Wiebo Ludwig Passes-Did He Have the Last Laugh?

[bill barilko]

"If the oil companies run roughshod over your lives, you have to take defensive action against them, whatever is necessary," ... "You can't just let them kill your children."

Surprised one of the news junkies here hasn't posted about Wiebo Ludwig's passing.Certainly a controversial character and one who's life illustrated a lot of what is wrong in the Canadian energy production sector-not to mention corruption laziness and outright stupidity on the part of the RCMP.Certainly he had the guts to to take a stand-quite unlike the blowhards that pollute forums like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiebo_Ludwig

 

[skookumchuck]

I did not know Wiebo so cannot either condemn or condone his actions, but i have friends that lived in his area and they just did not have much good to say about him so said pretty much nothing and i did not pry.
That being said, i spent a fair portion of my life smelling sour gas on the wind and also being knocked down by it in Ft Mac.Using flare pits for snowmobile beer drinking parties at 30 below was a common thing for us.
Horseheads were as much a part of the landscape as Gophers and neighbors could light their water taps in the morning, oddly we are all still alive and kicking in our 60's-70's.
Oil companies are no different than any other big business in the long run. I hope nobody thinks that RBC or Seagrams, even the corner store, et al are just philanthropists. Business is what it is.

 

[WLDB]

I saw a documentary about him a few months back. An interesting figure.

 

[wulfie68]

Wiebo Ludwig was a liar, a criminal and a hyprocrite. He claimed to be against pollution but he contributed to it, by creating leaks in oilfield equipment, and specifically sour gas producing piping. He refused to allow any type of air quality monitoring by the gov't on his property to verify his claims that the air and water of his compound were being polluted. He offered no solutions or even attempted to identify a problem; all he offered was fiery rhetoric to inflate his image and bolster his ego. Someone out there (his compound known as Trickle Creek) killed a 16 yr old girl for the capital crime of trespassing and he endangered the lives of many others through his reckless actions and those of his sons.

The Beaverlodge RCMP took a lot of flak for the way they cooperated with the energy companies (and specifically AEC West, a division of Alberta Energy Company, which later merged into Encana) but how are they supposed to respond when the majority of the criminal complaints in their area are being generated from the campaign of vandalism the Ludwigs supported and took part in, many of which had the potential to cause serious harm to workers or neighbours of the facilities being targeted (one of the wellsites they used explosives on did cause the main highway (the major route from NW Alberta to NE BC) to be closed because of the sour gas released by it)? Since when is unlawful or unethical for a corporation to support crimewatch programs in areas they operate? Yes, not all energy companies are good guys and I'll tell you that other divisions of Alberta Energy weren't as proactive in dealing with leaks as AEC West was but his methods were designed to cost AEC money and get him a cash settlement.

I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone but I hope the god Ludwig faces judges him as he deserves.

 

[Kakato]

He was a criminal and terrorist,he obviously didnt care too much about oil companies killing his children when hes blowing up sour gas wellheads in populated areas.They never did prove it but he was prime suspect in the north BC wellhead terrorism also.

 

[bill barilko]

So it's much ass I thought-it was 'all his fault'.

 

[Cliffy]

Yup, the guvment says he's a terrist, so he must be a terrist. Oil cumpnies are saints and good corprate citizens, so that there Ludwig dude is gotta be a bad ass. A pox on all those what disagrees with me!

 

[wulfie68]

So it's much ass I thought-it was 'all his fault'.

It was. His claims were baseless. 100% BS.

I was there. I worked for Alberta Energy. I know what they did, when they did it. I was called to assess the damage and determine what had to be done to implement repairs after he set off explosions on sour gas production equipment. My family members lived in fear that Ludwig might kill someone and that I could be that someone. The reporters knew and still know very little of what went on there at that point in time. I will also say that there was a vast difference in philosophy and practice when Ken Woldum was AEC West's VP in charge of the area compared to regime Randy Eresman put in place (I can't comment on Encana as I quit before that merger took place).

 

[55Mercury]

It was. His claims were baseless. 100% BS.

I was there. I worked for Alberta Energy. I know what they did, when they did it. I was called to assess the damage and determine what had to be done to implement repairs after he set off explosions on sour gas production equipment. My family members lived in fear that Ludwig might kill someone and that I could be that someone. The reporters knew and still know very little of what went on there at that point in time. I will also say that there was a vast difference in philosophy and practice when Ken Woldum was AEC West's VP in charge of the area compared to regime Randy Eresman put in place (I can't comment on Encana as I quit before that merger took place).

was it corruption that made you quit?

 

[CDNBear]

Certainly he had the guts to to take a stand-quite unlike the blowhards that pollute forums like this.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself.

 

[Goober]

Surprised one of the news junkies here hasn't posted about Wiebo Ludwig's passing.Certainly a controversial character and one who's life illustrated a lot of what is wrong in the Canadian energy production sector-not to mention corruption laziness and outright stupidity on the part of the RCMP.Certainly he had the guts to to take a stand-quite unlike the blowhards that pollute forums like this.

Wiebo Ludwig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And an accomplice to this girls death.To you it appears he is a hero. Do you know anyone on this Forum that has been an acommplice to murder - Who as the leader ensured evidence disappeared.
So call me a blowhard. I take it as a compliment.


Ludwig's radical reputation created tension with neighbours, which reached a fever pitch after an early morning in June 1999, when a group of joyriding teens drove their trucks onto the lawn at Trickle Creek. Ludwig called 911, explaining shots had been fired at one of the trucks.

Bullets hit two teens, including 16-year-old Karman Willis, who later died.

 

[Kakato]

It was. His claims were baseless. 100% BS.

I was there. I worked for Alberta Energy. I know what they did, when they did it. I was called to assess the damage and determine what had to be done to implement repairs after he set off explosions on sour gas production equipment. My family members lived in fear that Ludwig might kill someone and that I could be that someone. The reporters knew and still know very little of what went on there at that point in time. I will also say that there was a vast difference in philosophy and practice when Ken Woldum was AEC West's VP in charge of the area compared to regime Randy Eresman put in place (I can't comment on Encana as I quit before that merger took place).

My boss at that time of the north BC explosions was president of an inspection outfit out of Calgary that had Encanna as their prime customer and the senior inspectors spent a lot of time up there investigating,it was no secret who was trying to blow up sour gas wellheads near populated areas.
You probably know my old Boss.

 

[Goober]

Yup, the guvment says he's a terrist, so he must be a terrist. Oil companies are saints and good corprate citizens, so that there Ludwig dude is gotta be a bad ass. A pox on all those what disagrees with me!

And blowing a sour gas well in areas where people reside would result in massive deaths and causalities. Oh no that is OK as he was fighting the good fight against evil Oil companies. Give me a break.
Your post implicitly states as long as it is a good fight - In your opinion- People being murdered is OK. Collateral damage as they say.

 

[karrie]

Yup, the guvment says he's a terrist, so he must be a terrist. Oil cumpnies are saints and good corprate citizens, so that there Ludwig dude is gotta be a bad ass. A pox on all those what disagrees with me!

I couldn't give a frig what the oil companies say, but my family know who was shooting at them on well sites and planting explosives. Terrorism is just that, terrorism. It kills citizens, not companies. Weibo Ludwig was a terrorist, make no mistake. I don't say this lightly... I will sleep a little better with him dead and gone. His terrorism targeted my family members, and pipelines that were in my back yard.... not oil companies. Citizens, not oil companies.

Gas well bomber Ludwig reviled - Winnipeg Free Press

.Certainly he had the guts to to take a stand-quite unlike the blowhards that pollute forums like this.

If you so greatly admire people who prefer to bomb, rather than discuss issues and push for change through appropriate measures, I suggest you might want to move out of the western nations and find a hole in the middle east to live in.

 

[bill barilko]

His claims were baseless. 100% BS.

So Old Wiebo was the one who invented sour gas and it was him who was setting people's water on fire as it came out of the tap!!

The things a person learns on the Internet!

 

[karrie]

So Old Wiebo was the one who invented sour gas and it was him who was setting people's water on fire as it came out of the tap!!

The things a person learns on the Internet!

You can drill a water well here in Alberta and hit natural gas... no one's ever claimed otherwise. The oil companies don't PUT the stuff in the ground. People have had that issue since Alberta's been settled, it's why we're rich... the natural gas is right flipping there. Weibo didn't invent it, but neither did the oil companies.

There are many, many reasons that the communities Weibo targeted are resentful at being subject to his terrorist attacks, and one of them is the fact that he has neighbours, lots of neighbours, who plain and simple, are not suffering the catastrophic health issues that he blamed on sour gas.

 

[Kakato]

So Old Wiebo was the one who invented sour gas and it was him who was setting people's water on fire as it came out of the tap!!

The things a person learns on the Internet!

No,it's not sour gas that comes out of your tap,if it was you really wouldnt know it,thats a natural thing that happens in gasfields and oilfields.
We have so much it just comes out of the ground.

 

[Cliffy]

No,it's not sour gas that comes out of your tap,if it was you really wouldnt know it,thats a natural thing that happens in gasfields and oilfields.
We have so much it just comes out of the ground.

I suppose it has nothing to do with fracking. Most of the watersheds in North America are polluted with gas from fracking. That is what happens in a lot of oil fields other than the tar sands. You shatter the bed rock and gas seeps into the water sheds.

 

[Kakato]

I suppose it has nothing to do with fracking. Most of the watersheds in North America are polluted with gas from fracking. That is what happens in a lot of oil fields other than the tar sands. You shatter the bed rock and gas seeps into the water sheds.

No and it's never been proven either,if you understood what fracking is all about then you wouldnt be asking this question,fracking involves cracking the rock around a drill hole so that gas and the other goodies FLOW into the pipe and not dissipate into the ground like nature makes it do.Theres lots of info on the net about fracking,you should educate yourself on the process.

No and it's never been proven either,if you understood what fracking is all about then you wouldnt be asking this question,fracking involves cracking the rock around a drill hole so that gas and the other goodies FLOW into the pipe and not dissipate into the ground like nature makes it do.Theres lots of info on the net about fracking,you should educate yourself on the process.

And most of the watersheds in america are not polluted from fracking,you are very ignorant on the environment to even post something like this.

No and it's never been proven either,if you understood what fracking is all about then you wouldnt be asking this question,fracking involves cracking the rock around a drill hole so that gas and the other goodies FLOW into the pipe and not dissipate into the ground like nature makes it do.Theres lots of info on the net about fracking,you should educate yourself on the process.




And most of the watersheds in america are not polluted from fracking,you are very ignorant on the environment to even post something like this.

You shatter the bedrock to seal the cracks,do some reading,you really give the energy industry a bad name with your mis information and fearmongering. Michael moore would be proud.

 

[Cliffy]

Gasland: A film by Josh Fox

Stop fracking in Canada

Fracking Hell: The Untold Story - YouTube

CBS - 60 Minutes Reports Controversy on Fracking - YouTube