Gasland

[robkanraft]

Gasland, Winner of The Special Jury Prize for Documentary at 2010 Sundance Film Festival begins showing on Monday on HBO documentaries.

For those of you with access, it might be worth taking a look.

The film focuses on communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing.

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[Wildwood]

ARGGGHH!! I'm right in the middle of the FRACing mess of the Fayetteville Shale Play. Thanks for the heads up.
Jan

[71dartswinger]

Wildwood, if you would honestly post what your royality checks are, I highly doubt anyone is going to feel sorry for you.

[Jim Krueger]

There was an interview on N.P.R. today I listened to featuring the author of Gasland. One of the over-riding points brought out in the interview was the distinct probably of the lack of understanding of the fracturing process (and it's mechanics&consequences) by lease holders, and exactly what they were leaving themselves open to. I was busy building birdhouses in the shop at the time, but this was what I gathered from the report, while taking care not to mash my thumb... :shock: Whether it's the gas deposits of a landowners property in the North Central 'Fayetteville Shale area', or my land in the Southwestern part of the state (later) for it's reserves of soft coal (Lignite), I don't think any land owner would truly relish their small financial gains over the disruption of their lives and and the larger ecology that are bound to ensue.

Best regards
Jim

[okieboater]

Any land owner with a water well and gas or oil leases on adjacent land parcels is asking for trouble if the fracking starts.

After all, the intent is to fracture the under ground structure and let oil or gas flow.

Hopefully the gas or oil doesn't migrate into the water seams as well.

[Wildwood]

Dartswinger,
In the first place, I was not asking for or expecting sympathy from anyone.
The amount of my royalty check will never compensate for the loss of my peace and quiet. I was living in a rural, quiet, low-traffic area until the gas well drilling began. There is now 24/7 noise; the hydraulic fluid in the air is so bad you can taste it; most of the roads are ruined - repeatedly; and the damage already done to our WATER is a shame.

I was perfectly satisfied with my life BEFORE the checks started coming. This farm has been in my family for about a hundred years. It's the first place I ever lived. I retired here after working in Alaska, and built a new house in the woods, where I could watch the deer & turkeys in my yard. For about 3 years, it was great.

Now I use the $$$ from royalty checks to go somewhere else to get away from the noise and nasty air. My house has become the place I come to in between trips.

Money is not what life is all about. The royalty checks are nothing compared to what the gas companies are making. And the checks can't bring back my peace and quiet.

[71dartswinger]

I wouldn call it a movie and not a documentary....

Movie claim: In the film’s signature moment, Mike Markham, a landowner ignites his tap water. The filmmaker leaves the viewer with the impression the flaming tap water is a result of natural gas drilling even though he acknowledges that tests of Markham’s well revealed only naturally occurring methane.

Truth: The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission tested Markham’s water in 2008 finding his water well had been drilled into a natural gas pocket. The film leaves a clear—and false—perception that hydraulic fracturing was to blame. This is simply not true.

Movie claim: The film shows footage of a Colorado News report that Renee McClure was lighting her tap on water.

Truth: The depiction of a flaming faucet in the home of Renee McClure in Colorado also leaves viewers with a false impression about the connection to the gas industry to natural methane in people’s water wells. Ms. McClure’s well was sampled by the state and it too showed only “naturally occurring biogenic methane gas in well and no impact from oil and gas activities.”

Movie claim: The film flashes the word’s “35 mile fish kill drunkard creek Washington County, PA.”

Truth: The Environmental Protection Agency has tied the fish kills in Dunkard Creek to coal mine run-off. Here is the official report and a story on it in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Movie claim: The natural gas industry is exempted from ``The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act the Safe Drinking Water Act the Superfund law and about a dozen other environmental and democratic regulations.’’

Truth: The natural gas production is subject to federal, state and local regulations that cover everything from initial permits to well construction to water disposal. The natural gas community is committed to being good neighbors and responsible stewards of the land, and we are committed to answering the public’s questions and concerns in a factual and science-based way.

