Review of Gasland (2010) by Mesha R — 24 Nov 2010

Before I saw 'GasLand', I had read about astounding scenes in this documentary where narrator Josh Fox meets ordinary Americans who demonstrate how their drinking water has been contaminated by nearby hydraulic-fracturing mining for natural gas - they turn on a tap at a kitchen or bathroom sink, activate a lighter and ignite the water into flames.

Tap-water turned into fire? Reading about it was startling enough - but seeing it happen at several locations throughout the US is flabbergasting.

Overall, 'GasLand' is a flabbergasting film about the careless haste by some corporations to mine natural gas throughout the United States - and especially with the hydraulic-fracturing method, which is basically blasting huge cracks deep underground and seeing what comes up. Coupled with an unbelievable 2005 act exempting mining corporations from landmark 1970s legislation that guaranteed safe drinking water for all Americans, hydraulic-fracturing has resulted in problems including (but not limited to) water becoming unusable for human and animal consumption, exploding wells and increased pollution (the sequence where Fox details how many semi-trailer truckloads it takes to service a well is staggering - and then there's the 596 different types of chemicals used in the mining). (Yes, 596).

'GasLand' is very uncomfortable yet compelling viewing, indeed.