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Split Estate (2009)

Summary:

Split Estate is a 2009 American documentary that focuses on the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the health and civil liberties of communities living in Garfield County, CO, and the San Juan Basin in southwestern United States. Directed and produced by Debra Anderson, the film was written by Avery Garrett, Jean Wendt and Joe Day and narrated by actor Ali McGraw. It won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Craft Research in 2010.

Synopsis:

The film opens on a quiet, beautiful farmland in Garfield County, Colorado, but narrations of fracking news keeping interrupting the silence. Speaking about the land that he owns and the trouble he has had with multinational companies extracting oil from his land, a local resident explains the concept that gives the film its title. "Split Estate" refers to a situation where surface ownership of land is separated from ownership of minerals that lie beneath that land. (2) After the Homestead Act, in many cases, the federal government did not grant mineral rights to initial homesteaders. This gives the federal government the right to extract minerals and impact the surface of a ground without compensation to the landowner.

The documentary demonstrates that 85 percent of landowners in Garfield County and San Juan Basin do not own the mineral rights to their land. There are wells placed strategically in neighborhoods and near public schools. The film states that ConocoPhillips is the largest drilling company in the Colorado Basin, employing eight percent of Colorado’s population. The oil company, the largest in the world (need citation here), uses an extraction method called Horizontal Fracking, originally developed by Halliburton. It forces water and sand into the earth, fracturing the earth and releasing gas into the water to be collected by the wells and pumps. While the camera pans over homes and open spaces, filmmaker Anderson spends time with families recounting how the oil industry has affected them. One family talks about the oil giant placing a port-a-potty at a cemetery, throwing away their relative's grave markers. Other families discuss the health problems they have endured and connect them directly to the fracking operations. The oil and gas extraction has contaminated their air and all their water supplies, either by land wells, rivers or evaporation pits.

There are two people mentioned in Split Estate that had political influence. The first is Lance Astrella, a veteran lawyer for the oil and gas industry who, after 20 years, switched sides and began fighting on behalf of the landowners. The other is Weston Wilson, an environmental engineer and has worked for the EPA for over 30 years. He exposed an EPA study that stated that there was no correlation to fracking and the threat it posed to drinking water. According to Split Estate, the oil and gas industry is exempted from various sections of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, CERCLA (commonly known as Superfund), and is not included in the Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

The documentary brings together evidence from scientists, politicians and gas industry representatives to find out if there is a correlation between the health of the citizens and the fracking industry. The film ends with the state governments of Colorado and New Mexico giving land owners more rights to their mineral on their lands. In spring of 2007, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed a new bill that changed the regulation of the oil industry with House Bill 13-44. However, for the oil and gas industry, it is still business as usual since there are still no federal restrictions. The closing of the film makes it seem as though the industry doesn’t seem to be stopping, but gives the impression of hope for the citizens of Garfield County, CO and those affected by the oil industry.

The following energy companies declined to be interviewed for Split Estate: The Williams Companies EnCana Corporations Bill Barrett Corporation Antero Corporation Laramie Energy Tecton Energy XTO Energy.

Reception: Positive: Then Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, praised Split Estate for its examination of the consequences and confrontations that land owners deal with. “This film is of value to anyone wrestling with rational, sustainable energy policy while preserving the priceless elements of cultural heritage … not only of the people, but the land itself.” (10)

Mark Seis of The Journal of Sustainability Education wrote that if you think that natural gas is a clean energy source you need to view Split Estate. “The deeper moral message in this film implores us to take action toward developing more sustainable energy alternatives.” (12)

Donna Gray, community affairs representative for The Williams Companies said that the film was very well done. (15)

James Barth, owner of a theater where he hosted a screening of the documentary, said that the concept of split estate is relevant to their situation and that the film exposed the health impacts as a result from the drilling. “Split Estate or not, we are currently powerless to prevent our expose to this industry,” Barth said. (7) Diane Macinnes said “We are fighting for our lives here in the Marcellus Shale in NY and PA. Your film may save us.” (10)

Lance Astrella, a former attorney for the oil and gas industry, changed sides once he noticed that the companies he was working for were ignoring technology that could be more economical. He believes that the industry can’t ignore the grassroots movement. “If it can be shown there’s a better way to do things … I think the industry has to pay attention. They’re sensitive to their image, and they’re a lot more careful than they used to be.”

Negative:

Energy in Depth, a think tank funded by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said that Split Estate "used hyperbole" to express its information and was "sorely misguided."

Awards:

2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft – Research

2010 les prix d’honneur from the International Environment Film Festival, Tunisia

2010 Award for Best Activism Film at the Vail Film Festival

2010 Best of Category, Land Use Issues Documentary from Montana CINE International Film Festival

2010 Clean Water Action – Florence Neilson Environmental Leadership Award

2010 Creative Spirit Best Picture Award

2009 Green Screen-Environmental Impact Award

2009 Best of the Festival SFMUG Short Movie Festival

2006 / 2007 Governor Richardson’s New Mexico / New Visions Award

Think Tank: Gas companies are fighting to keep the “ingredients” of the fluids used in fracking from being exposed to the public. There is little help from the government as the fracking industry is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act while the George W. Bush Administration was in office. (Fight over fracking article)

