Everybody knows that there is oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This myth has been around for decades. Except that when the oil companies went looking they came up with a dry hole. 33 years ago.
In the meantime, the current Federal Government is rushing to sell leases cheap to drill for oil on our protected lands in Alaska. Rushing to sell them and take in the money before 2020 comes. Their reason for selling these leases? Because everybody knows that there is oil in the Alaska protected lands.
Except that the oil companies came up with a dry hole when they went looking for it in 1986. They drilled an exploratory well. It was a dry hole.
They have kept it secret all that time. Since 1986. Until now. See Steve Eder and Henry Fountain, Arctic Oil Well Hid Its Secrets For 3 Decades, New York Times, Wednesday, April 3, 2019, p. A1 (the New York Times may charge for online access to this article).
They kept their secret because two judges enabled them to keep it a secret. There was testimony and there were documents.
The first judge sealed evidence including testimony in 1986 in a lawsuit among oil companies and their shareholders.
The second judge sealed the same evidence in a lawsuit that the oil companies filed against the State of Alaska to keep the public from seeing the evidence.
"Quiet in the Courts!" This secret is now in plain sight. It is also clear now that because this evidence was concealed 33 years ago, it causes us harm now. That's a fact.
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