Watch the recording of the special panel discussion that followed our virtual screening of the documentary film Hellbent. Hellbent tells the story of Grant Township, PA’s epic fight to prevent a fracking waste injection well from being built in their community. The toxic fracking wastewater threatened the Little Mahoning Creek, the community’s water source and the last refuge of the Hellbender salamander.
The moderated discussion covered how the film came together, the community’s legal and organizing strategies, the Hellbender salamander’s role in the ecosystem, and ways to support the East Run Hellbenders’ ongoing advocacy.
The screening was hosted by FracTracker Alliance and Halt the Harm Network.
Discussion Panel:
- Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance (Moderator)
- Justin Grubb, Hellbent Film Co-Director
- Chad Nicholson, Pennsylvania Community Organizer from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
- Matthew Kaunert, Hellbender biologist & P.h.D candidate at the University of Ohio
The panel will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and those involved.
More about Hellbent:
In 2013, a mother and daughter living in Grant Township, Pennsylvania, heard that a fracking company wanted to build a wastewater injection well near the Little Mahoning Creek, their town’s only source of fresh water and one of the last refuges of the endangered eastern hellbender salamander. Judy and Stacey Wanchisn rallied their community against the project out of fear of the threats it posed to the Little Mahoning.