Your Water Under Fire

If you haven't seen it, the current issue of "E: The Environmental Magazine" is devoted to the topic of gas drilling.  Articles include

• "Fracked to pieces: concerned citizen groups call fora ban as NY State draws closer to wide-scale hydraulic fracturing"
• "Pro-gas Pennsylvania: the fallout from Pennsylvania's open-fracking policies provids a cautionary tale for states considering drilling" 
• "Igniting minds: a conversation with Josh Fox, writer and director of the Emmy Award-winning Gasland"
• "All out of love: We'd never solve our climate problem if we just replaced coal with natural gas"

To read the articles, click HERE to access the latest issue online.

GASLAND

No, it didn't win the Oscar.  But it's won on so many other levels. Thanks to this documentary, people are talking about a topic that most had never heard of a few years ago.  Case in point: the front page of today's New York Times.  Thank you, Josh Fox, for all of your efforts, your tenacity, and your refusal to back down or be silenced.  You may not have a golden statue for those efforts, but you have the thanks and respect of thousands of people around the world fighting this fight.  And the fight continues!

Josh Fox, Mark Ruffalo head to DC in support of FRAC Act

Anti-fracking bill gets Oscar hopeful's support
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hoping success rubs off, a U.S. lawmaker had the director of the Oscar-nominated film "Gasland" near when announcing he will reintroduce a bill making companies reveal chemicals used in natural gas drilling.

"Before this country embraces natural gas as the solution to our energy needs ... we need to take every step possible to ensure our water is not contaminated, our air is not polluted, and our communities are not irrevocably harmed," Representative Maurice Hinchey of New York, who will reintroduce the bill, said at a press conference.  To read the entire article by Timothy Gardner, click HERE.

Inaccuracies in Dimock article....my response.

Please note: what follows is my response to an email sent to me from Michael Lebron of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.  To read Mr. Lebron's original message to me, please see the post immediately preceeding this one.  The reason I've chosen to post my response to Mr. Lebron is because I want to draw attention to the fact that all of us fighting against this fracking mess are in this together.  So here goes:

Dear Mr. Lebron,
I'm a bit perplexed as to why you're accusing me of false reporting when it's not my reporting that seems to have incurred your ire.  If you actually read the blog post carefully, you would see that my own portion of it consists of a paragraph lead in--commenting on the article which appeared in the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre.  After my own paragraph, appears the following:

[Note: this article, written by Matt Hughes, appeared Oct 1, 2010 in the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre.  Click HERE to see the original article which includes photographs.]  The article then appears as it did on the TL's website.

The section you quote from is actually Matt Hughes's article.  Furthermore, if you had actually bothered to click on that link to see it as it appeard on the Times Leader's site, you would see that Josh Fox himself commented on Hughes's article almost immediately after it appeared:

"Actually, I can't take credit for the demonstration or the signs. I had no idea that was prepared, it just fit perfectly with my question and I guess the crowd decided that it was the right time to unveil the signs. I was as surprised as anyone there. But it was a very appropriate and stunning move. Great job to everyone involved in planning that one! - Josh"

This same comment also appears on Gasland's Facebook site following a posting about the Times Leader's article.

I think it's important to remember that we're all working towards the same goal: to draw attention to this horrible practice of fracking that's quite literally tearing our communities apart.  While I can empathize that you might be upset if someone else is given credit for the hard work DCS and the Carter Road community put in to make their presence known at this event, it's hardly the first time a reporter got it wrong.  Lord knows it's happened to me.  Not having been at the event, however, I had no way of knowing who made the signs or who didn't.  Frankly, that wasn't the point I was trying to make when I reposted the Times Leader's article; my point was in drawing attention to the fact that Dimock is finally going to receive some restitution.

