Deepwater Horizon trusted that B.P. would work safe. Federal government shares cause for allowing B.P. to continue to operate in the United States. B.P. has numerous safety failures and violation of Federal and industry standards.
As Ultra-Deepwater Drillers we demand safety at our work sites. Exploration Drilling is dangerous work. Each day we confront danger by using safe work practices. These work practices are a standard for our industry that we as workers demand. Government only steps in when they can make profit from our labor. Government safety standards require bribes by corporate raiders who also steal our labor.
When we die in helicopters there are no memorials. When we burn to death there is no green peace outrage. If we drown in frigid waters there is no Presidential visit with our families. When we lose a leg, arm, hand or foot government does not shut down for a single second. Media does not visit men that cannot stand straight because of failed backs from the heavy lifting required in our jobs. We shut down operations when someone is hurt. We perform safety stand downs to prove our work can continue forward safely. We pre task each operation to ensure safety. We observe each other as a natural part of our work to keep each other safe. Government does not keep me or my workmates safe we do it because we care about each other. We know what a wife goes through when a husband is lost. We have raised children of lost work mates. We are brothers. We are Teams of men that provide oil and gas to America.
Oil field workers hear the garbage of those who don’t have a clue what our families deal with each day. When we miss the first steps of our children do you care? When we leave women to take care of a household by their selves do you care? Our loved ones die and we are on a rig hundreds of miles away do you care? Hurricanes enter the gulf and we are stuck offshore do you care? When we see friends burn to death do you care? When we are clear that a company has killed our fellow workers do you care?
Environmentalists, Politicians and Corporate fat cats have never produced one single barrel of oil. You regulate my labor. You tax my labor. You steal the blood of good men Standards for my labor require me to pass test (urine test, breath test, HUET) before I am allowed on the job site. Yet you give my dollars to those who are never tested. You feed America our bloods labor. What can any of you produce that is of value to this nation? Each of you is a parasite on the backs of Americans and workers. You fly around the globe on jets fueled by our labor. You drive your armed motorcades on fuel that we provide you. Your natural gas heaters are fueled with our blood. When you talk about alternative energy you slap our face for all we have given you. You are Al Gore whining pigs at a plastic trough that we provided you. You are Hollywood millionaires that don’t provide anything of value. Scream about clean energy while driving and flying around the globe.
Each person in government that allowed the President to shut down Ultra-Deepwater Exploration failed working men in women. B.P. will never meet the needs of our families. Lawyers with law firms will turn this case into a class action law suit that will line their pockets. Blood money paid for by Oil Workers. We have just given 11 brothers to the effort of providing a nation with oil and gas. Politicians now repay us with unemployment. I am a proud American Oil Worker. I am not proud of the thieves that are destructing the American Oil Workers way of life. Shame on Politicians and those you work with.
When you shut down our work you only bring pain to the innocent. You need to understand we are not union workers with a hand out. We have invented and built an industry that provides America with tools for independence. Oil Workers understand pain, we learn from every mistake that spills a drop of our blood. When you hurt one of us; we will bring pain to your political dream world. Wake up Washington when you shut down our rigs you solve nothing. You are creating a burden on hard working men and women. We will not allow your destruction of our work efforts. Your lies about caring for our safety are wasted words. We know more about safety then the corporate giant B.P. Your efforts should be to control B.P. and their created oil spill. While America screams at the environmental cost, remember your liability. Not one Oil Worker gave B.P. permission to drill. Not one Oil Worker overlooked the B.P. failures of the past. The men on the Deepwater Horizon knew something was wrong. Failed negative test were a clear indication that the drilling fluid should not be displaced. B.P. knew they failed to bump their cement plug on the casing cement job. It should be investigated how much they over displaced the cement. B.P. made the decision not run a cement bond log. Each of you must look at real facts Blow Out Preventers are well named; they are not Blow Out Stoppers. Follow safety practices that don’t allow blow-outs. B.P. allowed this blow-out to take place.
Stopping the blow out in deep water is the lesson we are all watching. How did B.P. fail to turn back with key indications that the well was flowing? All the signs were given; concerns were raised by members of the Horizon crews. B.P. acted with an arrogant disregard for human life and safety. B.P. deserves punishment for their disregard. We have already started implementing testing to verify we will not have another Horizon incident. We have cried at the loss of our brothers. Shame is not ours. America may hate us and what we do; because we are painted as bad men. After 20 years of success the speculation that we are men with no concern for our environment is out of line. We are not the millionaire C.E.O.’s that we work for. We are men with families that trust us to earn a living at a dangerous job. Each hitch offshore we work to return all crew members to their loved ones. Every man that does this work cares about his nation. Your failure to allow us to make America energy independent is recorded for history to judge. You have sold out your nation; not the Ultra-Deepwater Drill Crews.
Trust that we will not stand-by idle as you destroy our work. We are not some union wimps that rely on government assistance. You keep us out of work for 6 months; watch the power that will join the Tea Party Movement. We are men that shaped and built this industry with blood and sweat. We will engineer a massive shut down of your permit to wreck lives. Someone should investigate who is making profit on this spill. Check the ties to the Obama Administration. One word- NALCO
Milton Estabrooks
