Texans are supposed to be friendly and welcoming to strangers. Today Norway TV2 got some great footage at an EagleRidge frack job in Denton, Texas that not only looks unfriendly but looks like industry has something to hide.
I am well aware that the public right of way is between the telephone poles and the road. We were parked well within the public right of way and out of the driveway. We cooperated with the security guard and we were polite. Still he rather flamboyantly walked to the front of the vehicle and wrote down the license number. When asked why he did that, he answered, “Because I have to.”
You might remember that EagleRidge was in local and international news recently because Mark Grawe, Chief Operating Officer at EagleRidge Energy (EagleRidge), stated at a public meeting in Mansfield, Texas that Denton residents are on the Department of Homeland Security’s Watch List. AUDIO
I am guessing they need the license number for the Fracking Mafia’s PSYOPS Database.
The guard called the police who showed up in two cars and seemed to be as confused as we were about why they were called. Again, we were standing and parked in the public right of way. When they asked the guard why he took our license number, he said that he was afraid we might leave. That’s a confusing answer since it seemed making us leave was his objective.
Taking people’s license numbers is an intimidation tactic. I won’t be intimidated by thugs.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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I got a real Barney Fife vibe watching this. And …
“Citizen’s arrest! Citizen’s arrest!”
Seriously, what are they so afraid of? If they want to conduct Super Secret Operations, then don’t do it in our backyards. Assclowns.
Maybe it’s just me, but I kinda got the impression the guard didn’t really know what he was supposed to do. He certainly didn’t know what he was supposed to do once he got your plate. Probably still confused. So are two police officers wondering why they got called.
Eagle Ridge Energy should contact Range Resources for a lesson in intimidation tactics. At least better intimidation tactics.
I got the same impression Tim. It’s almost like he was poached from a job as a Walmart Greeter and then plunked into a much less hospitable role. That may be why he didn’t want Sharon to leave, probably not the easiest or most comfortable transition to make.
Damn, that made me laugh. At least we know what ER first line of defense against the truth.
This is a normal security procedure and the oil & chemical company faucilites are required to follow by federal law. When you are dealing with something like a well or storage tank that could be destroyed by a hand held weapon, federal rules require they monitor all vehicles. Most of the time they have cameras that can grab the plate numbers. This type of attack has happened in other countries where they essentially have destroyed energy facilities using drive by tactics. The correct response in that situation is to be nice and understanding. After all, the guard and police are just doing their jobs and they are not actually doing anything unusual.
I’ve been around oil and gas activities for over 16 years and this was a first so it’s not standard procedure. It’s so convenient for the industry to paint us as potential terrorists (as you just did) so they can eventually make it illegal to record their activities.
Please cite that federal law. Thanks.
Additionally, the camera crew had been visiting drill sites in Texas all day for several days and this was also a first for them.
And the police did absolutely nothing because the people there were doing absolutely nothing wrong. Please give the “terrorism” threat a rest – as much as the drillers would like to paint people in that picture it simply is totally false.
TXsharon, Could you do me a favor and the rest of the people here a favor??
Could you post up a complete Video of what happened? After all YOU are the one that attacked and knocked over the 70+ year old Gentleman. I think the people that read this blog or post of your’s NEED to see ALL the facts. Not just the ones you want up to make the oil industry look bad. Next time you are out there or am trying to do things to keep the oil industry from moving forward. Remember that GOD made the oil for US to use. Not only that. BUT without the oil YOU could not drive around in your car and get in the way of the biggest industry in the world!! So next time you feel the urge to stop or to try and hinder the oil Industry, Please park or sell your car and WALK to were you want to go. And you might need to take your shoes off to. After all they to are made from the OIL that come out of the ground. As is most plastic, Rubber and even parts of our clothes and part you use in the Kitchen and part of the house you live in. Without the OIL that is being pulled out of the ground we would be nothing but a Third world country. Well more accurate we would be BEHIND the Third world country’s in development.. Keep all this in mind please.
Thanks for your time.
David, what happens when the “oil GOD made for US to use” runs out … he gonna make us some more?
The simple answer is yes, Alberta. More oil is forming under the earth’s crust as you and I take the time to type these replies.
