What you’ll see in this video is pretty crazy…
Gasland is a documentary film made by filmmaker Josh Fox about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing in the United States.
Apparently Poland is ripe for this sort of drilling.
Estimates indicate that there could be as much as 1. 36 trillion cubic metres of unconventional gas spanning across northern and central Poland. This “Shale Gas” does not exist in conventional reservoirs but in tight rock formations that can only be tapped into through the use of American developed hydraulic fracturing technology.
Can your drinking water catch on fire?
According to the Gasland website
Hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well.
Filmmaker Josh Fox
In the United States the natural gas industry does not have to disclose the chemicals used in this process. And according to researchers there’s some nasty ones there including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
There has been a massive land grab by international oil giants including the Canadian company Talisman Energy as well as American oil groups Exxon-Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips to tap into these reservoirs.
Their efforts are enthusiastically supported by the Polish government which is keen to weaken Russia’s grip on Poland’s energy supplies. An estimated two-thirds of Poland’s natural gas now comes from Russia.
Energy exploration carries huge risks and huge rewards – sure you can become a shaleionaire but at what cost to your health and that of your community?
Afterall it’s never fun when your own drinking water catches on fire.
Check out this 60 Minutes episode about the pros and cons of Shale Gas Drilling.
And here’s a PBS interview with filmmaker Josh Fox about Gasland.
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