This short documentary, โBattle for Wetzel County,โ chronicles the impacts of the gas fracking rush in West Virginia, focusing on the damages caused by Chesapeake Energyโs drilling activity in the mountains of this ruralย county.
The film features interviews with Wetzel County residents, including Marty Whiteman and his daughter Sarah Wood – family farmers who explain how surface owners like them are powerless to stop Chesapeake Energy from drilling because they donโt own the minerals beneath theirย properties.
Whiteman has sued Chesapeake Energy, claiming the drilling activities pose a direct threat to their livelihood. But he knows that the company could still destroy his ability to farm forever, thanks in large part to lax state oversight of theย industry.
The film also contains footage from a public hearing in Morgantown, WV where angry residents share their concerns about fracking. One man fights back tears as he shows a photo of a fracking tanker truck dumping contaminated post-drilling wastewater on a road that schoolchildren walk on every day. โThis industry is out of control in the state of West Virginia. I say we pass a moratorium now,โ he says to loud applause from theย audience.
Julia Archer of West Virginia Surface Ownersโ Rights Association talks about the effort to get lawmakers to support a Surface Ownersโ Bill of Rights, seeking a rigorous review of the rules and disclosure of impacts from fracking and other subsurfaceย activities.
โBattle for Wetzel Countyโ is the third installment of an 8-park documentary series called Journey On Earth, produced by SnagFilms in association with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Watch itย below:
