Source: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme
URL: N/A
Date: 01/06/2013
Event: "Hydraulic fracturing is something that's been used in California since the 1950s"
Attribution: BBC Radio 4
People:
John Humphrys: America's enjoying another oil boom, not from the "nodding donkeys" in Texan oilfields we used to see years ago, but from fracking, the process of injecting water under very high pressure into rocks deep underground - you get gas as well, of course. And some states in America, such as North Dakota, have become really rich because of it. The biggest reserves are in California, where the big debate over where to frack or whether to frack or not to frack - and, being California, it's being fought out in the movies. Alastair Leithead reports.
[Sounds of industrial machinery.]
Alastair Leithead: On a hilltop in Los Angeles, an oil derrick, a nodding donkey, pulls oil up to the surface, day and night. For years, there have been thousands of them here, scattered among homes and businesses - and there could soon be many more.
Dave Quast: The history of oil in California is really the history of California. I mean, it's been one of the economic backbones of the state, going back really to the mid 19th century. A lot of people would be surprised, but we are one of the largest oil producing states.
Alastair Leithead: Dave Quast speaks for the California Independent Petroleum Association, which wants to tap the state's estimated 15 billion barrels of shale oil, the biggest reserve in the country. But getting to it is controversial.
Dave Quast: Hydraulic fracturing is something that's been used here in California since the 1950s. It's a safe and proven technology. You know, all the years hydraulic fracturing's been used in California, there's never been a felt seismic event that's been caused by hydraulic fracturing.
Alastair Leithead: That's the earthquake risk in the home of the San Andreas Fault. But technology has changed. Industrial scale fracking is new, and not everyone is convinced. Holly Mitchell is a State Assembly member, whose district includes Inglewood Oil Field in LA.
Holly Mitchell: There are one million people who live within a five-mile radius of the largest urban oil field in the country, and there is fear and concern about the impact this practice has on their health, and those issues simply cannot be pushed under the rug because big oil companies have a dollar to earn.
Alastair Leithead: She and others are pushing for a fracking ban until it's proven safe. But Professor Adam Rose from the University of Southern California said the state could miss out on a huge oil boom.
Professor Adam Rose: This could translate into as many as two million jobs, additional jobs per year, during the decade of the 2020s, four billion dollars' worth of additional revenue for state coffers.
Alastair Leithead: In uncertain economic times, that's got to be tempting. But there is the small print, which he says needs more research.
Professor Adam Rose: Induced seismicity, waste disposal problems with respect to the chemicals and water that's used in the process, and water contamination sites [?]
[Sounds of people chanting loudly "Ban fracking now!"]
Alastair Leithead: The side effects are what these people are concerned about. This was the launch of Californians Against Fracking, in LA this week. There were maybe a hundred people there, but among them, Josh Fox, the director of Gasland, an Oscar-nominated documentary on fracking in America.
[Audio footage from Gasland.]
Josh Fox: Everywhere I went, it was the same story - water trouble.
Man 1: We never had a problem with the water. After they drilled, the water was bad.
Josh Fox: Health problems, hazardous explosive conditions - inside the house.
Alastair Leithead: The film sparked a huge reaction and prompted those in favour of fracking to make their own movies, attempting to discredit Josh Fox.
[Audio footage from Truthland.]
Shelly Depue: The truth is that Gasland is mostly hot air.
Alastair Leithead: This was called Truthland, paid for by the oil industry. And another, FrackNation, was made by Phelim McAleer, an Irish journalist.
Phelim McAleer: Josh Fox, the director of Gasland, knew that one of the most dramatic scenes in his documentary probably had nothing to do with fracking, but decided not to tell his audience.
What I hope to achieve is that people will treat allegations about fracking with scepticism, and see that many of the allegations about fracking have no scientific basis. I think we should treat Big Environment the same way we treat Big Business. So, when they say "Fracking makes your water go on fire", well, where's the scientific evidence for that? What's the context? Let's throw the same hard, journalistic questions at Big Environment as we do Big Business - no more, no less.
Alastair Leithead: Josh Fox has just released Gasland II. I asked his view.
Josh Fox: As a serious journalist, for you to say that there's any comparison between our films, which are fairly researched and vetted, and a project by a person who is simply out to bait environmentalists, is, frankly, insulting. The oil and gas industry has been doing this for several years now, spreading misinformation, creating doubt on the issue. There is a very expensive and concerted campaign, in the media, to go out there and say there's nothing wrong with fracking. Well, that's absolutely ridiculous.
Alastair Leithead: California has a big decision to make. The economy versus the environment - and maybe even public safety - to the background of the oil industry and those opposed to fracking fighting for their version of the truth to be heard the loudest.
Sarah Montague: Alastair Leithead reporting, there.