Movie claim: “Just a few short months after this interview, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection suffered the worst budget cuts in history, amounting to over 700 staff either being fired or having reduced hours and 25 percent of its total budget cut.”

Truth: DEP press release issued January 28, 2010: “Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that the commonwealth is strengthening its enforcement capabilities. At the Governor’s direction, the Department of Environmental Protection will begin hiring 68 new personnel who will make sure that drilling companies obey state laws and act responsibly to protect water supplies. DEP also will strengthen oil and gas regulations to improve well construction standards.”

Movie claim: The film highlights the town of Dish, Texas, where the mayor has complained about benzene in his blood because of exposure to natural gas operations.

Truth: The fact is a Texas Department of State Health Services investigation in Dish, showed that residents’ exposure to contaminants “was not greater than that of the general U.S. population.”

[Jaytee]

I thought Gasland was incredibly interesting, and troubling. It didn't claim to be the be-all end-all documentary scientific analysis of fracking. What it did claim to be was one man's efforts to anecdotally evaluate what hydraulic fracturing has done to the rural well water and life of thousands of people. I don't think we can realistically dispute that it hasn't wreaked havoc on rural water supplies and land in a number of communities across the country.

The rebuttal above seems a bit canned (in fact, it has floated some around Facebook). I don't claim to know the truth one way or another but the "rebuttal" on the Clean Water Act, etc. exemptions misses the mark. No one claimed fracking was exempt from all state and federal regulation. What he did say, truthfully, is that it is blessed with exemptions from CERCLA, CWA, etc. That's a simple truth. You can debate the pros and cons of it, but it is NOT false.

[Wildwood]

Dartswinger, which gas company do you work for? Can you say you are honestly objective, when you are obviously on the side of the drillers?

Jan

[71dartswinger]

There was nothing but scare tatics and no science in the film. Everyone wants to go after the oil/gas companies. I can tell you that service companies and operators in Arkansas are held to a higher standard than those in other states when it comes to eviromental laws.

[Wildwood]

Everyone wants to go after the oil/gas companies. I can tell you that service companies and operators in Arkansas are held to a higher standard than those in other states when it comes to eviromental laws.

Maybe that's because we don't want to end up with Arkansas looking like areas in Texas & Oklahoma, with little water or trees.

It's funny to listen to the gas truckers complaining about how bad our roads are, when their trucks are what ruined our roads after drilling started. (Half the time they are lost anyway because they can't read maps.)

[Gink]

I for one enjoy threads like this where we get to hear from every side -- those that oppose fracking and extraction of natural resources, those who own mineral leases, those who are actively involve in the industry, etc. It is important that we see -- and understand -- all sides of every issue. One of the reasons behavioral change is so difficult to achieve is because we simply can't look beyond our personal heuristics, beliefs and value systems -- so we keep on doing things the same way over and over again, unwilling to change -- it's also the reason why our elected and appointed officials and industry and multimnational capitalist interests have found it so easy to appeal to our "emotional strings" to our social, moral and fiscal detriment.

If we are really all that worried about our surface and ground water it begins at home -- and with education. We can focus on conservation of resources and these "big obvious threats" but non-point pollution emanating from our homes, yards and businesses is our biggest threat -- look at the packaging on your shampoos, soap, lotions, medicaments, food, et. and then think of the chemical cocktail you're mixing up every day and washing down the sink or flushing down the toilet -- triclosan, nonylphenol, ethoxylates, octylphenol, bromates, bisphenol A, pharmaceuticals and hormones, ad infinitum. Nasty stuff that makes our hair shine, makes our lotions smell good and gives that make-up remover just the right consistency -- and which are difficult to remove from our waste stream. Fact: In the U.S. there are more than 3,000 substances added to foods alone for the purpose of preservation, coloring, texture, increasing flavor and such -- everytime you go to the grocery store you are supporting the extraction, synthesis and production of some very foul, nasty, harmful chemicals -- trading off convenience for the poisoning of our landscape.

