Politics & Government

Controversial Hydro-Fracking Documentary Comes to Harrison

GasLand, a documentary by Josh Fox, will be screened at the Harrison Library Wednesday night. The film has chronicles the filmmaker's views on Hydro-Fracking.

Josh Fox traveled from Wyoming to Texas and all the way home to eastern Pennsylvania while filming GasLand, his award winning documentary on the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas. 

On Wednesday night the controversial film will make its way to town for a screening at the Harrison Library.

The film chronicles the perceived dangers of hydraulic fracturing, which is a process that injects fresh water, sand and other chemicals thousands of feet below the ground to extract natural gas. The process has drawn criticism in many areas after reports of water contamination surfaced in areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

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Potential increased drilling of the Marcellus Shale region, which includes part of the Harrison watershed, has brought that attention, and criticism, to a local level.

Many state and local leaders have taken a stand against hydraulic fracturing including the Harrison Town Board, which has said that they unanimously stand against any increased drilling in the Harrison watershed.

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"As a trustee of the Westchester Joint Waterworks I take the possible threat very seriously," Walsh said earlier this spring. "The results in the other states were that they do this type of drilling, then many are saying their water had been contaminated."

Assemblyman Robert J. Castelli (R, C, I-Goldens Bridge) is hosting the screening. Castelli is hosting the event because "the documentary reveals the consequences of natural gas drilling across the United States," according to a press release.

The film itself stands against increased drilling, citing unknown potentially dangerous chemicals and past gas leaks in rural areas across the country that may have left some homes without safe drinking water.

Video of flammable tap water and dead animals in streams near drilling sites are seen in the film. There is also narration about the dangers of chemicals that Fox says have reached water supplies in other areas.

The screening comes at a time when debate on the topic may be nearing a boiling point. GasLand will be shown one day after the state Senate approved a short-term moratorium on drilling in the shale region. If passed in the Assembly permits to drill in the region would be delayed until May 15, 2011.

But some believe that the film is too one-sided to be considered educational. Fox has been accused of sensationalism and at times been compared to filmmaker Michael Moore for creating a documentary filled with eye-catching video but short on facts. 

Proponents of hydraulic fracturing say that the chemicals used while drilling make up less than one percent of what is being pumped into the ground. They also say that these chemicals are released thousands of feet below the earth's surface, beneath heavy rock and would never seep into the existing water supply.

The process has also been used in New York State for years, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Also, more than half of the state's 13,000 currently active wells use the method. 

Also, because of New York's tight regulations on drilling the state has not seen the same problems that other states have, according to the NYSDEC web site.

But the thought of a contaminated water supply is a concern and the film is certain to grab the attention of anyone who has not seen it, and is something to consider while the hydraulic fracturing debate continues.

GasLand is also available for viewing on HBO and has screened in several towns in upstate New York and eastern Pennsylvania.

Those interested in seeing the film Wednesday will be allowed to attend if they call ahead. To reserve a spot to watch the film, please contact Susan Van Dolsen at (914) 921-3526 to RSVP.

The screening will begin at 6:15 p.m.


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