Gas Drilling Documentary Screening Event Comes to Ohio

The award-winning documentary Split Estate, a riveting look at a David vs. Goliath confrontation unfolding in communities throughout the US, will screen January 29th at 6:30pm at Lakeland Community College 7700 Clocktower Dr. Room T129, Kirtland, OH. The film maps a tragedy in the making as citizens in the path of a new domestic drilling boom struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health. The screening is presented by Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project or NEOGAP which is the grassroots group whose mission is to share information about the realities of gas and oil drilling in order to educate and ultimately bring about protections to better balance the affects on citizens and the environment.

Natural gas is being sold to the American public as the answer to all of our energy woes. It's championed by industry and politicians on both sides of the aisle as "the clean fossil fuel," and "the bridge fuel," as we look to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on foreign oil. In the midst of the hype, Split Estate shows there is no such thing as a "clean" fossil fuel. Nor, is there clean extraction, as citizens on the frontlines of the drilling boom will attest. "Split Estate tells a powerful story about Americans living with the dirty side of oil and gas development in their own backyards," states Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Kari Matsko, Director of NEOGAP, states “Because Split Estate stories parallel gas drilling situations in Ohio, this comes at a critical time as our legislators in the Ohio House hold hearings over the next few weeks to discuss changes to Ohio oil and gas law via SB 165. The bill is still missing important amendments to protect Ohioans.”

Split Estate premiered in August 2009 at DocuWeeks in New York City and Los Angeles, and had its world television premier in October 2009 on Planet Green, a network of Discovery Communications. Since its national broadcast, the film has been having an impact in communities throughout the US, particularly in those challenged by the presence of the industry. Filmmaker Debra Anderson, a long-time editor for the film and television industry, began to shoot Split Estate after reading about Laura Amos from Garfield County, Colorado, who developed a rare adrenal tumor after drilling commenced in her neighborhood. Anderson was moved to tell the story of a growing number of people, like Laura, who are experiencing serious health effects associated with drilling practices. Anderson affirms, "I wanted to create a tool to educate communities about the true costs and longterm consequences of socially and environmentally irresponsible drilling. I wanted to give citizens information that will empower them to take action and work each other and with policymakers to protect their health, their rights, and their land."

Split Estate is a presentation of Red Rock Pictures, a production company dedicated to the creation of documentaries that explore deeply felt human stories about the environment, energy and human rights. (www.splitestate.com)

CONTACT: Kari Matsko karimatsko [at] hotmail [dot] com

find out more about gas drilling in NEO at www.neogap.org

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