Gasland

One of the newest and biggest threats to water quality is the process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Fracking is a Haliburton developed process for extracting natural gas that is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act thanks to the (Bush/Cheney) 2005 Energy Policy Act. In addition to the toxic stew of wastewater left behind, 1 to 8 million gallons of water are needed to frack a well and a well may need to be fracked up to 18 times.

So what do you do when a gas company offers nearly $100,000 for the right to drill on your land? If you're Josh Fox, you refuse the money - then make an award-winning documentary portraying the natural gas industry as an environmental menace that ruins water, air and lives.

"The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."

LINK

Gasland is currently airing at select times on HBO.

Can you do this with your tap water?