Split Estate (Short Version)
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- Transcript
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Imagine discovering that you don't own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door using the controversial technology known as fracking. Imagine another shocking truth: you have little or no recourse to protect your home or land from such development. SPLIT ESTATE maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health.
Exempt from federal protections like the Clean Water Act, the oil and gas industry has left this idyllic landscape and its rural communities pockmarked with abandoned homes and polluted waters. One resident demonstrates the degree of benzene contamination in a mountain stream by setting it alight with a match. Many others, gravely ill, fight for their health and for the health of their children.
SPLIT ESTATE zeroes in on Garfield County, Colorado, and the San Juan Basin, but the industry is aggressively seeking new leases in as many as 32 states. They are even making a bid to drill in the New York City watershed, which provides drinking water to millions.
As our appetite for fossil fuels increases despite mounting public health concerns, SPLIT ESTATE cracks the sugarcoating on an industry that assures us it is a good neighbor, and drives home the need for alternatives -- both here and abroad.
'Split Estate effectively dramatizes the concentrated costs regularly borne by those who reside on or near the underground energy resources that most of us take for granted. Even reasonably knowledgeable viewers are likely to come away with a heightened understanding of both the politically privileged position of our nation's extraction industries and the role that concerned citizens can play in holding those industries accountable.' Christopher H. Foreman, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Author, The Promise and Peril of Environmental Justice
'Split Estate is an excellent and timely look at a critical issue in energy development. Our nation's headlong rush into energy development on public lands sounds fine--until the drilling rig sits outside your backdoor. The government's retention of mineral rights on millions of acres of private land will continue to destroy the lives and dreams of Americans until Congress confronts the split estate problem. Thanks for exposing this dirty little secret legacy from the past.' Jack Tuholske, Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
'The latest wrinkle in our nation's addiction to fossil fuels is the discovery that we may be able to unlock vast reserves of natural gas by 'fracking' previously impermeable formations. Split Estate is a valuable commentary about the impacts of this development...The film puts faces and personal stories to the dilemma, whether in home videos of flaming bubbles in a creek that provides drinking water or in the faltering steps of a once vibrant, now debilitated woman.
Photographs do not lie, and crisp aerials vividly show the extensive footprint of the drill pads and how they pock the landscape. Infrared night images show that volatile organic carbons, invisible by daylight, are constantly escaping from the gas storage tanks into the air. Animated overlays of drilling activity on satellite images and maps make the statement that the problems of expanded drilling are compelling.
In addition to the feature film, the DVD contained extras that are especially helpful from my standpoint as an educator. These extras provide more information about the legal issues involved and efforts for community action...Split Estate is a powerful tool for helping us reflect on how we will balance the true costs of developing natural gas as our nation's 'bridge fuel to the future.'' K.K. DuVivier, Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Author, The Renewable Energy Reader
'Highly recommended for collections with an interest in environmental issues, especially those with a focus on the western United States.' Tom Ipri, University of Nevada, Educational Media Reviews Online
'Eye-opening...This riveting program sounds the alarm on current energy practices.' Candace Smith, Booklist
'The split estate model may work well for gas firms, [but] not so well for people living on affected tracts of land...Split Estate represents a thorough, engaging, and important peek into hydraulic fracturing and natural gas extraction...Environmental health and social impacts are presented with vivid compassion for those living in the middle of a split estate. Recording their experiences creates a compelling case against hydraulic fracking in its current, deregulated form.' Stephanie Malin, Rural Connections
'Split Estate is an eye-opening examination of the consequences and conflicts that can arise between surface land owners in the western United States, and those who own and extract the energy and mineral rights below. This film is of value to anyone wrestling with rational, sustainable energy policy while preserving the priceless elements of cultural heritage, private enterprise above-ground, and the precious health not only of people but the land itself.' Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico
'Split Estate is a moving portrait that highlights important questions regarding the safety of hydraulic fracturing near our local communities.' U.S. Representative Diana DeGette, Colorado
'Tells a powerful story about Americans living with the dirty side of oil and gas development in their own backyards. As oil and gas production expands to more and more places throughout the country, it is essential that communities have the information they need to support policies that protect our health and environment.' Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council
'You tell an important and compelling story. You have captured brilliantly the issues and are helping tell the story that needs to be spread to a much broader audience.' Gwen Lachelt, Executive DIrector, The Oil and Gas Accountability Project
'A must-see film for any elected official who deals with natural resources issues and the impact that oil and gas extraction can have on a community. Anyone who sees the film will be changed by the experience - for the better.' Brian Egolf, New Mexico State Representative
'I urge our elected leaders--especially those who make decisions about energy development and environmental health in the Rocky Mountain West--to confront and tackle the critical issues raised in this film.' Sandy Buffett, Executive Director, Conservation Voters New Mexico
'We are fighting for our lives here in the Marcellus Shale in NY and PA. Your film may save us.' Diane MacInnes
'From the first viewing, it appears the documentary has teeth that quite literally draw the viewer into the grips of the devastation told by Debra Anderson and the people she interviewed...This can become a vehicle to tell the truth about the devastation of natural gas development, and perhaps persuade those who do not understand this, to say 'no' to this leviathan.' Kathleen Dudley, co-chair Drilling Mora County, NM
'A harrowing documentary of the predatory ruthlessness that fuels America's endless thirst for oil and gas...Energy companies can and will drill for natural gas right outside a family's front door...Above all, Split Estate is not only the plight of the few -- it is about the long-term health and environmental costs of America's addiction to oil, and drives home the need to find alternative energy sources here and abroad. Highly recommended.' The Midwest Book Review
'Our DOAS [Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society] chapter purchased the DVD Split Estate for showing in the community...and a lively discussion followed....Here in New York State we are facing a similar prospect, as natural gas drillers are preparing to drill and hydro-frack hundreds of wells both vertically and horizontally, hoping to make millions of dollars in the process. We DO have an opportunity to protect our land and health, and to preserve the beauty of upstate New York State. We DO OWN our mineral rights, and need to protect our homes and land from the driller's lack of concern. We CAN protect our civil liberties and communities and health! One of the best ways to do this is to educate and inform others about the massive hydro-fracking push throughout our area.' Jean T. Miller, The Kingfisher, newsletter of the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society
'Split Estate is one of those films that makes you shake your head in disgust...Train ever watchful eyes on corporate practices, on the quality of life they're willing to sacrifice. Maybe you think we need those riches under our good ol' American soil. Maybe these enterprises haven't scratched your surface painfully enough yet. Maybe they haven't started drilling under your quality of life yet.'
