Hinchey condemns filmmaker arrest, calls it ‘shameful stain’

Here’s the statement from U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey on the arrest of Gasland director Josh Fox:

Washington, DC – Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today released the following statement upon learning that Gasland Director Josh Fox was arrested for attempting to film a public congressional hearing on hydraulic fracturing. The Chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ordered Fox arrested when he attempted to film the hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to studying ground water contamination that resulted from hydraulic fracturing in Pavilion, Wyoming.

Hinchey is a leader in Congress of the effort to protect drinking water and the environment from the risks of hydraulic fracturing. He is a co-author of the FRAC Act, which would mandate public disclosure of chemicals used in frack fluid and allow the EPA to regulate fracking activities under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The congressman also authored the appropriations language that led to the current EPA study on hydraulic fracturing.

“It is beyond unacceptable that acclaimed documentary director Josh Fox was arrested for trying to film a public hearing on groundwater contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing in Pavilion, Wyoming. This was a public hearing, there was plenty of room for cameras, and a credentialed camera crew was told they would be denied access because they were working for a documentary filmmaker. This is blatant censorship and a shameful stain on this Congress. I stand by Josh’s right to record this hearing. His arrest was a huge mistake.”