As for your seemingly sour grapes over Josh Fox, I think one can quite legitimately argue that GASLAND has drawn *international* attention to the little town of Dimock as well as to the greater issue of fracking.  My blog is one of many devoted to the natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale; your group is one of many also devoted to bringing attention to the issue.  All of us must realize however, that sometimes it takes something big--like a film--to really get the attention of people not directly involved--people who don't have to deal with the trucks, the roads, the noise, the fear--people who have no idea how much of a marketing scam the government has let loose in order to sell natural gas as the 2nd coming.  GASLAND has done that.  I've never met Josh Fox, but I've seen the film.  He has shone an international spotlight on this issue and for that I'm grateful.

So if you are so upset that the wrong people were given credit for signs that were made, I would suggest you direct your emails/comments to Matt Hughes.  *His* email address appears at the end of his article--as it appears both on the Times Leader's site and at the end of the (re)posting on my blog.

Inaccuracies in Friday's Time's Leader article on Dimock?

On Friday, I reposted an article written by Matt Hughes of Wilkes-Barre's Times Leader.  The article was in regards to Dimock finally getting some restitution.  Today, Sunday, I received a very, shall I say, "heated" email from one Michael Lebron of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.

Despite the fact I quite clearly indicated the latter portion of the post was an article by Matt Hughes (and provided a link to the original article as well as the text and Hughes's email address), Lebron mistook Hughes's words for my own.  Lebron ended his email to me with these words:  "I am looking forward to seeing you to take off your celebrity-coated lenses by correcting the record on your blog. I am also looking forward to seeing Josh, copied here, ask you to do the same."  So, for whatever it's worth, even though the article in question was merely reposted on my blog and not my article, consider the record corrected--at least on my end.  What follows are Lebron's issues with Hughes's article.  Given the length of his email to me, my response to him will appear in a subsequent post.

Lebron writes that the Hughes's article is:

'...factually inaccurate, and I am dismayed - no, astounded - that this even made it to your corner of the blogosphere since Josh also knows it is inaccurate.

1- Josh Fox did not put this community at the center of the national debate, the Carter Road people themselves did, through their brave stance and actions over the last two years which has been picked up by countless reporters, especially Abrahm Lustgarten, Laura Legerre, and Tom Wlibur, as well as numerous websites and blogs, long before GASLAND was released.

2- Josh Fox did not distribute the signs. Leslie Lewis, her son and I came up with the idea. I designed and wrote them. Raye Levine, daughter of Joe Levine - co founder of DCS and along with myself also a board member - printed and mounted them. The Carter Road community gave them their blessing and I then distributed them to people who I contacted days before the press conf.

3- From your reporting you would think Josh Fox was not only the only person in the room, but that he is able to walk on frack water and turn gas wells into butterflies across our farmlands. Again, the Carter Road community and their legal representative, Leslie Lewis deserve credit for forcing this issue in their litigation and their hang-tough negotiations with the DEP: instead of settling for the status quo solution of quasi-industrial methane separators/filters, they asked for a pipeline to be run out to the nearest clean aquifer, and as a compromise, settled for municipal water. Not only is this unprecedented, but it begged what is the million dollar question for the state of Pennsylvania, asked rhetorically (since I knew the answer) by me at the press conference and POINTEDLY NOT ANSWERED by the Secretary. The question, because of its implications, did not go unnoticed by Laura Legerre, reporter for the Scranton Times Tribune, who chose to pursue it in her Oct 2nd story and managed to get an answer that is close to THE answer:

[LINK TO LEGERE ARTICLE ON TIMES TRIBUNE.]

Families suing Cabot over the contamination initially proposed that the department force the company to drill centralized wells and pipe fresh water to their homes before Mr. Hanger told them a public water line was "the only way to guarantee a permanent safe drinking water supply."

"If you drill another well, there's no guarantee whatsoever right now, given that we still have gas migrating through the geology, that that well won't become contaminated at some point," Mr. Hanger said on Friday.

Mr. Hanger's comments amounted to his bleakest assessment yet by the state of the aquifer that feeds the Dimock homes - four more of which were determined by the state in September to be impacted by methane from Cabot's extensive Marcellus Shale drilling in the township.

Regards,
Michael Lebron
NYSESS
DCS

Dimock *finally* gets public water. Cabot continues to deny responsibility.

Kudos to the DEP for not waiting until this fiasco plays out in court before doing the right thing.  While it's no shock that Cabot continues to deny any wrongdoing whatsoever, now the fight begins to make sure they are ultimately held accountable (legally and fiscally) for what happened in Dimock.  PA residents should not have to fund a $12 million dollar project because of Cabot's negligence.

[Note: this article, written by Matt Hughes, appeared Oct 1, 2010 in the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre.  Click HERE to see the original article which includes photographs.]

Amid drilling fight, Dimock gets public water.  The state, which will fund the project, says Cabot Oil & Gas contaminated wells.

DIMOCK – Residents of Dimock, the Susquehanna County community at the center of a nationwide debate over natural gas drilling, will soon be connected to a public water supply, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger announced Thursday. The state-funded project will connect Pennsylvania American Water’s Lake Montrose treatment plant to 18 homes in Dimock.

For two years, drinking water for 33 Dimock residents has been supplied by Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, the natural gas drilling company that DEP says contaminated the water wells of some Dimock residents with methane and natural gas.

More than 100 reporters, photographers, filmmakers, spokespersons and residents of the Susquehanna County community packed the tiny Dimock Baptist Church to hear the announcement.

Hanger said DEP will fully fund the project, now slated to cost $11.8 million, though the department still insists that Cabot foot the bill. Hanger said DEP will pursue litigation against Cabot if necessary to recoup the cost of the project, but that the department did not want to wait any longer to provide a permanent source of clean drinking water to Dimock residents.

“We have had people here in Pennsylvania without safe drinking water for nearly two years,” Hanger said. “That is totally unacceptable. It is reprehensible. We have given Cabot every opportunity to resolve this matter.… We’re not going to wait to go through long legal proceedings with Cabot to get this started.”

A new 12-inch transmission main will transport water approximately 5.5 miles from the Pennsylvania American Water’s Lake Montrose plant south along state Route 29 into Dimock. Approximately seven miles of 6-inch distribution mains will connect the main to the homes of 18 families. Other Dimock residents seeking connection to the water supply may also contact Pennsylvania American Water about gaining access, Pennsylvania American Water President Kathy Pape said.

Pape said the project, which will also involve the installation of pressure regulating systems, hydrants and water treatment systems, will take 18 months to complete once ground has been broken. The company is also waiting on a state grant to come through before that happens, however, and Pape said work on the project will most likely not begin for a few months.

On Wednesday, Cabot published full page ads in several newspapers around the Dimock area, and also sent out press releases and 29-page letter defending the company. In those documents, Cabot denies responsibility for water well contamination in Dimock and claims that DEP is waging a public relations war against the company.

“They have even gone so far as to say that they signed these under duress,” Hanger said, later adding, “the last time I checked, (Cabot President Dan O.) Dinges is not a 90-year-old widow sitting in a nursing home who is incompetent to sign a legal document … he is fully capable to sign documents without counsel, but he had counsel.

A Cabot spokesman, George Stark, attended the meeting but was not allowed to speak by Hanger.

“I am not interested in hearing from Cabot at this point,” Hanger said.

Stark spoke outside the church following the meeting, saying Cabot is investigating all its options and would schedule meetings with DEP to discuss the matter. Stark said Cabot would like DEP to consider other, less expensive measures to deal with the problem, such as drilling new water wells, refurbishing and reconditioning existing wells and installing water filtration systems.

“We understand what is being laid on the table today, but we still believe there are other options,” Stark said.

Josh Fox, the filmmaker who put Dimock at the center of the national debate over natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in his documentary Gasland, also attended the meeting and staged a small demonstration highlighting the precedent he thinks Hanger’s announcement may set.

Fox distributed signs depicting water towers, each labeled with the name of a different Pennsylvania community, including Towanda, Lenox, and Clearville, followed by the phrase “needs municipal water.”

“It looks like this is setting a trend in Pennsylvania, that once this drilling starts, you’re going to have municipal water coming in,” Fox said.

