Free Public Screening of Gasland Film in Cork

cork | environment | press release

Friday September 30, 2011 12:04

by Dominic O Callaghan - Gasland

info at gasireland dot eu

GasIreland will be screening the award winning documentary “Gasland” by Josh Fox at 8pm on the evening of the 14th of October at the Triskel Christchurch on South Main St, Cork

The film “Gasland” documents the use of “Fracking” or Hydraulic Fracturing as a method of extracting previously unattainable natural gas from the ground and asks whether the method is safe for those living near the sites. It won the special jury prize for documentaries at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for Non-fiction Programming in 2011 and was nominated for an award at the 2011 Oscars. Robert Koehler of Variety referred to it as "one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years”.

GasIreland in showing this movie wishes to highlight the International concern over this method of gas extraction and make people in the Munster region aware that this controversial process may be coming to a water table near them.

Dominic O'Callaghan spokesman for the group said “It is of great concern that this method of gas extraction is being considered in this country when there are so many questions over its safety. The film highlights these problems but is also highly entertaining so we welcome all on the 14th to come and see this fascinating movie in a fabulous venue”.

The film was shot in the United States where the method originated and is commonly used however due to its simplicity and profitability its use has been spreading globally over the past few years. Fracking rigs are now operating in several countries around the world where negative side effects have also been seen. Work was suspended on the only UK site this year when the British Geological Survey linked it to 2 earthquakes in the Blackpool area and several countries and regions have imposed a moratorium on the practice including France, South Africa, parts of Germany and several US States.

In February of this year a license was granted to a company to carry out gas exploration in a region known as ‘The Clare Basin’ comprising of parts Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick, with other companies showing interest in this region and in an area known as “The Lough Allen Basin” in counties Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Tyrone. This news has been met with concern from several organizations including An Taisce (The national trust for Ireland) chairman Charles Stanley-Smith has called for a moratorium on Fracking in a presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Fracking involves drilling deep underground and injecting a mixture of water and chemicals at high pressure which fracture the rock and allow gas trapped in pockets to be extracted. Concerns arise from side effects of the process such as increased seismic activity, gas rising from the surface near the sites, and pumped water mixture entering the water table. This mixture can contain chemicals, heavy metals and other contaminants hazardous to health and the environment. A study in 2010 by the American EPA "discovered contaminants in drinking water including: arsenic, copper, vanadium, and adamantanesadjacent to Fracking operations which can cause illnesses including cancer, kidney failure, anaemia and fertility problems"

Entrance to Gasland is free on the night, but those wishing to come are recommended to arrive early as there has been very strong response to this matter and seating is limited. For further information visit www.gasireland.eu