Plea To Pilar Gravitt: Let Me Interview You

El Paso Corp in-house counsel, Pilar Gravitt, did zero homework. Imagine filing a lawsuit against a blogger claiming that her camera poses a safety hazard on THIS property. ExxonMobils properties in my area have always been graveyards. It wasn't until Pilar Gravitt got involved that it escalated to really ugly stuff. I had the benefit of knowing what was going on, and I would write Pilar letters saying, "Hey people are getting kidnapped here. People are getting killed here."I think its because these psycho guys were getting chased out of Mexico. A bunch of them hitched rides on equipment coming from the Roleta Field to the McGill. EP was moving all the trailers back and forth between the Roleta and the McGill every 30 days. At the request of Hornberger, Sheehan, Fuller and Beiter, Judge Terrell ruled that Exxon et al. could use the prisoners from the Texas Workforce Commission to build more roads around the checkpoint. That really didn't help matters.
I have sent many requests to Pilar Gravitt to give an explanation for her course of action for the film project. Probably she was just busy and not paying attention. Unfortunately, that doesn't bring anyone back to life. Pilar Gravitt is the catalyst of the story. I want her to speak for herself. We didn't leave the ranch because of drug cartels, we left because of Pilar Gravitt. I realized, "Oh my God, clueless Pilar decides who lives and dies out here?" I didn't want to live somewhere that Pilar Gravitt called the shots. (literally and figuratively.)  I don't see her as an evil person, I just think she is a low level bureaucrat in El Paso Corps lawyer pool. Pilar chose to come onto my stage. I don't have a vendetta against Pilar. My book and movie are autobiographical. I met her once in court, she's a very cute girl. That makes her an even better character. Stylish dresser, too. She has sex appeal. She is a sympathetic character. She is interesting. She makes the story interesting.
I also request an interview with the lovable Judge Terrell:
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The Catch - 22

To be fair, Exxon has made an effort to address my concerns. For instance, XOM requested all my GPS photos (of which there were about 7000) and they have crews out picking up, fencing off, decommissioning every single item in the photographs. Everything (except for the Kelsey Compressor Station, Caliche pit and the SWD well) featured in my youtube movies is GONE.  Exxon has had three plugging rigs working non stop and have plugged about 95 wells that have not produced in decades. It's a big step. And, it's not just on the McGill Ranch - they are doing the same thing for all of the leases around South Texas. Pulling flow lines, marking gas lift, taking down tank batteries. Exxon replaced the head of the the Gulf Coast on-shore operations and they streamlined their process to repair issues once they are reported. Seriously, this is really streamlined compared to the old protocol. It was issued in the summer of 2011:

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(ahh, flow charts, the ultimate in corporate procrastination)

Serious weaknesses still exist -

1. It only kicks in after a notification of a problem is made - and few local supervisors are going to report problems because.... repairs cost money and money spent is money that the supervisor doesn't get in his annual bonus.

2. The process begins only after a work order is generated (i.e. approved by someone.) The process to notify and then get approval is still the same. (i.e. - a black hole of bureaucracy)

***It was only this year that ExxonMobil authorized the ability to email the notifications to start the process. Prior to this update, field workers were only allowed to fax the notifications of problems. However, the Kelsey office fax machine broke in 2001. No one could get a new fax until the issue was reported (via fax machine which was non-functioning). So, the breakdown of the fax machine was effectively the end of any maintenance or repair in the Kelsey field. Theoretically, under the new policy, someone at the Kelsey office could email a request for repair of the fax machine, however, practically speaking, this is difficult if not impossible, because the Kelsey office does not have internet service.

But.... the El Paso E&P wells have gone from shiny and new to just rusty crap in the space of a year. El Paso has pretty much bailed and the only expenditure allowed are soap sticks. That JV is going to be the next heap. EP used the wrong kind of couplings on the buried salt water disposal polyline. They used the ones for fresh water polyline. The heat and the hydrocarbons melt the couplings. It's just constant leaks with that. All along the McGill to the Villarreal. The couplings designed for natural gas are much more expensive. So, they used the polyline for natural gas and the couplings for fresh water. In some places, they don't use couplings, they just use the melted glue stuff.

Transcripts From My First Ever Deposition

Here are the transcripts from my pretty dull federal deposition. Chevron subpeoned me as a witness in some case I've never heard of. I had nothing to offer them.