Fox said there have been “significant reports” of water contamination near gas drilling sites in other parts of the state, and asked Hanger whether the state would also connect those areas to a municipal water supply.

Hanger responded that, in a worst case scenario, DEP would need to take similar action, but said that confirmed reports of contamination are rare, and that other companies have been much better than Cabot at resolving the contamination in those cases.

“We have companies that are actually solving problems, as opposed to denying problems,” Hanger said.
--MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com

GASLAND's Josh Fox to receive LennonOno Grant for Peace

On October 9th, John Lennon would have celebrated his 70th birthday.  His widow, Yoko Ono, will celebrate by bestowing the 2010 Lennon Ono Grant for Peace to four individuals who have been selected "based on their courage and commitment to peace, truth and human rights."

The LennonOne Grant for Peace was created to honor...John Lennon's dedication to peace and commitment to the preservation of human rights.  Created in 2002, this biennial award has always been given to two recipients.  On this special anniversary, however, Yoko Ono will present this award to four recipients:  Josh Fox for his documentary GASLAND; author, poet & activist Alice Walker; author Michael Pollan; and activist/advocate Barbara Kowalcyk.  For more information, click HERE.

Response to industry & PAC attacks on GASLAND

If you haven't already done so, click HERE and take the time to read the response to the recent attacks on the documentary GASLAND.  With good reason, it's admittedly lengthy:  it's full of meticulously documented facts.  The final 3 pages are a listing of references--*with* web addresses so that the curious or dubious might verify the facts set out in this report.  It will be interesting to see how the industry/PACs respond.

Marcellus drilling the topic of NPR's "Diane Rehm Show" today

If you missed NPR's Diane Rehm Show this morning, you can hear the podcast by clicking here  Her guests this morning included Josh Fox, director of the documentary "Gasland;" Mike Soraghan, reporter for E&E Publishing which publishes Greenwire and Energy & Environment Daily; John Hangar, Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection; and C. Boyden Gray, founding member of the Energy Future Coalition, former White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush, US Ambassador to the EU and special envoy for Eurasian energy diplomacy.

GASLAND premiers TONIGHT on HBO

Don't miss tonight's premier of GASLAND on HBO at 9pm!  Following the premier, filmmaker Josh Fox will appear on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.  

Coming Monday: Josh Fox on Daily Show, Gasland on HBO.

This just in....film maker Josh Fox, the PA native and creator of the documentary GASLAND, will appear on Jon Stewart's THE DAILY SHOW on Monday, June 21st.  Monday will also be the premiere of  GASLAND on HBO.  Be sure to tune in!

GASLAND picked up by HBO!

Don't worry if you didn't make tonight's showing of GASLAND in Williamsport. It's not only appearing in several other area towns in the next month (click HERE for the schedule), but HBO has picked it up as well!  You can't ask for a bigger national stage than that!  While HBO doesn't have any info on their own site yet, you can read about it HERE.  Debut is scheduled for June 21st. Keep posted!

Don't forget: GASLAND documentary coming to Williamsport on Tuesday!

Don't miss the only showing in the Williamsport area of Josh Fox's prize-winning documentary GASLAND.  The film was honored at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this past January and has continued to win rave reviews at smaller film festivals across the country.  


Need an even better reason to go?  Meet the man behind the movie:  
Josh Fox will be on hand for a discussion to follow the film.


WHEN:  Tuesday, May 11th @ 7:30pm
WHERE: Williamsport's Community Arts Center, 202 West 4th Street.
Click HERE for driving directions from your doorstep. 
Admission is FREE thanks to sponsorship from the Responsible Drilling Alliance.  

See Gasland's Josh Fox interviewed on PBS

GASLAND Leads Critics Poll @ Sundance Film Festival

Hopefully this is the start of a huge spotlight on the careless--and in some cases outrageous--actions taken and decisions made in the rush to extract natural gas as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Kudos to PA native and filmmaker Josh Fox for drawing attention to the horrible reality that has come to so many communities in our area--and indeed across the country--all in the name of corporate wealth.

'GasLand' Leads Critics Poll - indieWIRE