Dave
was recruited by Union Oil in 1966. He was fourteen. From that day
until the moment he walked away from the job he loved and a six
figure income he lived and breathed the oil business.
Union
Oil was looking for PR cover, which they would use during the Santa
Barbara Oil Spill in 1969.
At
the time, Dave was completing his work to become an Eagle Scout,
making him a natural recruit to sell the good intentions of Union
Oil. Scripts of well-honed lies were provided to Dave and his fellow
recruits.
The
techniques used by Union Oil could have been taken from
indoctrination material for Nazi Youth.
It
would be twenty years before Dave realized, to his horror, how he and
the other students had been used. By then, Dave was a geologist
working in Malaysia for Enron, and dealing directly with foreign
countries for the company.
Dave
believed it was his duty to protect nature, not destroy it.
Walking
away was the only option. Dave returned to the US and went to work
for Green Peace. His entire life had been focused on the oil
industry. He had both academic and on the ground experience with all
aspects of the technologies for oil production, drilling, and had
studied intensely the sloppy and cost cutting planning and strategies
which were destroying lives and the environment.
His
depth of knowledge and clear thinking made it possible for him to
identify the most devastating facts and images to be used against the
experts assembled by Big Oil.
Carried
out for the Gloucester
Fishermen's Wives Association
The
Association had been losing their battle to stop construction on the
proposed off shore gas pipeline in MA 1997, gas pipe from Canada to
Boston Harbor. Dave provided hard data on the incidence of gas
pipeline leaks presented to make it impossible not to understand a
leak could be dangerous because a large of volume methane could
change the density of the water and
cause the ships to sink. Methane changes the buoyancy. The
opposition, a gas company, withdrew their proposal.
Carried
out for the Massachusetts
Fishermen’s Partnership and
Commonwealth Corporation
Enacting
a moratorium against exploration and drilling on George's Bank in
Canada 1999 opened up the campaign for a moratorium by the US.
Dave
provided the in-depth research and the illustration which immediately
lead to the adoption of a moratorium for seven years, which was then
extended and is active today.
Dave
played the sound of an airgun going off while he testified, ignoring
requests he turn it off. The sound had a stunning impact on those
attending.
The
oil company involved was Texaco. Texaco was sold the next year.
They had lost their cash cow. First time an oil company was told it
could not drill. Tactics used including issued a report on the
seismic effect on mammals and fish, also prepared by Dave.
The
Moratorium for the US was adopted in 2000. In this case Dave was up
against the New England Aquarium, which had taken a large grant from
Pew, which is, of course, Sun Oil (Sunoco). The New England Aquarium
hired someone from California who was cued to say Texaco's plans
might not cause harm.
Dave
again used the materials prepared for the Canadian campaign and
additionally focused in on damage to marine organisms and toxic
drilling muds when they play together. These were illustrated very
graphically during the panel. Opposition was Shell, Texaco in the
US.
Materials
Dave wrote:
February
25, 1998 - Letter
from Gloucester Fishermen’s Association
January
1, 1999- The
Truth About George's Bank Exploration and Production Operations
May Oil Drilling on Georges Bank?
May Oil Drilling on Georges Bank?
October
2000 ARTICLE:
Coexistence of the Fishery &
Petroleum Industries
News
Release for
Massachusetts Fishing Partnership
May
24, 2002 - Media
Release:
The Sierra Club of Canada applauds extension of the
moratorium
moratorium
2002
- STUDY:
Submission to Public Review Commission - Sense and Nonsense-The
Environmental Impacts of Exploration on Marine Organisms
Offshore Cape Breton
March
2003- Media
Release:
Cape Breton Island Threatened by Coastal Oil and Gas
Development.
Development.
In
2000 the US changed its rules about seismic noise.
Carried
out for The Dragon Chinese
Restaurant, Pittsfield, MA.
In
2004 a tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil turned
over in the parking lot of the The Dragon Chinese Restaurant in
Pittsfield Massachusetts.
Dave
was hired by an attorney who had heard of his work to provide the
evidence for court. Dave carried out an investigation onsite to show
there were contaminants left over after the fire department removed
most of the oil. He provided a computer model of the event and
presented this to the jury.
Additionally,
the owner of the restaurant, who was Vietnamese, thought it was her
job to protect the food and stayed on the site. Because no one told
her this was unsafe she remained at her place of business for two
days.
Two
separate law suits were filed. Dave was the forensics expert for
both.
Dave
examined the fuel company's records for driver safety discovering the
driver involved had exceeded his time and the trucking company had an
abnormally high number of accidents. They were breaking all the
rules, working too long, going through population centers.
In
court, Dave also testified on the air dispersion models showing
where the gases went and the concentration. These concentrations
were high enough to have caused her nausea. Using his own
peer-reviewed articles Dave was prepared for any question asked. He
always answered clearly and concisely. This was also litigated and
she received $100,000. The suit was won hands down.
During
the time this was going on her son won a prize on Top Chef.
Carried
out for Environmental Rights
International
The
issue was the decades old oil spill in Ecuador originally caused by
Texaco. The drilling had been carried out in the 1970s. Trial was
schedule for 2009.
As
a byproduct of their drilling the company had built oil pits which
they used to dispose of oil and produced water. This sank into the
water table causing the 30,000 Indians living in the area to be
poisoned. These people and their children now suffer from stomach
cancer, or other forms of cancer and chronic diseases. Many have
died as a result and many more will die. A generation of children
have grown up drinking and bathing in oil polluted water, which
Texaco described as 'produced water.'
Forced
to provide information during the early stages of the litigation
Texaco provided Dave with five boxes of data.
Dave
scanned through the stuff, finding their reports. These had been
written for Texaco using their own specifications which limited what
was provided because of what they said would otherwise be too costly.
Therefore, they had only sampled half of the pits, leaving the
worst ones for later.
Results
provided included only half the 300 pits. There were also five
gathering stations, where pipes come together in each field. Oil
pits are used to separate oil from water. Three of the five
actually sampled just on the surface came back 100% oil.
Texaco
had claimed the problem had been solved in 1980. Problem occurred in
the 1970s continued until 1980 when Texaco claimed they had cleaned
up the toxic waste. This was a lie.
The
presentation materials Dave built includes photos of the kids. The
opposition was given copies of these as part of the pre-trial
disclosure.
Dave
went through several full days of depositions. During this time he
was subjected to a battering of Good Cop – Bad Cop harassment. In
court, as he was waiting alone for the hearing to begin a group of
around ten men from the oil company sat around him and began to make
threats and remind him he had been “one of their own.” Dave did
not budge and did not respond.
The
lawyers hired managed, by legal manipulation, to keep Dave from
testifying and then suppressed his book, “The
Hidden Cost of Oil.”
Big Oil is afraid of Dave - but not the big environmental organizations. Ask yourself why.
Help us Stop Keystone - Rally Against Big Oil
Big Oil is afraid of Dave - but not the big environmental organizations. Ask yourself why.
Help us Stop Keystone - Rally Against Big Oil