Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

October 28, 2010

Powerful message but low turnout for film

‘Gasland’ was previewed at Tunkhannock theater along with pro-Shale documentary.

By Matt Hughes mhughes@timesleader.com
Staff Writer   |   Matt Hughes on Facebook   |   @TLMattHughes on Twitter

TUNKHANNOCK – Attendance at the Dietrich Theater’s matinee screening of “Gasland” was scant on Sept. 11, but for those who were present, the film’s effect was powerful.

The historic Tunkhannock theater showed the film four times between Sept. 10 and Sept. 12, alternating screenings of the film, for parity’s sake, with pro-Marcellus Shale drilling documentary “Gas Odyssey.” Fifteen attended the Sept. 11, matinee, up from five at its premiere.

“It was awesome,” Adam Robinson, of Tunkhannock, said after the film, though he added it didn’t change his opinion on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, which was already negative.

A woman from Lemon, a rural Wyoming County community situated between Tunkhannock and Dimock Township, declined to give her name, but said she felt the film accurately portrayed the situation to her north.

In “Gasland,” Dimock, Susquehanna County, marks filmmaker Josh Fox’s first stop on his cross-country exploratory journey. There, he finds residents who claim their water has been contaminated, and pets that have lost patches of hair, allegedly as a result of gas drilling.

The woman attending the screening said she has leased land for gas drilling, and now worries about the quality of her drinking water, especially after seeing Fox’s film.

“I had been led to believe that this was new technology,” she said of the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract natural gas from shale. “And then you watch the movie, and you realize they’ve been doing this for years out west, and they knew what was happening.”

Others said the film helped them make up their mind against drilling for gas locally, though they had been ambivalent beforehand.

“I was more or less on the fence about the whole thing. Now it seems, I’m definitely leaning towards ‘no’,” Rowland Abushady, of Meshoppen, said.

“To me, it doesn’t make any sense to use so many finite resources, like the water and fuel for the trucks, to extract another finite natural resource,” he added.

“I thought it was frightening, but I learned so much more about what is involved,” said Abushady’s mother, Madge Abushady, of Meshoppen, who also attended the screening. “I think some change has to be made, with all the water being used to the detriment of the people who live here. I’m definitely against that.”

Madge Abushady said she owns a large plot of land in Meshoppen and has been approached several times by natural gas company land men about leasing the resource rights to her land.

Having seen “Gasland,” would she still consider their offer?

A resounding “no,” she replied. “Never, never, never.”

“Gasland” is showing today through Thursday at the Independent Film Center in New York City. Filmmakers will attend screenings today and Wednesday.

Matt Hughes, a staff writer for The Times Leader, can be reached at 829-7210.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher