ANGA Statement on the Announcement that Gasland has been Nominated for an Oscar

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Jan 25, 2011, 10:40 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Background: Following is a statement by Tom Amontree, Executive Vice President for America's Natural Gas Alliance, on this morning's announcement that the film "Gasland" has been nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. Linked is a fact sheet and video (http://anga.us/truthaboutgasland) documenting some of the film's numerous misrepresentations and attached is a quote sheet of experts also challenging the film's claims.

"This is a deeply disappointing development given that Gasland's allegations have been widely disproven. State and federal regulators investigated the claims made in the film and found them to be false. The results of these investigations were well-known to the filmmaker at the time he made his movie.

"This nomination is particularly troubling because natural gas is routinely and safely produced across this country and holds such extraordinary potential to advance our nation's clean energy economy. Contrary to the film's claims, natural gas development can and does exist in harmony with our environment, and it can play a central role in improving our nation's air quality and solving our energy challenges.

"The stakes are too high to allow our energy choices to be influenced by the gross and deliberate misrepresentations by this filmmaker who knew the facts and chose to ignore them. We hope that viewers will seek out the truth for themselves and cast a skeptical eye on this deeply flawed film."

America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) represents 30 of the nation's leading independent natural gas exploration and production companies. ANGA members are dedicated to increasing the appreciation of the environmental, economic and national security benefits of clean, abundant, American natural gas. Learn more about ANGA at www.anga.us

WHAT INFLUENCERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GASLAND

Key scenes in the movie Gasland have been widely documented to be myths. Natural gas development can and does exist in harmony with the environment. The natural gas community is committed to the safe and responsible development of this abundant resource and we take seriously our responsibility to preserve the environment.

State of Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

"Because an informed public debate on hydraulic fracturing depends on accurate information, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) would like to correct several errors in the film's portrayal of the Colorado incidents."

Source: State of Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, Correcting Gasland, http://cogcc.state.co.us/library/GASLAND%20DOC.pdf

"Gasland incorrectly attributes several cases of water well contamination in Colorado to oil and gas development when our investigations determined that the wells in question contained biogenic methane that is not attributable to such development."

Source: State of Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, Correcting Gasland, http://cogcc.state.co.us/library/GASLAND%20DOC.pdf

"We concluded that Mike Markham's . . .well contained biogenic gas that was not related to oil and gas activity.. . COGCC records indicate little or no temporal relationship between the Markham. . .complaint and nearby drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities, which occurred several years earlier and in most cases many years earlier."

Source: State of Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, Correcting Gasland, http://cogcc.state.co.us/library/GASLAND%20DOC.pdf

John Hanger, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Gasland is "fundamentally dishonest" and "a deliberately false presentation for dramatic effect."

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, '"Gasland' documentary fuels debate over natural gas extraction", June 23, 2010

"Gasland talks about Dunkard Creek – an environmental disaster – but everything we know about Dunkard Creek at this point indicates the primary source of the problem was a coal mine in West Virginia."

Source: Patriot News, "Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection chief defends regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling," September 11, 2010

Christopher Campbell, Film Critic, Movifone

"If he meant to educate me on the issue he ultimately failed."

Source: Cinematical Blog, "Doc Talk: Do Documentaries Still Have Educational Value?", January 5, 2011

Kiran Stacey, Financial Times

"Fox's defence for any lack of rigour was that he wanted to start a debate, rather than have the last word. But that doesn't absolve him of the responsibility to thoroughly check his claims."

Source: Financial Times, "Gasland: A Review," January 18, 2011.

The Process of Hydraulic Fracturing:

Scott Anderson, Senior Policy Advisor, Environmental Defense Fund

"I think in the vast majority of cases, if wells are constructed right and operated right, that hydraulic fracturing will not cause a problem. We think that states have every reason to be able to tackle this issue and do it well."

Source: E&E News PM "EDF's Scott Anderson discusses fracking controversy", October 27, 2010

John Hanger, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Thus far, the DEP says they've found not one instance of underground contamination of well water from fracking. We haven't had frack fluid come back from thousands of feet down and get into people's drinking water supply."

Source: KDKA-TV, "Marcellus Shale Drilling: Is It Safe?" October 16, 2010

Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates

"(Hydraulic Fracturing) is simply the most significant energy innovation so far this century. As recently as 2007 it was widely thought that natural gas was in tight supply and the U.S. was going to become a growing importer of gas. But this outlook has been turned on its head by the shale gale."

Source: Statement on report, "Fueling North America's Energy Future: The Unconventional Natural Gas Revolution and the Carbon Agenda Cambridge Energy," March 2010

Gary Hanson, Director, the Red River Watershed Management Institute at LSU-Shreveport

"By addressing our water concerns in a proactive manner and allowing development to proceed in a responsible way, we are a model to other areas of the country where unfortunately, fear, instead of facts, is driving resistance to shale gas development," Hanson said.

Source: Haynesville Shale News, "Successes in shale to be shared," September 7, 2010

Dr. Charles Groat, Director of the Energy and Earth Resources Graduate Program, University of Texas

"Drilling for natural gas in itself doesn't pose a threat to air and water quality, if it's done properly."

"There are thick shale sequences, for example in upstate New York, that have been bubbling gas for millions of years, and it does get into water. It's there naturally. Methane moving around in the natural environment is not an unusual occurrence."

Source: Video, "Hear Our Voices: Dr. Charles Groat on Biogenic Methane," June 2010

Don Siegel, Professor of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University

"The long-term history of gas production and the science behind it show that recent public fears of hydro-fracking are misplaced."

Source: Press Connects, "Unfounded fears obscure facts", April 7, 2010

Drinking water supplies are "essentially disconnected" from the Marcellus Shale, and the "microscopic little cracks" created by hydraulic fracturing in shale beds a mile deep pose little danger to the residents and landowners above.