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Cattle Baron Weighs in on The Border Sitch

A lot of people are chanting this "boots on the ground" mantra and it is getting on my nerves. And, it's getting on Cattle Baron's nerves a little, too. The boots that come are federal agents who hang out on the public roads and push more smugglers on to ExxonMobil's private network of roads that bypass the Border Patrol checkpoint. ExxonMobils AMI is fraught with danger and evil. The criminals are subject to attack by even worse criminals who hijack drug loads and kidnap immigrants and then kill a bunch of people and bury them in pits.

Back in Black

What every Malulo is hoping to find under the tree the year! Gun rack in the front, big knife on the back. Nice matte black paint job for those that hunt at night in the ExxonMobil AMI. Not much room to carry home the kill... just the necessary space for the finger tips and teeth. Ninja costume not included.

Buyer Beware

So, thinking of buying some old production from Exxon's radioactive dump sites, er, I mean HBP leases? Or, one of El Paso's compressor stations saturated with chlorinated solvents? Just be sure to read the fine print:

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Darn It

I talked to Coon Ass Counsel, John Carmouche, today. He said that he hasn't heard a peep from Chevron regarding a court order to seize all my movie material. So, I guess they have backed off on that. I talked to Joe Berlinger who made the movie Crude (Chevron managed to get his unedited footage by court order) about it. I asked him if it changed what he decides to make movies about and he said, (and I quote) "Hell, no!" He did say, however, that he rarely sends emails anymore because Chevron subpoenaed all his emails and the lawyers turned his words around. So, it did effect his life in that way. And, he said it was "a really expensive process." He had some less-than-flattering assessments of Chevron's legal eagles.

I have to admit I am a little disappointed that Chevron didn't drag my ass into federal court because I've never been to federal court and am kinda curious about it.

Dead Deer Drama

Cattle Baron was buzzing about in his helicopter checking on his steers, and he noticed this dead buck on a heap of pipe on a McGill Bros. drill pad where a well had recently been plugged. Assuming that foul play was involved, Game Warden Royce Ilse was quickly dispatched to the scene. He did a field autopsy and determined that the buck was NOT the victim of poachers, but had been chased and killed by coyotes - Ilse theorized that the deer appeared to have tried to go under the pipe as if it was a fence because some of the pipes were overhanging and forming a sort of ledge. It appears the deer came up from under and got his legs tangled in the pipe. And, then the coyotes killed it. It was clear to Ilse that the cause of death was by coyote. Obviously, I was not on the scene because I would have much better photos and videos than this!

What Will Become of Pilar Gravitt?

Pilar Gravitt strikes me as just a young over-worked attorney who believed she wasn't responsible for her actions because she was under the umbrella of the El Paso Corp legal department. Over the years, I would send her notice that immigrants were being kidnapped on the El Paso lease. There was human trafficking, there was murder. I sent signed and sworn affidavits from law enforcement to Pilar. But, all she did was go to Judge Terrell and have all the records about kidnapping, murders, and human trafficking on the El Paso lease deemed as confidential and proprietary property of El Paso Corp. Cut! Next scene! 100's of dead bodies of human trafficking victims dug up in pits in the AMI. Who signs the documents to hide all of this? Pilar Gravitt. And... there is no El Paso Corp to defend Pilar's actions because El Paso Corp has been sold to Kinder Morgan. It's just Pilar's name and signature on the documents from some defunct oil company. But she will be o.k.. She can point out that it wasn't conscious indifference because the Texas Bar Association ruled that she had done no wrong in having all of this information shielded from the public and law enforcement who could have intervened and saved countless lives. Pilar Gravitt set a series of events in motion with the polyline lawsuit and I, personally, hold her accountable for the consequences. I hope that my movie will discourage other young corporate in house attorneys, like Pilar Gravitt, from thinking that they are safe from scrutiny just because they work for a big corporation with a huge legal department.

On the bright side for Ms. Pilar, I think she has a real future in media. She will make more money in entertainment anyway. It will work out o.k. for her. She's cute and people love individuals that come back after committing horrible deeds. She can write her own book and become a commentator on CNN. I suspect she has regrets. With a big corporation, it's very hard to determine accountability, but in court filings, an individual lawyer has to personally sign and take that responsibility.