FrackNation Page #4

This is where we live,

and the only way that we

make a living is by farming.

Out of the nursery!

Out of the nursery!

Scare 'em. Scare 'em.

Early in 2007, the land man came

to Wayne County and

began knocking on doors.

I first phoned Marion

and Ed Schweighofer

to see what their

thoughts were onto it,

and we decided, yeah,

that was a good idea to get together.

So then we invited other people

and we had another meeting

at the Damascus Township building,

and had quite a crowd there.

It must have been...

it was jam-packed.

You couldn't get another

person in there, I don't think,

'cause everybody was

interested by this time.

In the process we

formed an organization

called the Northern Wayne

Property Owners Alliance.

It's a loose consortium of around

1100 property owners

who in aggregate own,

control, well over

100,000 acres of property.

One of our biggest things

right from the start

was we wanted it to be safe.

We wanted them to drill,

but we wanted them to drill safe.

As agriculture people and farmers,

we took time to really look

into this.

One of our most precious commodities

is water when you're on a farm.

Everything from making

a gallon of milk

to growing a tomato takes water.

If the gas companies

came in and destroyed our water

and destroyed our land,

all the money in the world

wouldn't be worth it.

Working together,

the farmers designed their own lease,

and after negotiations,

signed with the gas company.

Farmers and the gas industry

can coexist very well together.

It's not a new industry

for farmers

because the gas industry,

the oil industry,

arrived in Pennsylvania

probably 100 years ago.

The lease that was ultimately signed

was the best lease around.

It was used as a model

around the country.

We also had the gas company

say, look, this is something

we're very happy with,

we would like to give this

as a model to some other groups

that we're negotiating with.

As this was building up,

you had Gasland come out,

and as something that

influences opinion,

it was frankly very effective,

in spite of the fact that most of the

content happens to be totally wrong

and has been discredited.

We will not let you

poison our water!

So the folks

that I call the anties,

they began a campaign to

stop all drilling in the area,

and to designate the Delaware River

as the most endangered river

in the United States

due to fracking.

The Delaware River Basin

Commission came into the picture

and basically shut everything down.

This was a shock to all of us,

because what it meant,

everything come to a standstill.

It's just been three years

of pure hell since then

as far as trying to get

something done.

If the moratorium

on gas drilling isn't lifted,

we're gonna see a long haul

of hardship

for this part of the country.

Way back in 1950, there was

1200 farms in the county.

Now there's about 70

in the county.

Upkeep is what kills most farms.

There becomes a time

you've gotta upgrade.

Stuff has to be replaced.

And if the money's not there,

you just can't do it.

If the moratorium stays in place,

I probably won't last

another five years here.

I'll be lucky if

I last another two.

The farms are slowly

going out of business.

They are getting replaced

by houses.

Houses are more wells,

more sewer systems, more traffic.

It's not good for the environment.

Our open space,

our farm fields, our forests,

they're actually

the lungs of the river.

So when it rains and the rain

falls on our open space,

it's filtered, it becomes

part of the aquifer,

part of the water system.

So those people who want

to maintain the beauty

and the pristine bucolic

nature of this area

should in fact be

supporting natural gas

as a way to maintain our forests

and our open space.

This land is part of me.

I fight for years

just trying to hold onto it.

I grew up here.

Why would I want to sell it?

We've owned the land

for 150, 175 years.

It becomes very personal to you.

These fields are here because

my ancestors cleared them.

Everything on this farm

was done by my ancestors.

There is not one farmer

in this area that wants to be the one

that will have to sell

the family farm off.

There is also not

one farmer in this area

that isn't afraid that they

will be the generation

that cannot continue

to make a living on the farm.

We love this land,

and we don't

want anything to happen to it.

Very dear to my heart,

this property.

And I think the gas company

can take care of it

without destroying it.

Are you ready to keep winning?

When I talked to, I think,

a lot of you

in Philadelphia

about two months ago,

and I said, if they come forward with

regulations to frack the Delaware,

we are going to shut them down...

remember that?

And the whole crowd was saying,

"Shut them down!"

Well, you shut them down!

You shut them down

before they got started!

Thank you, Josh!

Thank you, Josh!

Thank you, Josh!

Thank you, Josh!

How could this

have been done to these people?

Thousands of farmers

have had their lives ruined

by a decision made

in a government office

hundreds of miles away

in Trenton, New Jersey.

Carol Collier is

the executive director

of the Delaware

River Basin Commission

which put the moratorium in place.

She seems to have

inappropriate ties to Josh Fox

and the anti-fracking movement.

I've spoken to some

farmers in Wayne County

and, like, Sullivan County.

And they say there is a bias

against the land owners,

that you agreed at one stage to go

to a fundraiser for Gasland

and only withdrew

when they pointed it out.

That was quite a while ago,

but actually

at that point when I was

asked to be on that panel,

I was not told

that it was a fundraiser.

And when I did learn it was

a fundraiser, I did back out.

They told me you didn't go because

they embarrassed you into not going.

They obviously saw how inappropriate,

even though you didn't.

Well, they don't have the whole

story, because what I'm saying is,

that I did not know

it was a fundraiser.

When they informed me it was

a fundraiser, I backed out.

It's fine that you brought this up.

It's cool. I already said "no"

to that, so you know, whatever.

And do you think it's

appropriate that your name

is on the credits of Gasland?

I am very surprised my name

is on those credits.

I did not know it was there.

Josh never asked me.

And if you look at my track record,

and what we've done here...

Well, I'm looking at

your track record here.

It's quite a record, that.

For a public servant.

I fail to see how

significant that is.

Thank you.

Next time I'll check more

on background and credentials.

- Do you want to see my credentials?

- Well...

- Do you have a card?

- Yes.

Are you concerned about

my background?

I'm concerned

about the purpose of the film.

It's to find the truth

about fracking.

Carol Collier, whose actions

are causing hardship

to thousands of families

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