Split Estate

Drilling for natural gas has boomed over the last decade spurred on by spikes in natural gas prices and the encouragement of the Federal government. But as tens of thousands of wells erupt in Rocky Mountain states, those nearby and downwind have begun to suffer health effects that are at times shocking. On October 17th, Planet Green is premieringSplit Estate, a detailed and compelling documentary on the impact of the health impacts of the oil and gas industry. 

Including interviews with NRDC’s Amy Mall, Theo Colburn, Ph.D (author ofOur Stolen Future and a Colorado resident) and EPA whistleblower Weston Wilson among other officials and gas industry representatives, the documentary profiles landowners in Colorado and New Mexico who have suffered ill health after exposure to contaminated water and air.  The sufferers face symptoms ranging from skin rashes and asthma to neurological damage and rare tumors and discuss their illnesses with candor and insight into the history of spills and other contamination events that brought on their illnesses. 

These health problems may very well have been avoided had the industry been required to comply with the Safe Water Drinking Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air and other environmental legislation. But as the documentary brings to light, with government encouragement—egregiously but not exclusively from the Bush administration—the industry has been allowed to pollute ground and well water with toxic chemicals, release carcinogenic volatile organic compounds that contaminate the air of nearby communities and allow the evaporation of vast pits of polluted water across millions of acres of land.

With the industry pushing on into 32 states, this documentary is a much-needed effort to educate us all on the threats posed to our water and air by unregulated drilling.  To learn more, check out the trailer and related information on Planet Green’s Reel Impact site.