There’s plenty to be said for Gasland, the Oscar-nominated, 2010 documentary from Josh Fox, who grew up and currently lives on the Marcellus Shale, “the Saudi Arabia of natural gas” in Pennsylvania. In fact, his land is so valuable that he was offered 100,000 an acre by a handful of companies seeking the “ocean of natural gas” underneath. Holding five acres, Fox could have certainly turned quite the profit by auctioning off nostalgia.
Ostensibly, the wealth of natural gas throughout the United States offers an equally wealthy amount of political rhetoric that usually centers on making us less “dependent on foreign oil and terrorism,” according to Congressman Boren of Oklahoma. And while these are admirable goals given that “foreign oil” bespeaks to astronomical petroleum prices – in theory – and “terrorism” conjures memories of September 11th, a play on peoples’ sensibilities and grades of patriotism is a manipulative approach. This is not to say that we should not tap into our natural gas resources in order to become more self-sufficient, but the way in which it’s being done is reckless reeks of corporate domination rather than a fight for than independence from foreign entities who might be linked to terrorism.
Hydraulic fracturing – or fracking as it’s most commonly known – is the process by which companies like Halliburton, Cabot, Chesapeake, and Noble source natural gas. As Gasland exposes, one of the primary concerns with fracking is that “fracking fluid” includes “596 chemicals,” all of which are “proprietary,” and each of which are released into the ground each time a well is fracked. And, since the rivers, lakes and their tributaries are a veritable circulatory system throughout this – and any other – country, these 596 chemicals are absorbed by the ground and are eventually worked into our water supply. One main issue with the introduction of these chemicals is that “Many cities around the country rely on pre-World War I-era water delivery systems and treatment technology,” according to the NRDC. Likewise, “NRDC’s study found that relatively few cities are in outright violation of national standards for contamination of drinking water, but this is more a result of weak standards than it is of low contaminant levels. For example, cancer-causing arsenic is currently present in the drinking water of 22 million Americans at average levels of 5 ppb,” even though any level of arsenic is considered unsafe (NRDC).
While I’m not trying to absolve any of the above companies for their reckless use of chemicals in the fracking process, it’s clear that the ball is being dropped by a number of other agencies that should be part of a checks and balance system, but unfortunately, the EPA – like any other government agency – “must be directed” by the government to investigate particular claims against corporations and their practice of fracking. Regardless of the fact that a number of people live with “fizzling water,” water that “turned color and started tasting funny like metallic,” water that made animals lose their hair in a mange-like manner, and water “that could supposedly [light] on fire.” Each of these results don’t come directly from the existence of fracking, but more so from the way in which companies dispose of the “produced water,” or water that has been contaminated with “oil and gas waste” from the process of fracking. For multi-billion dollar corporations, it seems as if no one has any common sense, something that is shown by the “pits” – some lined with plastic, others not – that are dug out and used to store the waste water until it can be condensated, or heated to 212 degrees in order to burn off the water, which in turn, releases all of the chemicals, previously trapped in the water, into the air.
Much like The Corporation, a documentary that solidly illustrates that if a corporation were a living person – and legally, they are – he or she would be diagnosed as a sociopath, Gasland exposes corporate apathy towards its ultimate consumers. At the same time, Gasland also goes a bit deeper and – intentionally or not – exposes a class division, not just between the upper and middle class, but within the middle class itself by dividing it up between urban and rural. Fracking mostly takes place in sparsely populated areas like Dish, a small town in Texas with approximately 150 people, or less populated states like Wyoming. Here, there is an interesting look at how rural America is perceived, as if it bucks the system by choosing not to inhabit the cities, but while “some people might see [Wyoming] and wonder how [people] can like it, […] this is [someone’s] way of life.” At times, it seems that the lesson being proselytized by corporations, the DEP, and the DEP is “If your way of life is being besieged and your health is under attack,” then move to a city where there are more people to get sick and make a fuss.
Cynical? Sure, but one manner in which fracking is justified is that “There’s no such thing as a perfect source of energy […] Natural gas production is not perfect,” according to John Hanger, Secretary of the DEP – sentiments that are echoed during a Congressional meeting as fracking companies assert that they “have found no real credible threat” because “Just 2% of these hundreds of thousands of wells go south.” From my elementary school days, I understand that 2 is a low number; however, this low number elides both the number of wells being referenced and their proximity to residents who have been afflicted.
Likewise, the low-population areas decrease the number of lawsuits brought forth simply because of the resources needed to go head to head with mutli-billion dollar corporations. Like the sentiments expressed by the EPA regarding their hands being tied because they need “to be directed” to investigate, the Oil and Gas Conservation offers equally dismissive advice to anyone who calls with a complaint: “call an attorney.” The problem herein is that corporations anticipate this recourse and want “the people who you impact [to] prove it. You make them argue it in a court of law,” and with the number of people spread out among various territories and states, this makes assembly and communication all the more difficult to even file a suit.
So maybe a few people can fight back hard and reap a judgment of $371,000, the “largest fine in Colorado history,” but it’s certainly not going to bankrupt the company when billions of other dollars are offsetting the equivalent of a parking ticket.
Now I’m thirsty and all I have is a Brita filled with water and three-week-old milk. Hmm…
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