Gasland the Planet\'s Major Resources Are Continually

Gasland

The planet's major resources are continually threatened by industry and business. Among them, water has become such a priced commodity that finding areas with uncontaminated drinking water is slowly becoming a feat. How many people actually still trust to drink quality tap water without being cautious over it? That seems to be the premise of the documentary Gasland (2010), which focuses on the negative effects of siphoning gas through hydraulic fracturing on surrounding areas of the land. In Josh Fox's travels across the countryside, the testimony, evidence, and glaring supportive evidence seem clear enough that there are adverse effects. The companies, however, seem reluctant to do any further investigations.

Gasland's introduction brings the audience first to Fox's land, with a special focus on the history of his house and a greater focus on the beauty of the surroundings. He proceeds through the film by mentioning the letter from a natural gas company that would spur on the purpose of his documentary: to investigate the consequences of leasing his 19-acre land for what the gas companies called hydraulic fracturing. With an impending tradeoff of almost $100,000 in cash, it seemed almost like a dream come true, until the interviews begin.

Fox takes a journey throughout the countryside, starting at a town in Dimock, Pennsylvania and heading west to Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, even Texas and Louisiana. In each area, the testimonies and effects of hydraulic fracturing are frightfully constant: that the otherwise natural water had been altered after drilling had begun. Fox takes on the viewpoint of a concerned U.S. citizen, though while he spends most of his time procuring testimony from affected households, he also takes the effort of interviewing experts in the environmental fields. Unfortunately, most of his attempts to reach the oil and gas companies led him to a circular pattern of call transfers, answering machines, and more unanswered questions.

What made this documentary effective was the combination of techniques of storytelling that endeared the audience. Fox mixes facts, visual evidence, and testimony from what he could get out of the corporate industries, political activists, and affected individuals. He delves into the science of hydraulic fracturing and explains the dangers of the chemicals released in the wastewater. Fox also puts a more personal touch in the documentary; his concerns and his later breakdown in the film show the audience that the subject matter is indeed dire, not only to him, but to everyone threatened with contaminated drinking water -- which, in retrospect, would concern basically everyone at some point. Repeatedly, he shows the beautiful view of the natural world, of life and the importance of preserving what can be preserved. Then he juxtaposes the natural beauty of the world to the scenes from his road trip west; that of drilling plants, barren roadsides, and muddy waters.

Perhaps the most important parts -- and the most effective -- of the documentary come from the sights of what Fox sees in his travels. Fox visits Dimock, PA due to a heavy amount of complaint regarding the natural gas drilling that their land was subjected to. One citizen, in a slightly sardonic manner, shows Fox water that "sometimes bubbles and hisses when it comes out" and asks him if he would like to drink it. In a later scene, another Dimock inhabitant comments on how her animals' hairs were falling out. Though she did file a complaint, the Cabot Oil and Gas Company had replied that the effects did not come from the hydraulic fracturing methods, but through her fault of using "too much Lysol."

Testimonies do not end there, however. As he reached the western towns affected by hydraulic fracturing, Fox realizes that the testimonies were constant with the emerging side effects in Pennsylvania. In fact, some effects were even worse for most people. In Colorado, a civilian in one of the drilling areas lights a match under a running faucet. Within seconds, the entire sink ignites into flames. The second time this was attempted, the ignition of the water is instantaneous; it was almost as easy as igniting a Bunsen burner after releasing the gas. In Wyoming, another family offers their tap water to Fox, who comments that "it smells like turpentine." What gets to be even more disturbing is his stop in Louisiana, where a woman shows him the preserved bodies of animals that had died in a creek where the wastewater was unceremoniously dumped.

The heavy atmosphere in Gasland seems to chastise the corporate industries and their methods of delving into the country's natural resources. Fox spends most of his time with affected individuals, but he does take some time in the film to interview important figures and experts. Among them is Weston Wilson, an Environmental Protection Agency scientist, who had stated at one point that the lack of further EPA investigation toward the effects of hydraulic fracturing was due to rejection of the inquiry by the higher ups. In a Congress hearing, Dianna Degette (from the state of Colorado) reams a representative of an oil and gas company with numerous questions about the company's lack of cooperation regarding the chemicals dumped into the water. The only responses received by Degette, however, were evasive and defensive.