Gasland documentary director, Josh Fox, was arrested on Wednesday, February 1, for what he claims is practicing his First Amendment right. According to usnews.com, the Wayne County filmmaker was arrested in the U.S. Capitol Building after attempting to film a congressional hearing linked with hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Fox says that after he filed for permission to film the hearing, he never received a response, which prompted him to attempt to film anyway. Capitol Police reported his arrest under unlawful entry, while Fox stated that he was only practicing journalism, according to media reports.

“I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today’s hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPA’s findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming.

I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply.” Said Fox regarding the arrest and congressional hearing, “I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill.”

During an interview, MSNBC host, Ed Schultz, discovered that the filming was being done in order to be featured in a follow-up documentary called Gasland II, also directed by Fox, which is said to be close to completion.  Also during the interview, Fox said that the hearing was going to be led by a Republican subcommittee and that he believed they were going to be attacking the EPA.

Fox was originally inspired to create Gasland after receiving a request to lease his land out for drilling. His website, www.gaslandthemovie.com, claims that after receiving the request, he then traveled up the coast, visiting various different fracking sites and the communities within the surrounding areas. He documented the fracking process and the possible effects the process takes on communities’ drinking water.

Fracking, as the website defines, is the act of drilling for natural gas extraction, utilizing  millions of gallons of water, sand, and proprietary chemicals blasted into deep wells. This process causes the rock and shale to fracture, thus emitting the gases within. For every frack that is completed, anywhere from 80-300 chemicals can be used.

However, due to the Haliburton Loophole, the companies involved in the drilling do not have to disclose the chemicals that are used. The website also claims that there have been over 1,000 reports by courts and governments of contaminated well water within communities surrounding fracking sites.

Fox has become a conflict ridden character within Wayne County, his home. Where some people see him as an activist, others claim he is merely using Gasland as his ride to fame and fortune. The trailer for the film here  may help you base your own opinions.

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Waste Management today announced that it will launch its Zero Waste Challenge — an initiative aimed at educating vendors and patrons about proper disposal of waste, so that eventually zero waste is sent to the landfill — at the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open.

This year, Waste Management’s goal is to divert 90 percent of tournament waste away from landfills and into recycling and composting facilities. In addition, the company hopes to recover 70 percent of the total waste, either as recyclable paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminum or as compost material.

As part of the Zero Waste campaign, Waste Management in conjunction with the Thunderbirds will work with all tournament vendors to ensure that everyone is using recyclable and compostable materials. And for the first time ever, there will be no trash receptacles along the course.

Instead, Waste Management will offer two alternatives to waste disposal — Recycling Bins and Compost Bins – which will collect and keep separate recoverable recycling waste and recoverable compostable food waste, diverting nearly all tournament materials from the landfill.

“The Zero Waste Challenge is an incredible opportunity for Waste Management to energize and educate this broad audience about our efforts to triple the amount of recyclable materials nationwide by the year 2020,” said Waste Management senior vice president Duane Woods.

He adds, “As a company committed to extracting the most value possible from all of the materials we manage, we continue to look for ways to make WMPO the greenest tournament on the PGA Tour.” Underscoring the company’s commitment to the Zero Waste campaign, Waste Management will showcase many green initiatives along the course:

• Recycling Stations in high-traffic areas, staffed with “Recycling Ambassadors” to answer any questions about using the recycling and composting bins.

• Waste Management will work closely with WMPO vendors to monitor their use of water throughout the week in order to increase overall conservation.

• Use of grey water, or wastewater generated from the concessionaire’s kitchens will be recycled for use in portable toilets. Last year this effort conserved 1,476 gallons of fresh water.

• Recycle bank Kiosks, or reverse vending machines, offering various incentives or retailer discount coupons to patrons who use them.

• Sixty WM solar-powered compactors along the course to allow patrons to dispose of their food waste more efficiently (these machines hold five times the amount of waste as a traditional non-compacting bin, which reduces the trips needed to service them).

• Four compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to transport the waste and recycled materials that are collected during the tournament. The fuel in these trucks burns cleaner than a standard diesel truck and therefore will reduce fleet emissions associated with transportation.

• Waste Management’s hospitality tent will be powered by electricity generated from a portable solar power unit provided by First Solar.

Recycling Ambassadors will play an important role in educating tournament attendees, monitoring recycling and food waste receptacles and increasing awareness of the waste diversion goals for the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Recycling Ambassadors will serve as a guide to assist fans with proper disposal of materials and will actively engage with fans and answer any questions they may have.

For additional information about volunteering as a Recycling Ambassador, visit www.wmphoenixopen.com/volunteer.

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