'Gasland' filmmaker arrested at House hearing on fracking

The director of the Oscar-nominated anti-fracking documentary Gasland was arrested at a House hearing on hydraulic fracturing because he did not have media credentials, according to news reports from Capitol Hill.

Joshua Fox, of Milanville, Pa., was charged with lawful entry. He is working on a sequel to Gasland and was setting up to film the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee on energy and the environment hearing, which was examining the science behind the Environmental Protection Agency's draft report about possible water contamination from natural gas drilling in Pavillion, Wyo., involving hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

As he was led away in handcuffs, Fox shouted, "I'm within my First Amendment rights, and I'm being taken out," Politico reports.

An ABC News crew was also turned away from the hearing, titled "Fractured Science -– Examining EPA's Approach to Ground Water Research: The Pavillion Analysis."

The committee recessed for 30 minutes after Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., asked to suspend the committee rules and allow Fox and the ABC crew to film the hearing. When it returned, the committee tabled Miller's motions, Politico says.

In a statement, committee Republicans said their rules state, "Personnel providing coverage by the television and radio media shall be currently accredited to the Radio and Television Correspondents' Galleries." They added that Fox "was not accredited by the House Radio and TV Gallery and had refused to turn off his camera upon request by Capitol Police."

The Western Energy Alliance, which lobbies for the oil-and-gas industry, has challenged what it calls "deficiencies" in the EPA's initial findings, which were raised by the state of Wyoming. One of its executives testified at today's hearing.

Here's some of what the WEA said in a press release issued Tuesday:

Rather than addressing potential issues first with the state regulators who have intimate knowledge and technical experience with the Pavillion aquifer, EPA chose to release a non-peer reviewed draft report that raises serious questions of whether politics trumped science.

Across the country, misinformation about hydraulic fracturing has caused local communities and citizens to fear a low-risk process that is safe given the safeguards, procedures, and monitoring implemented by industry. This unfounded fear leads to development roadblocks that could deprive states of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. Furthermore, fears about hydraulic fracturing divert limited federal and state regulatory resources away from activities that truly pose a threat to underground sources of drinking water.

GasLand was released in 2010 and nominated for an Academy Award. Here's the description of what it's about:

"The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudi Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."

The oil and gas industry has attacked the film as being inaccurate and misleading, and energy producers lobbied against it. A group created by the petroleum industry lobby, Energy In Depth, challenged Fox's evidence and conclusions that fracking is an environmental and health danger. Fox rebutted the Energy In Depth claims in a 41-page report (pdf).

Fox is scheduled to appear tonight at 8 ET on MSNBC's The Ed Show to talk about his arrest this morning.

Update at 6:56 p.m. ET: Fox was released about 3 p.m. and is due in court Feb. 15, Politico now says.

He told Politico that he had "submitted several formal requests to tape the hearing, but that those requests were denied since his crew did not have Capitol media credentials." He said he knew there was a chance he would be arrested.

Additionally, an ABC spokeswoman said the network did not assign anyone to the hearing, indicating someone was impersonating a film crew.

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