HACKED BY CYBER-ATTACK - ALPERENBTN

[Mr. Champ]

I am not sure the author of this because I received it in a forwarded e-mail. It sure as hell concerns me and it would be cool if we could all gang up on these idiots... before we know it, our fishing grounds could be lost or destroyed. Please read and pass this on!:



The headline of a story in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Texas) dated
November 27, 2004 is a call to action!  "Seashore May Get 5 Wells" should
be the last straw for all of us who care about sea turtles and this sacred
ground.

As a long time worker for the recovery of the endangered Kemp's Ridley sea
turtle (23 years), I am angry but also saddened by this news of the
possibility of a total of six gas wells being drilled at the Padre Island
National Seashore and maybe more. (One is already there.) After long years
of work and waiting, a number of Kemp's Ridleys have returned to nest at
the National Seashore. For those who are not familiar with this project to
re-establish a nesting population on the Texas coastline, millions of
taxpayer dollars have been spent to save a species decimated by egg
collection in Mexico and shrimp fishing in U.S. waters. Just as success
seems within our grasp, there is a new and threatening challenge,
development of more gas wells at the Padre Island National Seashore with
more trucks, more traffic, more noise, more pollution, etc. Yes, a number
of Kemp's Ridley sea turtles nested last summer in spite of traffic and
accompanying distractions due to the first BNP well, bu
t we are now talking about greater development in this place set aside in
1962 for humans to find peace and wildlife to find refuge from man's
continuing search for more resources and riches.

Comments are needed before December 22, 2004 to the Superintendent of the
Padre Island National Seashore.  (If you have any questions about this,
please feel free to e-mail.) You can go to the Sea Turtle Restoration
Project's Action Alert page at http://www.seaturtles.org/actionalertdetails.cfm?actionAlertID=78 for a
quick response.
_________________
Everyone should believe in something.... I believe I'll have another.

[TW]

Scary- you bet but the turtle people scare me way more than the drillers.

TW

_________________
TW

[rabbit]

[cctxfish]

Yaaaa.humaaaaaans Baaaad,,,,,,Turrrrtles gooood. Bad humans looking for rishes.
Come on, Maybe we could have given all that tax money to the drillers so that they never drill on PINS, and the turtle would have a place of their own. Most people know to leave the wildlife alone, and let them do their own buisness.
_________________
even a bad day of fishing beats a great day at work

[Guest]

Some of what appeared in the newspaper and on this and Tyler's string doesn't agree with what PINS's November 2004 Environmental Assessment says. For example, the EA says there are already 13 active oil and gas operations at PINS, BNP has already drilled two wells there, PINS has approved 2 more, and PINS is considering in this EA approval of 5 more. The same EA also says another BNP well could be located near the site of the 5, and a previous EA says BNP might have to rework or redrill its first well at Yarborough Pass. We're looking at 8 or 9 new drilling operations between now and next summer.

The EA also claims the only place the sea turtles nest on the gulf beach at PINS is above the "dry line," yet, in each case, the EA states that despite multiple threats of damage to sea turtles BNP crews must drive down the beach above the "dry line" to gaps maintained or to be created in the dunes at MPs 6.9, 12.5, and 15. The EA emphasizes there is consequently no way to guarantee, despite a ton of mitigative measures, that rig trucks, maintenance trucks, and tankers hauling brines and distillates, to say nothing of the road graders needed to fill in the ruts these vehicles leave, won't kill or injure turtles, eggs and nestings.

Personally, I'm okay with the drilling, but totally ticked that BNP and the other producers on the island haven't been allowed to interconnect the existing well access roads behind the dunes and get off the beach for good. Half the comments I sent to PINS about the EA were to debunk the bogus reasons why the agency won't even seriously consider that alternative.

BTW, rabbit, it isn't just about the turtles; the EA says the majority of the visitors to PINS use the first 5 miles of South Beach. There's no good reason they should have to share it with 18-wheelers when a few more miles of caliche road out back of the dunes would suffice. And guess what would happen to well access the next time the tide hits the dunes? Nothing.

Get a copy of the EA and send in your own comments based upon that, not rumors.

[jerry]

Let them drill. But I'm with Johnny put the road behind the dunes the rest of the wildlife on PINs would not be effected by the road. At least not near as much as the turtles are. Also wasn't part of the original agreement that gave the island to the park service that the mineral rights remain with the original owners?
_________________
Broken or not fix it!
NRA Life member
CCCTKF