Well, see there, Alberta. God is going to keep making more and more oil and gas for us to use recklessly in pursuit of frying the planet he made so we have no worries.
Oh, I guess he is going to make some more water too since we are wrecking the water cycle.
More good news, according to Alberta’s former Environment Minister, who is now Alberta’s Energy Minister, and I suspect is also the exuberant GTO slayer – God is making us more gravel as well:
“Mr. Speaker. Quite frankly, gravel is something that we use as a resource in this province. When we take it out of the rivers and it renews itself, it’s an important resource that we have. We use it for many different things in the province.”
Very important for roads and well pads, but I’m starting to feel that God may be showing a little favouritism towards one industry and a couple of his buffet items. Ruining the water, air and land to get at his unlimited helpings of oil and gas, doesn’t seem like very good planning to me.
You’d think he would at least put that all-day-buffet somewhere the companies don’t have to bust us up and turn us inside-out to get to.
http://www.albertasurfacerights.org/articles/?id=1678
Thanks for your comment, David. Remember that I was at this site with a professional TV station crew who recorded everything. Also remember that we were abiding the law. Had that not been the case, the police would surely have taken some action.
Why is it that of all the industries on this planet, only the oil & gas industry thinks it is above criticism? That’s a rhetorical question so no need to answer.
Wonderful statement David. Nice fancy car they are driving that uses oil, along w/ all the other products in her home, office etc.
Sharon, why do you have leather couches? Is it ok for animals to be killed for your furniture? Or for the food you feed your dogs? How about the animal skin your dogs lay on?
Sharon, that rubber hose in your backyard is made from oil but you don’t protest that right?
You have your dogs in sweaters that are made from oil.
Good luck w/ your cause.
Thanks Brock Samson but we don’t need luck. We actually are making very good headway. Fracking is a household word now and was second only after occupy this year. 89% of Americans want clean energy. Several countries, hundreds of cities and some counties have banned fracking. Dallas, Texas just passed strict drilling ordinances that industry claims is a de facto ban. And the crazy law in Pennsylvania that tried to make it illegal for cities to control drilling activities was struck down by the state Supreme Court.
People are rejecting fracking because the industry can’t see to do it without causing great harm. Instead of conducting their operations in a better manner, industry uses psyops and survelliance on Americans and tries to threaten and intimidate us. Even conservatives are turning against fracking and joining hands with liberals to call for cleaner energy sources.
BTW, I won’t be accepting your friend request on Facebook.
Ummm, you do realize that this blog you post to with your, computer, laptop, phone, or tablet, are all made from byproducts of oil.
Ummm, so because OILgarchy has a power structure and manufacturing squeeze that controls what everything is made of, I’m supposed to let them walk all over me, ruin property value, pollute water and air? Is that the American way?
Sharon, is this the same person (who obviously profits from O$G, and doesn’t live near a site) posting the very tiring straw man arguments here?
Yawn.
This blog post is getting a lot of traffic from powerstrokearmy.com so I’m guessing some of them work for industry and they love diesel engines. They trolled around on my facebook page and think they know something about me.
Yeah, same old strawman arguments handed to them by their employers and repeated over and over with no regard for reasoning. My response to their false premise was printed in the Dallas Morning News.
David & others of your kinn—-don’t pack sand up my ass! You all can take your comments and put them where the sun doesn’t shine. I like your logic, ha. Kind of like you saying that since I routinely take a sh**, then I must be a sh** head. ha, ha! Go on back to your side of the fence!
It does seem to me that the security guard was a little out of his comfort zone. He didn’t know what to do with you, and by the sound of your report on it, you guys weren’t taking any nonsense either.
He had to resort to the police which is clearly over the top, but hints at his inability to handle the situation himself.
I really felt bad for the guy. I just wanted to know if he was instructed to get my license plate or not. It didn’t actually matter because the vehicle was rented by the people from whatever country it was. (There have been so many foreign journalists here I can’t keep count.)
After this past week, I know that these guys are told to get the license number. I was taking pictures of a facility in the Eagle Ford Shale and a truck pulled up very close behind where I was parked on the shoulder of a public road. He wanted me to see that he was getting my license and pictures of me. This is simply industry trying to intimidate and build their psyops database.