Chuck Jaffee, The Union
Citation
Main credits
Anderson, Debra (film director)
Anderson, Debra (film producer)
Day, Joe (screenwriter)
Garrett, Avery (screenwriter)
Wendt, Jean (screenwriter)
MacGraw, Ali (narrator)
Salazar, Ken (interviewee)
Ritter, Bill (interviewee)
Colborn, Theo (interviewee)
Other credits
Cinematography, Debra Anderson, David Bowden, Doug Crawford; editor, Debra Anderson; music by Tim Anderson, Chris Jonas, Music Box, Michael Stearns, Molly Sturges, Ron Sunsinger, Joe West.
Distributor subjects
Activism; Air Pollution; American Studies; Anthropology; Climate Change/Global Warming; Energy; Environment; Environmental Justice; Geography; Geology; Health; Law; Mining; Natural Resources; Pollution; Science, Technology, Society; Social Justice; Sustainability; Toxic Chemicals; Water; Western USKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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[music]
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We bought 40 acres in 1993
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and decided it would be a great place
to finally build a home and retire.
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[music]
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I\'m fifth generation my great, great
grandfather homestead it here.
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Yup, let\'s go, let\'s go. The
gates that way. Let\'s go.
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What do you waiting on, Maya?
Sarah, go on. Go on.
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We have (inaudible) come
down on the high country.
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They\'re incredibly beautiful.
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I\'m a fourth generation rancher when I was little
dad would let me have two cows on another herd,
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so I could have my own herd.
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My favorite things is the red-winged blackbirds. And it\'s usually,
honey, honey, the red-winged blackbirds are back, you know?
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[music]
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This has been my favorite place I\'ve
ever lived in my life, I must say.
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There she is.
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We call it our new neighbor, neighbor 907.
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[music]
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We are in a split of state
situation where we own the surface
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and someone else owns the mineral
rights, and what happens in Colorado,
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and I think in most Western states
is the mineral rights are dominant.
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The law on mineral extraction
goes back hundreds of years
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that says the mineral owner has a
right to extract that mineral,
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and to a certain extent can extract it and
impact the surface without compensation.
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[music]
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We have 70 acres here,
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and I can\'t convince them that
they need to drill somewhere
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besides 200-feet from our house.
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The Energy Policy, it has been to drill, drill, drill,
and drill some more. They were very strong industry,
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they\'ve got a tremendous amount of political
influence and an awful lot of money.
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As a civil servant, I spoke
out, but it\'s difficult to so
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because you feel constantly that you\'re
risking your job, and your family\'s future.
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Oh, yeah, it bubbles. Yeah, I would say.
As I sat here and I looked out my window
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into my backyard, all I could think was
there\'s no way I can stay out of this.
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I\'m sitting here with all
of the right resources.
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These people need help. This
is before (inaudible) problems
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and (inaudible) and then
everything has changed.
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They are motivated by profits,
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and unfortunately they are motivated by short-term
profits, they don\'t take the long view.
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Couple of times they said
you (inaudible) and live,
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you come out here and live in my
house for a week. I have no rights.
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[music]
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The Rocky Mountains are
seeing an unprecedented boom
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in oil and gas drilling. Montana, Wyoming,
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Colorado, New Mexico, Utah the boom
is happening all over the country
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there\'s oil and gas operations in 32 states right
now, but the Rocky Mountain states are really seeing
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the vast majority of the expansion,
and it\'s overflowing into communities
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where people are seeing this
right in their backyards.
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I\'ll show you where they
wanted to put this location,
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one of the first places that they wanted
to put it. They will surprise you say,
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\"We have to put a well out there, and you don\'t
have any say in it.\" A split estate situation is
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when somebody who owns the surface
of their land does not own
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the resources that are underneath their land.
For example, oil and gas or other minerals.
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A private person could own a house
with land and the federal government
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or another private individual
might on the resources under it.
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The person who owns the oil and gas
has rights to access that oil and gas
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which means that whoever owns the
surface probably can\'t control
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what happens on their own property. That all of a sudden, I
just find new stakes out in the middle of my alfalfa field.
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I believe this stake
represent or outer boundary
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of their pad just guessing it, it would
be about 200 feet from our house,
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which is awful close. Because we said,
we don\'t want the smell, and they say,
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\"Well I\'d rather smell gas oil than livestock.\" And
I said, \"You\'re crazy.\" I said, \"You can\'t get sick
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from the smell of livestock.\"
You feel so helpless, you know?
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The split estate is a concept that dates back
to when the English king reserved his rights
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to gold and silver deposits
despite who owned the land.
