In an episode that mirrored “Law & Order: Los Angeles” in the opening scene, “CSI” went slightly further into the perils of whistle blowers in the US. More specifically, both shows highlighted gas companies and both episodes begin with a body floating up on young skinny dippers. The plots were totally different.
The body that floated to the surface in Cable Springs, a hot springs in Vegas, turned out to be that of rancher Walter Burns. The rancher had been in a private war with “Conservo Solutions”, a major gas drilling company, doing ground drilling near Cable Springs. The name choice for the company was particularly giggle worthy.
A reporter had been covering the story as best she could on her own. Rosilyn Johnson was an “Erin Brokovich” type character and got all the CSI’s in an uproar with her story. Ray spent the most time interviewing her, though Brass took a quick shot at interrogations. Johnson was quickly cleared as a suspect.
The body count rose quickly as a cover up began. An engineer for Conservo Solutions, Richard Adams, was planning on working with Johnson on her story when he turned up dead of a gunshot wound. When the CSI’s go out to investigate his murder, his wife shows them a goat head that had been left on their doorstep.
As the autopsies proceeded the team found that both Burns’ and the goat’s head were heavily infected with cancer cells. It was soon learned that many in the rancher’s area were dying or had already died of cancer, likely due to a polluted water system. Ray and Nick find out just how polluted when they go out to visit the area.
Bill Gibson had nothing to lose by the time the CSI’s arrived at his ranch. He had not killed anyone, but the pollution on his land had killed nearly all around him including his wife. As Ray and Nick stood with guns drawn thinking Gibson may reach for a rifle sitting nearby, instead he dropped a match down a ground water well. The blast nearly killed everyone. This is the third time they’ve tried to blow up Nick this season!
In an effort to prove the gas company was polluting the ground water near Cable Springs, the reporter returns to tip Ray off to the term “fracking. Ray had to Google the word, as I’m sure many thousands of us did, to find:
From the oilfield Glossary:
* fracking – v. hydraulic fracturing; a process used by drillers to create fractures in rocks to increase well output.
We then got a history and eco lesson on how the oil companies have been deregulated since 2005. I enjoy “CSI”, but it bothers me when they get political. Leave that for “Law & Order: SVU” where it belongs.
In the search for a truck with an oil leak, the only clue to the hit and run in the Adams case, the team was led right back to the gas company. With a warrant to search the grounds of Conservo Solutions, Nick finds a piece of Walter Barns’ clothing on a fence. They deduce that Barns was trying to sneak into the plant to get a water sample from their resevior pool to prove it was contaminated. Someone hit him with the butt of a gun and he drowned in the pool.
In a final scene reporter Robyn Johnson is seen talking with Ray. She’s obviously more pale and sickly looking, she must have been testing the ground water on herself. Ray offered her a spot in a clinical trial for cancer victims and she walks off into the night.
The final body found in the cover up is that of the truck driver that apparently killed Adams. Brass and Katherine were told to keep his hit and run case open so we’ve likely not seen the last of Conservo Solutions. In one of those episodes where no bad guy faces justice, “CSI” showed us what it’s like to wage war in these times. There are many casualties and very few changes made.
Sources:
CBS.com – “Fracked” Video
