The two part film, which featured Split Estate and Bonecrusher, was one of many events of Frostburg's Appalachian Festival. Both films focused on the dangers of oil being our main source of energy. Split Estate, directed by Debora Anderson, was a film which interviewed homeowners dealing with split estate. A number of other individuals with knowledge and opinions on the matter were interviewed also. Split estate is when the homeowner owns the surface but not the resources under the land. Some of the people interviewed included; Amy Moul, Steve and Catherine Martinez, Duke Cox, Carol and Orlyn Bell, Gilbert Armenta, Lisa Bracken, Pepi Langegger, Chris and Steve Mobaldis, and Lance Astrella.
The regulation is that the gas and oil companies inform landowners before drilling, but if they do not respond companies can drill anyway. The Energy Act of 2005, passed by George W. Bush, awarded oil companies billions of dollars. This meant more money to take over other people's land. 85 percent of colorado homeowners do not own rights to the minerals under their land. In Garfield County, Colorado, since the 1990s gas and oil has boomed. Now it is no longer a quiet community. Mines all over Colorado used to be small, but now they are on a much larger scale.
Gilbert Armenta of San Juan County, New Mexico said, "When I first moved here with my father there wasn't a single well in sight, now it's so many you can't even count." Gilbert also said, "I can't even recognize it from the first day i saw it." Gas and oil companies build 350 new wells per year. They feel it is their land and the residence owners are in the way.
Toxins released during gas and oil operations cause illnesses. Also, the land looks really bad after drilling. Homeowners were very emotional as they talked about dealing with this issue. Some angry and some were almost in tears. For example, Laura Amos experienced health issues within her family. She was not able to speak in the film because of the company settlement. Laura's daughter developed a tumor due to methane found in her water. The methane was caused by hydraulic facturing. Gas and oil companies told her the water was safe, but she later found out the water was never tested. Another family moved from Colorado and found that their health issues disappeared.
Some land owners became activist. Gas and oil companies still insist that their operations do not cause illnesses. But, the landowners are still fighting for a change.
The second film, Bonecrusher, was directed by Michael F. Fountain. It was a documentary about a former coal miner Luther Chaffin, nicknamed "Bonecrusher." He got the nickname because when a 300 pound guy tried to mess with him, he said he'd break every bone in his body. Luther was a very skinny man.
Luther's dad was a coal miner, and after his death he decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He developed black lungs and lung cancer in 1994, as a result of working 20 years in the coal mines. His son, Lucas Chaffin decided to be a coal miner. Luther worried about him greatly.
"When I told my dad I wanted to be a coal miner he raised hell. He didn't like it." Lucas said. Luther was very concerned about the health issues. He asked his son numerous times to get into something else, but every time he refused. Lucas had a very close relationship with his father, even though his parents divorced when he was four.
The men who work in the coal mines have a very close relationship with one another. They always work as a team, and consider themselves to be a family. All the men have nicknames. The men trash talk each other to keep themselves entertained. Sometimes they work nonstop for 10 hours.
The coal miners never know when it's going to be their last day. There could be an explosion within the first five minutes. They could come out healthy or they could come out injured, they never know. The job requires them to put themselves at great risk. "It's tough, it's terrible worrying constantly," Lucas' wife said.
Luther "Bonecrusher" Chaffin died May 29, 2007. He passed two months before his granddaughter was born.
An audiance member said, "The movies were great for different reasons. The second was emotionally powerful, and the first was infromative."
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