VERO BEACH — More than three decades after the Clean Water Act, American waterways including the Indian River Lagoon are in perilous condition and facing new sources of contamination. Addressing this serious problem is the PBS Frontline documentary “Poisoned Waters,” which will be shown at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, at the nondenominational, community- wide Social Justice Film series. The series is in its fourth year, held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach. Admission is free, and discussion always follows the film.
With polluted runoff still flowing in from industry, agriculture and massive suburban development, scientists note that many new pollutants and toxins from modern everyday life are already being found in the drinking water of millions of people across the country and pose a threat to fish, wildlife and, potentially, human health.
In “Poisoned Waters,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith examines the growing hazards to human health and the ecosystem. He examines widespread pollution in two US
waterways – Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound – caused by 25 years of unregulated toxic industrial, agricultural and municipal runoff.
Through interviews with scientists, environmental activists, corporate executives and average citizens impacted by the burgeoning pollution problem, Smith reveals startling new evidence that today’s growing environmental threat comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.
“The environment has slipped off our radar screen because it’s not a hot crisis like the financial meltdown, war or terrorism,” Smith says. “But pollution is a ticking time bomb. It’s a chronic cancer that is slowly eating away the natural resources that are vital to our very lives.”
Reviewers have called the film “sophisticated, comprehensive, brave,” “crackling journalism,” and “a fascinating and disturbing story.”
The Fair Trade Corner will be open prior to and after the film.
Information: Call 772-778-5800.
