Collateral damage. Booming economy. The price we pay for doing business.
These were sentiments expressed by certain parties in the course of the documentary film, Oklahoma Shakedown. Film maker Taylor Lee Mullins was on hand with one of the activists appearing in his film, Angela Spotts, at Circle Cinema on Tuesday evening for a free viewing of his award winning work. Mr. Mullins’ film won “Best Oklahoma Documentary” at the Bare Bones International Film Festival in Muskogee this past weekend.
In the interest of full disclosure, Yours Truly and Ms. Spotts and her husband Jeff all know each other. They were my late father’s former next door neighbors. That said, she did not disappoint in terms of enlightening information presented through the course of the film and in the Q&A following.
Ms. Spotts has been instrumental in founding organizations such as Stop Fracking Payne County and has never been unwilling to confront controversy and expose factual things that may not be popular with those in control of government or industry.
Long story short, the increase in seismic activity in the State of Oklahoma is a man made phenomenon and even the industry insiders can no longer deny or dismiss it. Those benefiting from the practice of fracking and injection well waste water disposal appear to have no problem with the damage it causes to the environment and other people’s property so long as it contributes to a “booming economy.” If you have a problem with being dismissed as “collateral damage” if your home or property sustains damage due to earthquakes you may want to see this film. Moreover, you might like to review your state house representative and state senator’s voting record on giving the petroleum industry free reign in doing as they please with seeming impunity. All this however may be the least of our worries. With the rising intensity of the these earthquakes cause by injection wells, a 7.0 or greater magnitude that could rupture a holding tank in Cushing, OK or elsewhere could make an F-5 tornado look like a picnic. I highly recommend this film be viewed by all Oklahomans and anyone concerned about real damage being done by fracking and disposal of its waste water.
I rate this film five out of five stars for the essential information it provides.
I hope this film travels across our nation through the many film festivals so the people can learn all about this issue from a non-industry viewpoint.