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As America was homestead and the
government continue the tradition of
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this kind of separate ownership.
Don\'t believe for one minute
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that anything is off limit. Hundred Fifty feet away from
your house. One and half times the length of the derrick.
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So if it falls over (inaudible) hit house.
We see this look on people\'s faces,
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and they get that look and they say, \"Well, wait a minute.
That can\'t be right. That\'s not fair. That can\'t be.\"
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But it is that\'s the way it is.
This is an active drilling rig
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near a small house showing
just how close the two can be,
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and how large the pad, is during
drilling a site can cover several acres
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before it is reduced to a smaller
pad for the producing well.
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For decades the oil and gas industry has lobbied to
create a regulatory climate which is paved the way
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for the current drilling boom. Back in 2000
thousand after the Bush-Cheney election
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there was a dramatic acceleration
in drilling activity.
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Both had received large contributions
from oil and gas interests,
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and the Vice President had been the Chief Executive of
Halliburton, a major player in the drilling industry.
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In 2005, the administration\'s
energy bill passed
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with support from members
of both political parties.
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It provided the gas and oil industry with
billions of dollars in subsidies, tax breaks,
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and research money. Sixty-five
percent of the current subsidies
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go to gas and oil, and you have this
imbalance. We ought to have 65% or more
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80% ought to be going to
alternative renewable technology
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to energy efficiency. The energy bill makes practical
reforms to the oil and gas permitting process
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to encourage new exploration after
years of debate and division,
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Congress passed a good bills.
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[music]
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Orlyn and I uh… were married in 1998,
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I was a pharmaceutical chemists for many
years, my husband is a civil engineer
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with a specialty in
water, and he is retired
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a few years ago we ran into some real
problems with the oil and gas industry
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because they have begun drilling here
in Canada Oil and Gas contacted us
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in the early spring of 2004
with the proposal that
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they would put wells on our land, and the bulldozer
showed up one day and began ripping interring
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before we had signed a surface use agreement. We
were told that they didn\'t know us anything thing
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and we were just finished. I suppose you
want to go two. Once they bonded on
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they began putting a pipeline in
across about five of our hay fields,
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they drilled four wells. These are the
two condensate and produced water tanks
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the natural gas is immediately
piped into a pipeline
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that goes across our fields are sent off into the
pipeline off to either Chicago or Los Angeles.
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Garfield County located
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high in the Colorado Rockies was always
a quiet rural area for its residents.
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But in the 1990s things started to change,
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gas and oil drilling began to
boom and development has expanded
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dramatically each year. When I first
came to Colorado 27 years ago,
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the energy production was for oil,
and at that the time that there was
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this synthetic fuels corporation, and it
was all about oil shale, natural gas,
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they didn\'t have pipelines for it, and so they were trying to figure
out what to do with all the natural gas they knew there was a lot
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but there was no use for it at the time.
Now uh… natural gas is
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the biggest thing that\'s
gone on in Western Colorado.
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Right where we\'re standing, we had a
spill did you see over my head here
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we\'ve got the neighbors wells. I don\'t
know three, four, or more over there
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and that stack closest to us blew one day,
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it look like Old Faithful
head trot off over there.
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The separator spewed paraffin
out all over the pad
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and all over into a good number of acres of
pasture, and that paraffin was laced with
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the detox chemicals,
hydrocarbons of various kinds.
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We were concerned that it
would contaminate in ditch
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and the grasses were heavy and dry and whatnot so
we burned the ditch and hydrocarbons along with it,
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so we wouldn\'t get our ditch water.
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[music]
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I think they\'ll go straight
over the hill (inaudible).
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[non-English narration]
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My great grandfather came to this valley
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probably about 1845
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and (inaudible) had
captured this young girl.
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Oh, settle down. My great grandfather
bought this girl and later married her
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she was (inaudible) which would make us
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half Spanish and half Native Americans.
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I have over 100,000 acres
of ranch land on my permit.
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When I used to come up here with
my dad in the late 40s, early 50s
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there was a single,
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not even one oil and gas well
now there\'s (inaudible).
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[music]
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ConocoPhillips operates about 10,000 wells
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uh… here in the base and which
is an incredible number of wells
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to try and manage on a daily basis and… So
as a simple example, we do well reviews
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and look at what our well should be
delivering if we spend five minutes per well,
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uh… it takes about nine months
to go through that process.
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Everything below down
here is Armenta Canyon.
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If you get up on the big Harris makes a
benches those benches are just littered
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with wells approximately 500 all total.
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And now with the new well spaces
that they approved it will go from
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about 500 to about a 1,500
within the next 20 years.
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We drill it averages about
350 new wells per year.
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When you take Colorado side and include that
we think the ConocoPhillips has probably
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another 10,000 thousand wells
that we will drill in the base
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and over the next 40 years say. The sharply
increased drilling on Gilbert Armenta\'s Ranch
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is typical of what has happened to vast
expanses of northern New Mexico land.
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A satellite image shows the crisscrossing
patterns of access roads and wells
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extending for hundreds of miles
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across San Juan County and northwest.
The land surface has been scarred up
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so bad that I can recognize
it from the first time I saw.
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[music]
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The ranch lands of San Juan County aren\'t
the only areas inundated by drilling rigs.
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In the towns near Gilbert Armenta\'s land
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there are wells everywhere in
neighborhoods and near schools.