Just like those that drive to the river and paddle "plastic boats" can't really protest against petroleum industry or those that heat their homes with gas or electricity aren't well positioned to rally against natural gas and coal we all need to look very closely at what we buy and use -- and how it is disposed. Preachin' to the choir here -- but before we rally against others, it is best we always look at ourselves first. Each day we should look around our homes focusing on what we can do to reduce our waste stream, curtail our consumption, and minimize our environmental impact.

"Teach your children well".

[Butch Crain]

signed up, cashed in
damn the working class
plastic boat, on the grid

[Paddlegal]

I love this thread for both points of view.

I haven't been paddling in several years now, I acquired an auto immune disease based on allergies, where my skin cells reproduce at an abnormal rate. Commonly called Hand and Foot Psoriasis. As I visit the clinic 3 times a week at UAMS for UVB light treatment to keep this under control, I count myself lucky. I see little bitty kids with this stuff all over their bodies.

I'm allergic to foaming agents, rubber and certain other chemical agents in particular products. I was easily able to find an alternative soap made of organic elements to wash my hair and body. I had to buy a dishwasher so my hands weren't immersed in the foaming agents in dish soap (can't wear rubber gloves to protect them from it). And did you know that most products you rub on your skin or consume in other ways contain 'carbomers' for thickening....a petroleum based product. I can't even use a bandaid, the adhesives are made of petroleum based products.

I paid a bunch of money to buy plastic shoes from South America, made from a polymer, not rubber based plastics. By the way.....they are called Jellies.....and Crocs work well too.

They work well for me but are not condusive to paddling, gravel bar tramping around, etc. etc.

My son was diagnosed at the age of 5 with ADD. I stumbled across a newspaper article about the Feingold Diet. It eliminated all chemicals, artificial colors and preservatives. I took my child off of the mind numbing Ritalin he was being zombified by and just basically cooked real food instead of packaged goods. Within days his behavior was normal.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that the more we pump artificial petroleum based products and chemicals into our bodies, the more we are seeing things like this. Just look up the stats about how many kids are on Ritalin and how many suicides are blamed on that drug. My son said it made him feel "fuzzy".

I read somewhere that the shale projects are going to turn Arkansas into a resource state for those products. The reason I love Arkansas is because it is such a natural state. The entire population of Arkansas is not even 3 million people. And if you look at all kinds of nationwide maps like flight plans, etc. you'll see that Little Rock is pretty much ignored. I hoped it would stay that way. When the big horse race was planned not too long ago, there was a problem with international flights of the wealthy coming from all over to get here. They closest they could get was Memphis and then rent limos to get to Hot Springs.

It in the end, it all comes down to personal choices. We're a planet of consumers out-racing what mother earth can provide for us and changing her basic composition. Think about it people, there is now a Northwest Passage.

And yeah, I'm a consumer on the grid too Larry

[Butch Crain]

I'd never heard of the Fiengold diet. There seems to be very little negative comment about it on the internet. Certainly worth investigating if one's family is touched by any of the related health issues. Thanks for mentioning it.

Aren't we all guilty of adding to environmental degradation? I understand Arkansans desire to keep their homes as "natural" as possible. God knows we could have done more in Louisiana over the past 80 years.

But "not in my backyard (NIMBY)" and hammering folks that literally work sunrise to sunup for industry to do for themselves and their families is pretty lame.

No doubt the issues in "GasLand" need to be investigated. But that piece of work is about as far from a scientific look at the issues as you can get. Hey, I think Micheal Moore is entertaining and maybe closer to the truth than the bs we get from corporate interests, but he's expressing a point of view, not practicing journalism or even close to doing real documentary work. Same for the guy that did Gasland.

Just saying that until a person has put their money where their mouth is, trying to shift blame and environmental consequence to someone else, somewhere else is beyond disingenous.