Chris Salmon Technologies

Gasland director Josh Fox admits hiding facts from film audience 

In this clip from filmmaker Phelim McAleer, he captures Mr. Fox revealing that he knew of published reports of "troublesome amounts of methane" in the aquifer featured in his "flaming faucet" scene going back to 1976.  However Fox says he "doesn't care" and chose not to tell his audience this because it was "not relevant." He then compares this to reports of cars hitting pedestrians in Denver in 1987 (huh?).  He also reveals that he knew of reports of flammable tap water from New York water wells going back to 1936!  Actually reports of "flaming water" go back even further than that, as I wrote in "BEN FRANKLIN DISCOVERS "BURNING WATER" IN 1764"

Gasland director hides full facts from Not Evil Just Wrong on Vimeo.

In fact, Gasland was so inaccurate in reporting the facts in Colorado, that the Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources had to issue a Gasland Corrections Document which gives detail on the well dishonestly portrayed by Fox in the famous scene:

"The Markham and McClure water wells are both located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Weld County.  They and other water wells in this area draw water from the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer, which is composed of interbedded sandstones, shales, and coals.  Indeed, the water well completion report for Mr. Markham’s well shows that it penetrated at least four different coal beds.  The occurrence of methane in the coals of the Laramie Formation has been well documented in numerous publications by the Colorado Geological Survey, the United States Geological Survey, and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists dating back more than 30 years.  For example, a 1976 publication by the Colorado Division of Water Resources  states that the aquifer contains “troublesome amounts of . . . methane.”  A 1983 publication by the United States Geological Survey similarly states that “[m]ethane-rich gas commonly occurs in ground water in the Denver Basin, southern Weld County, Colorado.”  And a 2001 report by the Colorado Geological Survey discusses the methane potential of this formation and cites approximately 30 publications on this subject."

In the video clip posted here, Fox claims that "the citizens reported that they could not light their water on fire before the drilling, and after the drilling, they could light their water on fire."  But the COGCC Gasland Corrections Document addresses this claimed temporal relationship between drilling and flammable tapwater, something Fox also left out:

"The COGCC has also reviewed the records for all oil and gas wells located within one-half mile of the Markham and McClure wells, which is more than double the typical hydraulic fracture length in Colorado.  This review indicated that:  all oil and gas wells near the Markham well were drilled and hydraulically fractured in 1991, except for two wells that were fractured in 2005 and 2006, respectively; and all oil and gas wells near the McClure well were drilled and hydraulically fractured in 2002, except for one well that was hydraulically fractured in 2005.  The records do not reflect any pressure failures or other problems associated with these wells that would indicate a loss of fracture fluid or gas from the well bore into the surrounding geologic formations."

The COGCC investigated claims by Mr. Markham in 2008.  Gasland came out in 2010.  The COGCC speaks to the "before and after" claim as follows:

"Finally, the (Gasland) website asserts that the water in the Markham and McClure wells deteriorated after drilling and hydraulic fracturing occurred nearby.  However, COGCC records indicate little or no temporal relationship between the Markham and McClure complaints and nearby drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities, which occurred several years earlier and in most cases many years earlier."

In this willingness to misinform Gasland's viewers by leaving out information that is inconvenient to his fear-mongering advocacy, Mr. Fox is exhibiting behavior that seems common among those involved in the anti-fracking industry - when the findings of government scientists agree with them, they're viewed and published as accurate and the scientists hailed as heroes; when these same government scientists make findings that don't agree with them, they're accused of being "bribed," "bought off," "in the pocket of industry," and so forth.  Even when it is the exact same scientists!

There are many more inaccurate claims made by Mr. Fox and the anti-fracking industry, which we will continue to discuss here at cst.net in the future.