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Gas industry has been
here for 50 plus years,
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and we do drill in populated
areas, you can go out here
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uh… a couple of 100 yards from this office and find a
producing well. ConocoPhillips is the largest producer
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in the San Juan Basin when you look at the total
between our workforce directly and indirectly
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reporting for us it\'s about 8% of the local
population. So we\'re a very large employer
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uh… in the basin here. Industry has
brought jobs and money to the county,
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but for Gilbert Armenta the
price has been much too high.
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This gate will be the gate to enter
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into my property, the oil company had me
completely locked out for two and half years,
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the only way they would give me a
key to enter my own property is
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if I agreed to keep the
gate locked at all times.
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The industry has the mentality that it\'s all
there is and don\'t belong to nobody else
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knows and that\'s what they
tell us when they come out
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to drill here on our lands, it\'s hours,
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you\'re in Norway. We just think
the Good Neighbor Program
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
is something that was somewhat elementary,
and it\'s just respect because if you don\'t,
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
two things will happen. First, is
the government will regulate you
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
and a lot of times regulate you out of
business. And second is New Mexico becomes
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
an unfriendly business environment and
oil and gas industries go elsewhere.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
I don\'t think the state wants that, the
oil and gas industry doesn\'t want that.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
We have a very large emphasis
with our 325 member companies
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
about being a good neighbor, about
talking to people, about doing things
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
that you would do in your neighborhood
with your next door neighbor.
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
When they were doing this pump
jack, I was in home at the time,
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
and then where brought in this
rig to put that machine on there
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
that already agreed several years before
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
to fence off the old cemetery.
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
My great grandfather is buried
here and his son (inaudible)
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
who probably died about 1914. When
I came down I saw the porta potty,
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
the porta potty was. I said, well
that kind of put the porta potty is
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
a little bit too close and there
was a huge pile of gravel
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
right on top of the cemetery.
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
First thing when we saw we\'re running
shock, the markers or sandstone,
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
and the one on the markers was all cedar
post. And now not been able to locate
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
the cedar poles to what the heck they did
whether or not to hold that office trash.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
They totally wipe out the cemetery.
My own expense
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
I came in, and I put this pipe fence
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
to make sure they don\'t do it again.
When I put this fence up,
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
they sent me a letter telling me they\'re gonna sue me,
they wanted me to furnish proof that it was there.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
They had renamed them protecting
the cemetery as they promised
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
and now I don\'t know where
none of the markers are.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
[sil.]
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
[music]
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
In the US in the Lower 48 onshore,
the boom that is currently going on
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
has driven a lot by technology there been a lot of
technological advances with horizontal drilling
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
with the fracture stimulation.
One of the key elements
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
to finding and getting the resources out of very
tight sand or hard rock is the fracking process,
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
fracking is just a short
word for fracturing.
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking as it\'s
commonly called is a drilling technique
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
first commercialized by Halliburton
in 1949. That comes in with
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
very high powered water and sand and a
slightly soapy mixture and all it does is
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
it goes down and it just fractures
little tiny fractures in rock,
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
and then the sand goes into those
fractures and allow the gas to escape
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
and then the gas flows in to the pipe and
up to the surface and to people\'s homes.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
Hydraulic fracturing is
largely responsible for
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
the domestic drilling boom. Because of
its high cost, it was not widely used
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
until recently in the 1990s when the
price of natural gas shot up high enough
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
to make it affordable. And really what
was not economical the last, you know,
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
50 years or so is now economic
and it should continue
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
particularly if prices stay where they are.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
This is… Here are the reserved pits here.
Dr. Theo Colborn is
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
one of the world\'s leading authorities on
endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
and their impact on humans. Down in here the
trucks are coming all the way from delta
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
which is 30 miles to here… She has been studying the
chemicals used by the industry for drilling, and extraction,
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
and documenting their effects.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
Basically our first list of the chemicals that
were being used was this very, very short
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
and uninteresting list
that EPA put together.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
It certainly wasn\'t comprehensive, we knew, we
found out very rapidly that it was no small list.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
They don\'t tell you everything that\'s in a product,
you may only get 5% of what\'s in that product,
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
and the rest of it is proprietary
or they just don\'t give it,
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
they don\'t have to. It\'s water, and it\'s
sand, and it\'s just a fact in another words,
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
but it is also proprietary because
every single fracking company
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
whether it\'s a Schlumberger or it\'s BJ
Services or it\'s a Halliburton they sell that
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
their\'s is the best product, and so
it\'s proprietary. It would be like
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
umm… divulging, you know, why your chocolate
is better than somebody else\'s chocolate
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
because you have those ingredients.
Oil and gas deposits
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
below ground contain toxic compounds that
are brought to the surface during drilling.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
These compounds pollute the environment
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
and can cause health problems, but the
impacts of drilling or made even worse
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
by the chemical products that are injected during
the process. Dr. Colborn has documented over
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
200 products used in Colorado drilling
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
over 90% contain chemicals
with adverse health effects.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
In each fracking incident
they use approximately
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
1 million gallons of fluid. Each well
can be fracked as much as 10 times,
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
they\'re fracked at different depths as they
come higher and higher toward the surface.
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Much of what are being injected underground
that are coming back up and sitting
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
in these huge open pits
almost in people\'s backyards.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
This is condensate produced water,
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
so water that comes out of the bottom of the wells that they keep
telling us it\'s only water and it safe and it won\'t hurt you,
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
and it\'s not water, I mean, look at
the film it leaves on the plastic
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
the liners after they pull it out, and
this one has been here for three years,
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
then for two years they missed it off
of it, they\'re on sprinkler system
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
over the top of it all the time that\'s
an attempt to evaporate the water
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
when they clean it up they won\'t take this stuff
all of it out. They\'ll just take a tracker
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
and just start ripping it, put some of the soil in
it, they\'re bringing some soil bond and mix in it,
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
and burry right where it\'s sitting.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
There is not any proof that there\'s been
anything harmful in the fracking fluids
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
that are used to fracture the wells. You know,
our fluids are nontoxic, I know we get a lot of…
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
I think there\'s a lot of misunderstanding
of what is actually in these fluids.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
I have fracking fluid taken right out
of a fracking track in my office,
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
I\'ve had it in my mouth, I tasted it, and I\'m
just fine. For people who are telling you that
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
these products are safe. First ask
them what they had been trained in,
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
two, find out who\'s paying their salary,
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
and third, actually hand them a
real glass full of something
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
that you have taken from an evaporation
pound and ask them to drink it.
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
I think it\'s just so important people
understand that we live here and love it also
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
so why would we mess in our nest.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
[music]
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Dee and Harold Hoffmeister
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
live across the road from
the bell farm surrounded by
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
an ever increasing number of natural gas
wells. We\'re in bed actually sleeping,
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
and umm… we heard this pop,
and then our son called
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
and said that the well is on fire. And
my husband went to try to go outside
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
and it was too hot on the deck, so he
couldn\'t. It was blowing right that way.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
And then the fire trucks came
but they waited way down
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
because there was nothing they could do.
(inaudible).
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
Yeah. So I think they were there
basically for our homes, you know,
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
if they caught fire or something,
you know, one of our structures.
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
Industrial accidents and spills
are common in these communities
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
between 2003 and 2008, it is estimated that
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
there were 1,435 spills in Colorado.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
Nearly a quarter of these spills are believed to
have contaminated either ground or surface water
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
in the state. Every time we hear this,
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
it\'s fine, it\'s fine. Wait
and see, just wait and see.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
And then some horrible thing happens,
you know? A little farther down
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Dry Hollow Road is the divide creek.
Okay, here we go.
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
That\'s where Lisa Bracken
and her family live.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
This is back where it\'s first
discovered, we got a call one day
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
on April 1st from a neighbor Steve Thompson said,
\"You know, I found some stuff down here on my place,
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
it doesn\'t look right. I think you should come
look at it.\" And he said it\'s not normal.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
(inaudible) bubbles in that water up their
Bob, looks like little fish jumping?
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
Yeah. That\'s all the gas coming outside.
Both his and our properties there
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
was the evidence of bubbling in the creek we didn\'t
know what it was, it looked like a Pepsi can
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
there was just an eruption of bubbles phishing
all over the place in the region and the water.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
It\'s percolating all over this field.
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
There\'s just 1,000s this field is just
covered with them. We\'re down here 18 years
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
and this is the first time I\'ve seen (inaudible).
And it\'s funny, it\'s just starting happening
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
the day they started fracking.
We notified the EPA,
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
DOW the health department, and
then we called notified the state.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
And so my dad went down (inaudible)
he\'s of Native American heritage
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
and decided okay they\'re not listening
to us. He waded into the water,
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
and he did a (inaudible) bubbles just erupted all
around him. In an effort to convince authorities that
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
the bubbling was not occurring naturally,
Lisa and her family demonstrated that
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
the gas would ignite.
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Oh, yeah, it burns. Yeah, I would say.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
Keep your face out. Yeah. So he
lit some of these vents on fire
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
and demonstrated the flame of full high
a sustainable flame from of the things
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
that were coming up in the creek. Water
samples taken from the ground water
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
in the Divide Creek seep area showed
levels of the carcinogen benzene
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
48 times government standards,
gas was released into the creek
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
for 55 days before the well believe
to have caused the seep was resealed.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
After they remediated the well evidence
of the seep largely disappeared.
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Here it went away and Pepi\'s place on
(inaudible) it diminished significantly
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
and there\'s still some evidence of it there,
but it\'s the only lingering presence.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
To this day gas continues to bubble
up at the seeps main exit point
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
on Pepi Langegger land.
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
So what they\'re trying to do is
contain everything the contamination
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
but in a certain area here. It has
still benzene, toluene in there
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
and nobody knows how
long it\'s going to take
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
or if ever really, you know,
everything is going to be cleared up.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
According to a statement provided by the
Encana corporation. Nothing that Encana did
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
was out of compliance with the
regulations in place at that time.
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
Extensive monitoring following the incident
indicates there was no contamination of
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
residential water sources as a result of the
sea an air convection system is in place
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
to remove benzene from the
groundwater in the plume area.
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
They come in and they put into
the creek a sparging unit, okay?
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
Now what a sparging unit does according to
what Encana says is it takes the water,
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
and it rolls it up, and it mists.
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
And the benzene which is the cancer-causing
ingredients it takes the benzene
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
out of the water, and it
puts it into the air.
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
Problem-solved.
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
Here so the people down went and breathe it instead
of the people down the stream drinking it.
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
They had lost 150 million cubic
feet of gas into the ground
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
or runs down to the river and down to
where picks up its drinking water.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
(inaudible) drinking water.
Yeah, that\'s were it goes.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
Encana was ordered to pay a fine of
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
$371,200. It\'s prettiest
spot and let you see here
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
this is pristine land (inaudible) if
somebody wants to have a little hideaway.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
Who do you think I could sell it?
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
For a while, yeah, it\'s nice but there is
little benzene coming out of the ground.
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
Yeah. Spills and groundwater contamination
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
can occur anywhere there is drilling.
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
Industry representatives often try to
downplay their environmental impact.
