west-virginia
Appalachian Mountaintop Patrol (AMP) Project The Appalachian Mountaintop Patrol (AMP) is a collaborative, environmental watchdog multimedia education initiative that will train people in Boone County, WV to document environmental contamination resulting from coal / natural gas extraction in the Appalachian Mountains. Using small waterproof video cameras and environmental testing kits, AMP participants will take water quality measurements and film runoff from hydraulic fracturing and mountaintop removal (MTR) wastewater ponds that seep into local waterways. ‘Deer cams’ (motion activated hidden cameras used to track game) will be installed to monitor suspected gas well chemical dumping sites. Participants will also use drones equipped with cameras and air quality sensors to shoot video, gather GPS coordinates and measure environmental data in remote hydrofracking and MTR sites. Additionally, AMP participants will record “video diaries” to illustrate the everyday experience of living in close proximity to environmental contamination.
The AMP project has multiple goals: empowering local residents to tell the story of how MTR and hydrofracking affects life in Boone County in a way that combines compelling first-person accounts and scientific data with visceral imagery. AMP also seeks to provide an alternate narrative to energy industry PR spin and superficial news accounts, by adapting videos for a wide audience and merging the story of Appalachian energy extraction with the popular topic of drones, in hopes of not only attracting environmental and social activism reporters, but also for tech writers and those covering the complex issue of surveillance. Just as energy companies use PR to control the narrative, this project will attempt to use PR tactics to proliferate a very different message that will reach everyday citizens and lawmakers alike. Both of these goals speak to one ultimate aim: accountability and reform on the part of the energy industry. READ MORE