On Saturday, October 30, the Bulger Communication Center at Buffalo State College will be hosting the Buffalo premier of GASLAND, a film by Josh Fox.
The film, which won the Special Jury Prize for Best U.S. Documentary Feature at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles journey of filmmaker Fox as he uncovers the truth behind the natural gas-drilling industry and the new hydraulic fracturing drilling technology developed by Haliburton known as "fracking." Fracking involves injecting millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals under high pressure into a drilled well, which, in turn, fractures the shale and allows for natural gas extraction.
After being asked to lease his land for drilling, Fox sets out on a cross-country trip to learn more about the methods and consequences behind the natural gas drilling boom. Along the way, he finds that there is much more than just drilling going on. There are also unexplained illnesses, flammable tap water and contamination surfacing with the rise of this "fracking" technology. The film's website describes it as "part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."
The premier is being sponsored by Buffalo State College's Communication Department, New York State Senator Antoine M. Thompson, and Buffalo State College's Students for Peace. The film will start at 7 p.m. Admission and parking in the student and faculty lots are free. The Bulger Communication Center is located at 1300 Elmwood Avenue.
For more information about GASLAND, visit the film's official website. The film will be broadcast on HBO through 2010 and will be coming out on DVD in December of 2010.
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The film, which won the Special Jury Prize for Best U.S. Documentary Feature at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles journey of filmmaker Fox as he uncovers the truth behind the natural gas-drilling industry and the new hydraulic fracturing drilling technology developed by Haliburton known as "fracking." Fracking involves injecting millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals under high pressure into a drilled well, which, in turn, fractures the shale and allows for natural gas extraction.
After being asked to lease his land for drilling, Fox sets out on a cross-country trip to learn more about the methods and consequences behind the natural gas drilling boom. Along the way, he finds that there is much more than just drilling going on. There are also unexplained illnesses, flammable tap water and contamination surfacing with the rise of this "fracking" technology. The film's website describes it as "part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."
The premier is being sponsored by Buffalo State College's Communication Department, New York State Senator Antoine M. Thompson, and Buffalo State College's Students for Peace. The film will start at 7 p.m. Admission and parking in the student and faculty lots are free. The Bulger Communication Center is located at 1300 Elmwood Avenue.
For more information about GASLAND, visit the film's official website. The film will be broadcast on HBO through 2010 and will be coming out on DVD in December of 2010.
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*GASP*
I can hear the spooky halloween music: "as he discovers.... the TRUTH"... Anything but PROPRIETARY CHEMICALS! I heard they use dihydrogen monoxide, too! Nothing like sticking in modern day boogeyman Halliburton for good measure - every movie needs a good villain.
You mean people wanting to be able to afford to heat their homes, or might want to make a good living without a liberal arts degree, just MIGHT mean there's some complex environmental issues involved? Oh, the humanity! Shut it all down now before someone gets hurt.
You mean natural gas MIGHT contaminate drinking water? And that you might not be able to just pump it right out of the ground and into your belly? Say it ain't so! (and then go drink some well water from down in Wales and beyond. There's already a metric ton of metals in the well water...)
If you dopes stopped everything you try to stop we'd still be living in grass huts and dying of the runs at age 24. The precautionary principle is evil.
Right Jess. The nerve of some to protest injecting millions of gallons of toxic waste into the ground for short term gain. The state has plenty of brownfields in cities but we need to start creating more of them in the Marcellus region. Think of all the Superfund cash the state will be eligible for then!
Protest like this, based on hearsay and fear, is lame. OMG CHEMICALS!!
Sue them if you think what they're doing is causing harm. Prove it in open court. That is how our society works. The silly links posted here are entirely designed to raise fear, uncertainty and doubt in the same vein as all the "GWB is evil!" and "Obama iz a socialist" crap. I mean, seriously: "reported respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, itchy skin, dizziness and other ailments." Was it ragweed season?
Making a spooooooky Michael Moore wannabe movie? Lame.
Nobody is making stupid claims like "companies are all good and proper and never do anything illegal!" But I'm not about to deny the possibility that a lot of real poor people can earn an honest living for a while like you guys are. We can't all live on government assistance and unicorn farts.
It is funny (well not so much) when people just want to believe that all the big corporations do everything right and by the book, following all prodecures and the laws. I would rather er on the side caution then contaminate a local aquifer.
These report clips took 5 minutes to find and are all in the last 6 months.
Thirteen families in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania have sued a Houston-based natural gas driller, claiming their wells were contaminated with fracking fluids.
Agriculture officials have quarantined 28 beef cattle on a Pennsylvania farm after wastewater from a nearby gas well leaked into a field and came in contact with the animals
The Intelligencer/Wheeling (W. Va.) News-Register, a family near Fish Creek in Cameron claims methane built-up in their water well soon after a natural gas well was opened near their home
Two recent reports from West Virginia implicate hydraulic fracturing (”fracking”) in the contamination of water wells.
According to a recent Associated Press report, the majority of people surveyed in one Wyoming community where fracking is taking place reported respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, itchy skin, dizziness and other ailments. According to the Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, many residents of the small town of Pavillion also reported that their well water was tainted by fracking.
According to the Associated Press, Earthworks suggested in a news release that the reported respiratory ailments result from exposure while people shower or wash dishes with contaminated water. Various ailments residents reported are associated with contaminants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified in Pavillion well water
Texas’ Barnett shale region is another area where fracking is booming. But it may be costing residents their health. Last August, an air sampling in the Texas town of DISH by Wolf Eagle Environmental “confirmed the presence in high concentrations of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds in ambient air near and/or on residential properties.” The report indicated that air in DISH exceeded the Short-term and Long-term Effects Screening Levels (ESLs) according to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulations.
Jesse,
What the heck do you do for a living, exactly? Just curious. Nothing liberal arts-related, I gather? I work in banking. By that measure, shouldn't I be conservative or uninterested in environmental issues? Ok, then. I guess that logic doesn't hold up.
Humans flourished for years without gas heat. Humans never flourished without drinking water.
Scarcity of clean water is a much bigger world issue than scarcity of fuel.
I could say more than that, but I don't think I need to.
Haliburton may be responsible for the Gulf Oil Spill, the largest in this country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101029/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_cement