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
There has not been one instance in the state
and in the Mexico where water was contaminated
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
by our operations that actually went into
a consumer\'s place of business or home.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
Talk about ruining the water there
hasn\'t been one drop of water
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
delivered to a consumer for consumption in
100,000 wells that we drilled in 90 years
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
ever been polluted or contaminated. The
fact that I\'ve heard and, Bob, correct me
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
if I\'m wrong is that the oil and
gas industry has self-reported
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
900 instances of groundwater contamination
since the \'90s that\'s self-reported.
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
Are you saying that there has never been an
instance where oil exploration in New Mexico
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
has actually resulted in the
contamination of our water supply?
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
That was delivered to the consumer. Yes, that\'s what I\'m
saying. But that wasn\'t delivered to the consumer that is
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
that is there underground you\'re acknowledging
that there has been contamination in those cases.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
I\'m not sure if there\'s been contamination, I\'m
acknowledging that there has been some cases of a concern
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
at oil and gas that has gotten close
to a water table or in a water table
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
but not in a water table that\'s
delivered for consumption.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
This is Colorado Matters, some Coloradans
who live near oil and gas wells say
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
drilling is making (inaudible) oil and gas
drilling in Colorado was having a big impact,
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
but there\'s little information about the
effect of all that drilling on human health.
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
In 2004 some residents in Garfield
County began to complain that
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
they were getting sick as a result of the
drilling activities in their neighborhoods.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
A young woman from silt Laura
Amos was one of the earliest
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
and loudest voices. As everyone
in this room probably knows
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
my groundwater has been contaminated
with methane (inaudible) for gas.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
There\'s lot of people in this room with
contamination and pollution issues.
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
So who then is responsible to me
for that that loss of my welfare
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
if it\'s not you the gas commission? If a
well is drilled next to your residence
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
or near your residence within the legal
setbacks and there\'s a perceived
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
or a real impact on your property
value, we don\'t address in that.
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
In 2001 gas wells were drilled
using the fracking technique
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
a mere 500 feet from the Amos home.
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
Underground the drilling breached their water well causing
their drinking water to fill with gray sediment and fizz
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
like soda pop. The Colorado Oil
and Gas Conservation Commission
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
tested the water well and found methane
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
but said it was safe. But they warned
the Amos to keep a window open
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
so the methane gas wouldn\'t build up
and cause an explosion in their home.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
The Amos\'s stopped drinking the
water but continued to bathe in it.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
A young woman called me
from Garfield County
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
and said that she had developed a rare
adrenal tumor that she had had this incident
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
with her well that was the beginning. I mean, when
she called it just sent chills up and down my spine.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
She had been breast-feeding her
daughter through the period
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
when they were using the water that they
were told was safe. She was bathing her baby
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
in the water in their home, they were breathing
the stuff that\'s coming into their house.
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
She later found out that a chemical
that had been used in the 2001 fracking
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
has been linked to adrenal gland tumors.
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
When she went to Encana they denied
using it on that well or any other.
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
Months later the oil and gas commission
admitted that it had been used after all.
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
Laura was told her water was safe, but
we found out later they never tested it
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
for (inaudible). They waited until
four years after the incident
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
to go back to see if possibly they
could find some, that was long gone.
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
She spoke to other people in her
neighborhood, she began to see
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
if anybody else was having the kind of held
problem she had. And then others began telling me
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
about people they heard about.
And I was just amazed that
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
the numbers of people that were involved, and
I thought this is maybe a serious problem
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
what is going on over there. After
years of mounting medical bills,
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
devalued property, and diminishing options
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
Laura agreed to a monetary settlement with Encana
Corporation, the company responsible for her problems.
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
The settlement stipulated she
stopped telling her story publicly
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
which is why she was not
interviewed for this film.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
Many family stories like hers will never be told
because of companies settlements that require silence.
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
And as I sat there and looked out my window
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
into my backyard all I could think
was, I\'m getting involved in this.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
There\'s no way I can stay out of this.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
And I\'m sitting here with
all of the right resources,
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
these people need help.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:53.000
[music]
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
Let\'s go around the trampoline. In
spite of the well explosion and fire
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
Dee Hoffmeister has stayed in her house
surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
This kind of helps me, it gives me a little
more steadiness until I can grab something.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
You know, they were doing okay as long
as the rigs on that weren\'t there,
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
and I was just working well. And you
still got (inaudible) of smells in that,
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
and I just couldn\'t be outside, it wasn\'t
in the house. But then they brought in
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
the temporary rig because they\'re having
problems with one of the holes, I think,
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
and then the smells all started up again
because they were doing the fracking
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
and it all blows right over here.
We had one back there behind us,
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
we had two on this side here
that were all working, you know,
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
flaring with gas, and I got
much more ill after the fire
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
whatever was there just burned and came right at
me, you know, it\'s like somebody had just dumped
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
chemicals on me. Finally,
I couldn\'t stand anymore
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
and one day my husband took me to the emergency room at
hospital. And he said, well, we\'re gonna do some blood work,
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
and then we\'ll do some X-rays and Cat scan.
And I said, \"You know, this is chemical,
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
these are chemicals.\" I said, \"I don\'t think
you\'re gonna find anything.\" And it came back,
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
he said, all the tests are inconclusive.
And I said I know
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
and my body is full of chemicals and
that\'s why I\'m sick. There is no way
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
a physician can truly treat what he\'s
seeing. They have happened given
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
the list of these chemicals that are
being used when someone comes to them
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
with some of these look like clinical
ordinary disorders, they need to do
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
a little questioning because it could
very well be that it is a chemical
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
that they were exposed to, and there may be a way
to treat it. But they can\'t give proper treatment
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
if they\'re not aware of what
these people are exposed to.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
Can you get down? I have
21 grand kids and great.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
[sil.]