The oil and Gas Industry in Colorado is attempting to change the way people view fracking. They claim that there is no ill effect that is in direct correlation with fracking. Since films about fracking have been made available and shown nationwide, the companies are looking to make the industry as a whole, more conformists, using the same tactics the tobacco industry used to sway public perception. Tisha Conoly Schuller, the President and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association said “These nuts make up 90 percent of our population, so we can’t really call them nuts any more. They’re the main stream.” (COGA PR “Nuts” article)

A study conducted by Ceres shows how heavily Colorado is being used for fracking and are conducted under high or extremely high stress. (Robert Kimball) Assessing the exact health risks of fracking are hard to determine because the industry is resilient to release the chemicals are used in the process. There is a full disclosure agreement currently in use in the United Kingdom. (Sari Kovats)

Split Estate

Directed by – Debra Anderson Produced by – Debra Anderson Written by – Avery Garret, Jean Wednt and Joe Day Edited by – Debra Anderson Staring – Fiction Narrated by – Ali McGraw Production Company – Red Rock Pictures, LLC. And Bullfrog Films Distributors – Discovery Communications and Janson Media Release Date – August 7, 2009 Running Time – 76 minutes Country – United States Language – English Budget – Unavailable Box Office - Unavailable

Bibliography

1. Fracking and the Environment: Natural Gas Drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Contamination. (2009, September 3). Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Democracy Now!: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/3/fracking_and_the_environment_natural_gas

2. Split Estate. (2009, October 20). Retrieved February 3, 2016, from U.S. Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/best_management_practices/split_estate.html 3. Split Estate Mineral Ownership. (2012, April 18). Retrieved February

3, 2016, from U.S. Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/mineral_resources/split-estate.html

4. Cook, J. (2015). Who's Pulling the Fracking Strings? Power, collaboration and Colorado fracking policy. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from EBSCOhost Research Databases: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.csc-proxy.libraries.vsc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=3c8225b3-f81f-49eb-aa76-79766bec8b79%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4112&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVybCx1aWQmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=112060653&db=eih

5. IMDb. (n.d.). Split Estate. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1362500/

6. Jeff Eshelman, C. T. (2009, October 30). Reel Slanted: Split Estate Movie Long on Anecdote, Hyperbole; Short on Facts, Evidence. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Engery In Depth: http://energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reel-Slanted-Split-Estate-Movie-Long-on-Anecdote-Hyperbole-Short-on-Facts-Evidence.pdf

7. Kimball, R. (2013, May 2). Nearly Half of U.S. Fracking Sites Overlap with Water-Stressed Regions. Retrieved March 1, 2016, from World Resources Institute: http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/05/nearly-half-us-fracking-sites-overlap-water-stressed-regions

8. Landman, A. (2010, July 28). Fight Over Fracking. Retrieved March 1, 2016, from The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2010/07/9316/fight-over-fracking

9. Landman, A. (2011, September 13). Colorado Oil and Gas Associations CEO Describes PR Strategies to Deal with "Nuts". Retrieved March 1, 2016, from The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch: http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2011/09/11021/colorado-oil-and-gas-association-ceo-describes-pr-strategies-deal-nuts

10. Long, S. (2009, October). Documentary Depicts Dirty Side of ‘Clean Alternative’. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from The River Report: http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-10-08/news-gas.html

11. Mall, A. (2012, May 10). BLM Fracking Rule Will Apply to More Than 55 million Acres of Private Land (see maps). Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Switchboard: Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/blm_fracking_rule_will_apply_t.html

12. Movement, U. (2011, December 20). Split Estates and How Oil and Gas Operations Really Own Your Land. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from The Urchin Movement: http://www.urchinmovement.com/2011/12/20/split-estates-and-how-oil-and-gas-operations-really-own-your-land/

13. Red Rock Pictures, LLC. (n.d.). Split Estate. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Split Estate: http://www.splitestate.com/

14. Reese, A. (2011, July 29). A Former Energy Company Lawyer Now Fights for the Other Side. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from High Country News: http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.12/a-former-energy-company-lawyer-now-fights-for-the-other-side

15. Sari Kovats, M. D. (2014, February 27). The Health Implications of Fracking. Retrieved March 1, 2016, from The Lancet: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62700-2/fulltext

16. Seis, M. (2009). Review of Split Estates. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from The Journal of Sustainability Education: http://www.jsedimensions.org/wordpress/content/review-of-split-estates_2010_05/

17. Sharpe, P. L. (2010, March 2). Split Estate Equals Splitting Headache: See the Documentary. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Whirled View: http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview/2010/03/split-estate-equals-splitting-headache-see-the-film.html

18. White, T. (2009, August). Meet the Filmakers: Debra Anderson--'Split Estate'. Retrieved February 2015, 2016, from International Documentary Association: http://www.documentary.org/content/meet-filmmakers-debra-anderson-split-estate

19. Williams, D. O. (2009, October 13). GarCo Commissioners Delay FRAC Act Decision After Viewing Anti-Drilling Film. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from The Colorado Independant: http://www.coloradoindependent.com/39984/garco-commissioners-delay-frac-act-decision-after-viewing-anti-drilling-film

20. Writer, E. (n.d.). Split Estate. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from Earthworks: https://www.earthworksaction.org/issues/detail/split_estate#.VrqURvkrKM8