I saw GasLand last evening at Lehigh University as part of the Southside Film Festival series. The auditorium in Whitaker Lab was filled to capacity with hardly an empty seat. Clean Water Action co-sponsored the screening and film maker Josh Fox was there for a Q&A session afterwards.
The film documents problems and issues surrounding the deregulation and expansion of natural gas drilling in shale formations found throughout the country. Being from Pennsylvania Fox begins his quest here investigating issues surrounding Marcellus Shale drilling and powerfully polluted water supplies poisoned by the 80,000 pounds of harmful chemicals used to drill each well.
The water table in Dimock, as well reported here, has been poisoned by gas drilling. Two hundred families there are now being supplied with water through DEP. They have yet to be reimbursed though for the fact their properties are now worthless. These folks have nowhere to go because they didn't think things through or do their due diligence before signing lease agreements. Many are now bankrupt because of their neighbors' actions.
There are several important lessons to be learned by watching GasLand:
do not sign any lease agreement with gas drilling companies
take water samples of your well before any drilling commences so you have a "before" sample in case of future litigation
if possible have water tests done before any drills are begun in your vicinity
contact all of your state and federal legislators to protest the exemptions these companies have from environmental laws and to insure moratoriums are imposed before more people are poisoned
know your rights and don't be shy about insisting that no forced pooling deprive you of your property, health and well being
The movie shows numerous people who set their tap water on fire. This is happening right here in Pennsylvania. Hydrofracturing is done to obtain the gas and this means hundreds of toxic chemicals are forced into the ground to fracture the shale deposits and release the gas. Unfortunately most of this toxic mix remains in the ground and the fracking process can result in natural gas seeping up through the ground and through the ground into aquifers. Each well can be fracked up to 18 times. Each well location can have multiple well heads and the contaminated water which is recovered through the process is being dumped into creeks, rivers and streams right here in our Commonwealth. Some canoeists and kayakers documented this just recently along the Kiski River.
State Representatives Steve Samuelson and Bob Freeman attended the screening and answered questions about the cuts to DEP's budget and other legislative issues being addressed in Harrisburg. The State Senate has been blocking all efforts to control and regulate the gas industry. Also there were candidates Mike Horton (State House) and Bill Wallace (State Senate).
Gas drilling is the most serious issue facing Pennsylvania right now. We are poisoning our population, kiling livestock and pets, rendering people bankrupt because their homes and farms are worthless without access to potable water, forcing our neighbors to buy water supplies elsewhere or be subjected to non disclosure agreements where they surrender their first amendment rights to free speech, expending resources of the state government while sharply reducing the DEP budget (as if we could rely on them to do anything to protect us!) and dumping tons of toxic pollutants into our air, ground and water. We are surely destroying almost our entire Commonwealth and we aren't even taxing these gas companies for the gas they're extracting.
There are things you can do:
contact your state Representative and Senator and demand a moratorium until regulations are passed and enforced
contact your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators to insure fracturing is covered by all federal environmental regulations
attend rallies around these issues
go see GasLand or watch it "on demand" at HBO
speak up loudly before it is your neighbor signing a gas lease which end your life as you know it
As my regular readers know I was in New Mexico last month when this film first came on TV. Interestingly almost everyone I met around Santa Fe mentioned this movie when I said I was a political writer from Pennsylvania. People are watching the film and it is having an impact. I had numerous questions about how Marcellus Shale drilling is going here and what we're doing about it. I didn't have any good news in response to those queries. Let's make sure I do for my next trip.
Update: A PA Young Dem caught this footage of "processed water," being discharged directly into the Kiski River while canoeing. Processed water is what remains after fracking. It is toxic and comes back up the well after being laden with hundreds of toxic chemicals to shatter the shale formation and releasing the gas. Not all this water remains in the ground and this is how they get rid of it:
