6/06/2011

"Gasland", Sunrise Theatre, June 15, more on Fracking in Moore Co.

Save Our Sandhills will be the primary sponsor for the showing of the dramatic documentary film "Gasland" at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines on Wednesday, June 15, at 7:00PM. This film deals with the potential dangers of hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of drilling for natural gas. Other sponsors will be Sustainable Sandhills and the Sandhills Area Land Trust.


As most of you know by now, there is a natural gas drilling boom sweeping across the United States, and it is about to reach Lee County and northern Moore County. Geologists believe that there is a major subbasin of natural gas that extends from Granville County above Durham southward through the Sanford area and into Moore County to the vicinity of Carthage.

Energy companies want to use a highly controversial method of drilling to extract this gas, which is known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Fracking involves vertical as well as horizontal drilling and the pumping of huge amounts of water and chemicals into the shale rock to break up the rock and release the natural gas. Horizontal drilling is currently illegal in North Carolina, but two bills currently being considered in the General Assembly would make it legitimate.
As noted above, Save Our Sandhills will be the primary sponsor for the showing of the nationally acclaimed film "Gasland" at the Sunrise Theater on Wednesday, June 15, at 7:00PM. Admission is $7.00. This was an Oscar nominated documentary and a prize winner at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. This film exposes in a dramatic fashion the potential dangers of fracking to the environment and expecially to groundwater. The film itself, with dramatic footage of tap water being ignited with a match, is highly controversial and we will try to have panelists who will provide a balanced view of the issues raised by the film.

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