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
I\'m over here. Yeah, they\'ve been
pretty sick. They\'ve had colds, asthma.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
Girls all had lung infections.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
(inaudible) asthma is really bad he\'s on four
different medicines. Basically, we found that
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
if you were to take all of the chemicals that are
used in a particular state always where you see
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
the highest percentage of possible health
effects, it\'s always skin irritation,
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
eye irritation, blistering sinuses, asthma,
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
coughing, and then this
effect called sensitizing,
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
itchy skin, burning skin.
You know, it\'s your health,
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
but it it\'s everything, it\'s how
you live your quality of life
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
is just gone.
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
[sil.]
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
But I hope
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
I don\'t have to move away.
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
Dee still lives on Dry Hollow Road
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
shortly after this interview Dee\'s son and daughter-in-law
and their four children moved out of the state
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
when they moved their respiratory
problems disappeared.
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
In 2004,
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
the Bush-Cheney administrations Environmental
Protection Agency asserted that
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
fracturing does not threaten drinking
water, this was challenged by
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
a 30-year EPA Environmental
Engineer Weston Wilson
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
acting under protected whistleblower status. The
former chairman and CEO of Halliburton Dick Cheney
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
within a few months of coming into office
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
and as vice-president he was pressuring the
administrator of EPA Christine Todd Whitman
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
to exempt hydraulic fracking from the
Safe Drinking Water Act regulation.
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
From my own point of view as a technician,
I just started a very alarming that EPA
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
technically had described how toxic these
materials are toxic at the point of injection
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
and still come out with a summary that says
they don\'t need to be reported are regulated.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
And that led me in the
fall of \'04 to object
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
on technical grounds then
the Inspector General EPA
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
began an investigation of my complaints
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
and several months into that
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
congress took the report from EPA saying
that fracking did not present a risk
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
along with other information and
exempted hydraulic fracking
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act
that leaves you and I as the American public
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
in this position we cannot
know what the industry injects
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
in our land. It is exempt
from being reported.
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
There are federal laws that protect our environment
like the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act,
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
the Safe Drinking Water Act. And it turns
out that the oil and gas industry is exempt
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
from very important provisions of those laws.
Some of these exemptions date back four decades
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
it hasn\'t been a partisan thing
there have been officials
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
from different parties that have supported
exemptions for the oil and gas industry.
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
What happens is politicians from states where
there\'s a large energy industry often support
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:40.000
measures that are
beneficial to the industry.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
Down the Colorado River
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:10.000
about nine miles to the west
of silt is the town of Rifle.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
This is when we lived in (inaudible)
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
this is before anything any problems
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
before we moved into Rifle. This is 1993.
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
We\'ve been married like a 100 years.
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
I\'m 54, and she is 59.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
She changed… she changed so much.
That is a traditional first picture,
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
this is a traditional Steve picture.
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
In 1993, Chris and Steve Mobaldi decided
to leave California to move to Colorado.
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
We both got laid off from our work because
we both volunteered to be laid off
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
because we wanted to get out of California
towards the Colorado where it was beautiful
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
and clean air, and clean water. They
found themselves in Garfield County
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
looking for a new home. There\'s Chris. Hi.
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
Hi. In 1995 they bought their dream house
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:30.000
a fixer upper in a rural
neighborhood outside Rifle.
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
It was shortly after Chris and Steve moved
in that drilling rigs began to appear
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
on some of their neighbors\' land
and in the surrounding hills.
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
And then everything changed.
Chris would get in the shower
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
and her skin turn bright red.
I think it was \'96…
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
…her skin it was burning
on fire, she was swell.
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
Steve began to develop symptoms as well.
I\'d feel dizzy,
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
I get bloody noses. Why would anyone think that
something happened a couple of miles down the road
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
could possibly be causing this
pelt change in their body,
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
you see blood disorders what is called
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
idiopathic hemorrhaging, so you
get bloody eyes, bloody noses,
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
and also blood in the urine. And
a number of people who called me
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
said they had this condition. I was afraid she was going
to bleed to death, she would wake up in the morning,
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
and she would be covered in blood
her nose would be bleeding
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
just like crazy pillow was covered with
blood, the sheets were covered with blood.
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
Well, around 50% of the chemicals
cause such things as kidney damage,
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
cardiovascular problems and then
the next and very troublesome
00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:03.000
are the neurological effects.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
Chris\'s health began to deteriorate
rapidly, she began losing her site,
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
had severe headaches, and had
pain in her hands and feet.
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
There were two surgeries to remove a
pituitary tumor, and she developed
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
a rare neurological speech impairment.
It became increasingly difficult for her
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
to speak clearly.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
I\'ve had several patients
who have umm… been having
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
symptoms since the time that they were
exposed to oil and gas exploration
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
near their homes these are all people
in a small cluster around Rifle.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
Last year EPA got several citizens requests
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
from Garfield County, and the citizens were saying,
\"Gosh, my drinking water might be contaminated
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
by this practice or the air we breathe might
be affected, EPA, can you look into it.\"
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
EPA should have. Myself
and another staff person
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
we had prepared the letters, and we were ready
to write to the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
that we felt that this practice
cause imminence substantial risk
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
to public drinking water source. And that EPA
was going to take over the investigation.
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
However, as soon as we got that to
our political appointee supervisors
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
they cancelled that investigation.
So EPA did not investigate
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
the legitimate complaints from
citizens in Garfield County.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
When they are drilling, we could feel it grinding
underneath the ground, you know, under our house,
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
and then we\'d fill these explosions, and it
would shake dishes, and rattle pictures,
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
and it drilled for the longest time.
And the pit was even closer,
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
and they burn it, they would just flare
it off. The one blew right to our house.
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
If you lived, you know,
rural residential area
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
and you\'re in a low lying area, your house was
in a low lying area that could accumulate
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
these gases when they come off
the tank battery and so forth
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
you may be breathing those
for 12 hours a day.
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
Those chemicals again neurotoxicants.
People complain when they stepped
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
out of their automobiles or out of their homes
that they got a whiff of some they collapsed.
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
They shook, they\'ve seen
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
the loss of memory, dizziness.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
In 1997 as Chris\'s symptoms were getting worse
a water well near the Mobaldi\'s was blown out
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
and contaminated by drilling.
According to state records
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
on September 15th 1997
Barrett Resources lost
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
well control while drilling
the Bernklau gas well.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
Then the gas companies came out and told everybody not
to drink the water, and they actually started delivering
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
water to us, then they came back and told
us that your water is safe to drink.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
So we started drinking the water again.
When the exposures to water pathway
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
people are usually given an alternate
drinking water supply, you don\'t think of it
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
but there are a lot of sources of water
vapor in the house your dishwasher.
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
Every time you flush the
toilet, and you breathe it in,
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
and you absorb it from your skin, your
dose of the volatile organic compounds
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
from the shower water will be several
times the dose you would have gotten
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
from the drinking water. After we
started thinking something\'s not right.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
Put a glass of water out left to sit overnight
and there was like a little oil slick on top.
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
And then…
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
Burned.
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
And this is the water that
they said was safe to drink.
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
She had high thirst and it makes
her exposure quite different
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
than her husband\'s not only was she at the
house a much larger fraction of the time,
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
he would go off to work, but she had
a much higher use of the well water
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
that was further exposure for her.
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
In desperation Chris And Steve
moved to Grand Junction, Colorado
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
abandoning their home and a place
that had been their dream.
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
We just up and left then all the
place, and it was valued at
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
$440,000 and we just walked away from it.
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
And she reported that she was
somewhat better, by no means good,
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
but all perhaps 30% or 40% improved
being away from that home.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
And if she would go back to
retrieve some belongings
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
or go to visit neighbors that they
had had in that previous home
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
she would feel sick and fairly quickly. I think
almost all of our neighbors have moved away
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
and all the people that occupy
the house is now are all
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
people that work for the wells.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:25.000
[music]
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
There\'s a growing resistance
on the part of people
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
who live in the path of drilling.
They are lying to us.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
I object any company that will come
in, drive people out of the homes
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
and rebuild their own kingdoms (inaudible).
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
[sil.]
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
I have to say that living with this
development has affected our lives
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
in nearly every way imaginable. With no other
recourse some landowners have become activists.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
My well was blown out in July 18th
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
of 2006. Last summer while you folks
probably had air conditioners going on,
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
I had to stay in my house
with a respirator on.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
I was offered a little
towel myself (inaudible)
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
it doesn\'t help the situation,
we all can\'t just move
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
into (inaudible). It\'s clear that
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
those who do the mineral extraction
know the risks of mineral extraction.
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
They don\'t know the specific health effects,
but they know that this is an activity
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
which impacts both the
environment and humanity.
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
They\'ve known it for many, many years.
It\'s unbelievable that someone says toxic,
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
I mean, that the federal government, the federal
government, and the state government will tell you
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
that stuff in the pit is not hazardous and not
toxic. And I would say you… A lot of the chemicals
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
used are proprietary, we don\'t know isn\'t
that the case? No, what is in that pit,
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
what is in that pit is sand,
woodchips, drill bits, water, and jell
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
that came out of the hole. And not any of the fracking
chemicals. Well, the fracking chemicals go in here.
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
The fracking chemicals are in there and when the fracking. Much
of that waste isn\'t entrenched right back up and put in pit.
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
Yes, it\'s put in a pit, and it\'s not hazardous by
definition of the federalist state government.
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
Our goal is zero incidents and
zero impact on the environment,
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
and we\'re not there obviously.
We do have injuries,
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
we do have spells, but we try and prevent
them, and we\'ll do the best that we can.
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
It\'s not any more dangerous than walking
across the road anywhere. I mean, you know,
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
it\'s not any more dangerous, this is natural gas, we\'re
not talking oil or oil spills, it\'s a natural gas.
00:52:55.000 --> 00:53:00.000
No, it\'s not anymore dangerous.
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
House bill 13141 maybe one of the most significant
things that we accomplished in this legislative session.
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
We reorganized the Colorado Oil
and Gas Conservation Commission,
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
and we believe it brings a better balance to
the commission so that\'s now not dominated by
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
any one interest group, but we\'re going
to be responsible as we move forward.
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
I want to be mindful of the impact is the number of drilling
applications climb and as the number of impact complaints
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
climb as well.
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:43.000
[sil.]
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:50.000
Hey, how are you doing? I\'m okay.
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
Yes, I understand. Half
of the state of Colorado
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
or more sits above the gas bearings known.
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
And so this is an issue
that will be with us
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
for many, many years to come, and the decisions
that we make today are going to define
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
how this world transpire
over the next 20 years.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
Am I too much on you? Oh,
no, I could carry you.
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
No, we\'re fine. Here comes stairs, Chris.
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
[music]
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
You need help to get your legs in
or can you get them in by yourself.
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:55.000
[music]