Gasland Director Josh Fox on His New Film, Gas Industry Lies and Government Collusion

Gasland Director Josh Fox on His New Film, Gas Industry Lies and Government Collusion by Christine Shearer, July 2, 2012, Truthout
I knew I had to come forward with new information we have from gas industry secret memos and gas industry publications from a while back, as well as internal documents leaked out of gas industry conferences sent to me, that show that they know full well that their wells are leaking, and they are leaking like crazy. That means they are leaking gas into aquifers, and I thought people had a right to know about that. The gas industry has gone out into the media consistently with a disinformation campaign saying this is all naturally occurring methane when in fact their own data, memos and Power Points show that they know the problem very well, and they can’t fix it, and they can’t prevent it. …. First of all, it’s important to note that there are many families in “Gasland” who can light their water on fire. Lighting their water on fire right after drilling is very common, from Pennsylvania to Canada to Wyoming to Colorado. So, they zoomed in on one case, cherry-picked this one case, in which the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) had said it was biogenic gas. Now, when it occurred at the next-door neighbor’s house, and this happened six or seven months later, the COGCC said, “Wow, this is clearly the gas industry’s fault.” And they validated that. The gas industry doesn’t want you to know that. But in their own reports, like one from Schlumberger, the number one-fracking company in the world, there are diagrams showing that shallow gas can migrate up to the aquifer if you drill through that pocket of biogenic gas. Plus, the gas industry drills for biogenic gas; they drill for huge pockets of it, and they drill for it in Colorado. … Water does not usually catch on fire; that is just not what happens. But this is not about the public believing that they are right; it’s just about casting doubt on the reporting and science that exists. Because as long as there is doubt, then the gas industry says, “Well, we don’t have to regulate this.” So the whole biogenic/thermogenic “controversy” is drummed up, made up. … But if you look at the incredible investigative track record by The New York Times, by ProPublica, into the thousands of reports of water contamination and other issues, if you look at the EPA report showing 50 times the level of benzene in the water in Pavillion, Wyoming, if you look at the EPA report showing, on the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) report, huge amounts, flammable amounts, explosive amounts of methane in the water in Pennsylvania, in Dimock, if you look at the recent ruling of $1.6 million against Chesapeake Energy for families whose water was contaminated, there is a long history here that shows, okay, this is what’s happening. … The industry is trying to belittle these problems and peoples’ concerns, but you can’t, because there are these memos. It’s just like tobacco and the memos showing all along they knew it was harmful and addictive. … So you say, well, okay, if it’s casing, take a look at the problem; it’s a huge, huge problem. And they are refusing to admit that there is no fixing this. … Having an extra level of well casing, for example – it’s like saying they are going to have filters on cigarettes.

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