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  Home Page » News » Earth » Two Films At Fort Lewis College To Highlight Issues In Energy Industry

Two films at Fort Lewis College to highlight issues in energy industry

by Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer Film folks and environmentalists in Durango are joining forces to present two documentaries about the extraction of gas, oil and coal - activities that pit the interests of the energy industry against those of landowners, environmentalists and members of Native American tribes.

"These documentaries are so pertinent to La Plata County," said Julie Cooley, board president of the Durango Independent Film Festival, one of the co-sponsors. "They're naturals." "Power Paths" traces the efforts of Native American tribes to bring renewable-energy projects to their reservations. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday at Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College.

"Split Estate" describes the toll, physical and mental, on residents in the San Juan Basin and Garfield County from the extraction of minerals from their property. The 76-minute film will be shown at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at Center of Southwest Studies.

Bo Boudart, producer and director of "Power Paths," and Tony Skrelunas, a former Fort Lewis College student who appears in the film, will answer questions after the screening.

Boudart has produced documentary, educational and dramatic programs for television. A recent project, "Oil on Ice," tackles energy policies, rights of native Alaskans and conservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Power Paths" tells how Native Americans closed a coal-fired power plant in Nevada and their subsequent effort to find jobs for displaced tribal coal miners. The film reveals that 18,000 Native American families in the Southwest don't have electricity although power lines cross their communities.

Norman Brown, a Navajo who produced and directed "Rez Hope," a documentary about social problems that plague Native Americans, is co-producer of "Power Paths."

Debra Anderson, who filmed and produced "Split Estate" will be available to the public at the end of her program.

Anderson, studying film as a graduate student in art at Hunter College in New York City, jumped into documentaries as a production assistant on Connie Chung's news show after the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear generating plant near Harrisburg, Pa., in 1979.

As producer and director of "Split Estate" through her own Red Rock Pictures in Santa Fe,  Anderson chronicles a number of encounters between individuals and energy-industry companies. Among the people she highlights are: b Laura Amos, a Garfield County woman who sued natural-gas producer EnCana Corp. after drilling ruptured the family well and contaminated the water. Amos, who developed an adrenal tumor, settled monetarily with the firm but had to sign an agreement that prohibits her from ever speaking about the issue again.

Anderson couldn't interview Amos, but she used television footage shot during early developments in the case.

Gilbert Armenta, a fifth-generation Bloomfield cattleman and alfalfa grower, says a burial plot on his ranch containing the remains of eight people - family members and others - was leveled during a long-running feud with XTO Energy Inc. over access to well pads.

Armenta's great-grandfather, José Armenta, acquired 320 acres in 1867 to start a family ranching dynasty. Partitioning over the years has left Gilbert Armenta with 160 acres.

The film presentations are sponsored by the Durango Independent Film Festival, the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Center of Southwest Studies.

mailto:daler@durangoherald.com'>:daler@durangoherald.com

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