Last Call at the Oasis (2011) - full transcript

>> Water is everything.

The single most necessary
element for any of us to sustain

and live and thrive is water.

>> I grew up in the Mid-West

and I have a father who'd
actually worked for industry

and he used to sing
me songs all the time.

Sometimes we'd be at the creeks
and he just make up little songs

about see that lovely water, you
know, trickling down the spring,

don't take it for granted,
someday it might not be seen.

He promised me, in my lifetime

that we would see water
become more valuable than oil.



He said because there
will be so little of it.

I think that time is here.

>> It's the third week in
a row without any water.

The army has been called

in to protect the
capital's water pumps.

>> There's been a lot
of talk about peak oil

when the production
of oil reaches a peak

and then inevitably
starts to decline.

Like peak oil, there
is peak water.

We're reaching the
limits of what we can use.

>> Once the fourth largest
freshwater lake in the world,

the Aral Sea has been diminished

to about one tenth
its original size.

>> The levels in Brazil's
Amazon region reach record lows.



>> Spain is the grip of drought.

>> The drought ravaging China's
southwest is being called the

worst --

>> -- the worst in 40 years.

>> Worst drought in 70 years.

>> -- The worst in the century.

>> Every region of the world
is facing water problems

from China to the Middle East.

>> Half the world's hospital
beds are occupied by patients

with water-borne diseases.

>> By 2025, half of the
world's population will not have

adequate access to water.

I mean, it could
not be more serious.

>> We've seen what happens
in other parts of the world

and we just always think
that never can be me.

It already is you.

>> Why so serious.

So raise your glass
if you are wrong,

in all the right
ways, all my underdogs

we will never, never
be anything but loud.

>> I know it's a
surprise to some people

that there is a crisis.

But the reality is
in the United States,

we Americans are spoiled.

We have the biggest water
footprint in the world.

>> Raise your glass.

Won't you come on and come
on, and raise your glass.

Just come on and come
on and raise your glass.

Won't you come on and come
on and raise your glass.

>> When there's a water problem,
the ripple effect is enormous.

Downstream, the water
finds its way to you

and it definitely
rocks the boat.

>> Oh shit, my glass is empty,

that sucks.

>> People love water, especially

when it's 118 degrees
outside in the summer.

We sell virtual reality.

People come to Las Vegas
to escape their reality.

And part of that is the
cooling sensation of fountains,

it looks like prolific waste.

What they don't understand is

that the entire Las Vegas
strip uses 3 percent

of this community's water supply

and is the single largest
contributor this state's

economic product.

>> We see growth every
time it snows in Buffalo

and water consumption all of
a sudden began skyrocketing.

>> The amazing thing about
Vegas is that it refuses

to let the lack of water
constrain its growth.

Las Vegas has built
housing developments

as large as San Francisco.

They never worried about
water because right next door

to Vegas is Hoover Dam and
behind Hoover Dam is Lake Mead,

the largest reservoir
in the country.

>> Hoover Dam and its
power plant serve water

and power needs in
California, Nevada and Arizona.

>> When it was built, Hoover
Dam and Lake Mead were going

to save the west forever.

>> Colorado River waters
that once destroyed man

and his property now serve him.

>> You don't have to be
a scientist to understand

that if you take more water
out of the bathtub than you put

in to the bathtub, the bathtub
will eventually go empty.

The elevation has been
dropping 10 feet every year.

Today, it's only
about 40 percent full.

We're measuring 1086.

>> Las Vegas will lose our
upper intake at elevation 1050.

1050 will be a wakeup
call because at 1050,

Hoover Dam stops
generating electricity.

>> You've only got
36 feet to go.

That's four years.

>> No one ever imagined
that that was possible.

In my mind, it's not a question
of if, it's a question of when.

>> In our original work,
we looked at the situation

where the lakes go dry,
actually dead pool.

By 2025, we could've reached
that with the probability

about 50 percent
and we were shocked.

>> When I think of
water, I think of it

as giant milkshake glass.

And I think of each demand for
water as a straw in a glass.

>> With the amount
of water being taken

out of the Colorado system
is maxed out right now,

and yet there's going
to be less.

>> If we don't do anything,

Las Vegas is a dead
city, period, full stop.

>> They are proposing to build
a 3 billion dollar pipeline,

250 miles long to
draw water out of one

of the last oases in Nevada.

>> This is a project
out of sheer desperation

because there's nothing
else available.

>> If I get the water
line in here,

it'll just turn into
a dust bowl.

>> If you haven't got
any water, you're done.

If they take that,
where do I go?

I'm done. And my kids are done.

>> This is Goliath
Water.

He's from Southern Nevada
and he wants your water.

>> The very people
you wouldn't hurt

if they were your neighbors,
you'll fight to the death

over a glass of water.

>> This project may
succeed over my dead body.

>> Can you afford
not to build it.

Are you willing to put
your family at risk?

That's what it gets down to.

>> This pipeline.

It's going to be
built, isn't it?

>> There is no option.

So am I supposed to
sit here and say,

"The fate of 2 million
people doesn't matter to me,

they're just going
to have to live

with whatever Mother
Nature decides to dole out."

That is about as
irresponsible a statement

as I've ever heard
someone come up with.

>> The way the city
was developed,

the way it was planned,

politicians just let people
build whatever the heck

they wanted.

>> If you want to say it should
never have happened, well,

the cows have left the barn.

>> If Las Vegas is going to keep
growing, they'll take this water

and then they'll still
run out of water.

>> It's easy to point
the finger at Vegas.

But when you look at
the future of growth

in water, we are all Vegas.

>> When we get hit, Phoenix gets
hit, and Los Angeles gets hit.

>> The mighty Rio Grande, now
nothing more than a dirt road.

>> People in Atlanta are
actually praying for rain.

>> Lake Superior is
said to be disappearing.

>> Thirty-six US states
face water shortages

in the next three years.

>> Junior, it's time for you
to visit your mother earth.

>> Oh pop, let me
stay here with you.

>> When we think of water,
we think of it as the air.

Infinite and inexhaustible.

>> This is the cycle of water
by which all life survives.

>> All the water there
ever was still is.

We are drinking the same water
that the dinosaurs drank.

So how can it possibly be a
problem with the water supply?

>> Turn the faucet
and there is water

at any hour of the day or night.

>> The resource is renewable.

That's the beauty of
the hydrologic cycle.

But when you use such quantities
that it exceeds the capacity

of the system to renew itself,
then you have a problem.

>> You know, I used to think

that it might be impossible
to run out of water.

There's a lot of
water on the earth.

But less than 1 percent is
freshwater that's available

to drink.

There are places that could
actually run out of water

and California is one of them.

When I would drive
through the Central Valley,

I'd see all these
signs about water.

That's actually how
I get interested

in studying the valley
was by seeing those signs

and then trying to
understand what was going on.

I really had no idea that I was
opening such a Pandora's Box.

>> For California's valley,
a good supply of water all

through the year has
changed a worthless desert

into productive farmland.

>> Back in the '30s,
the government turned

on the tap for the farmers.

The Central Valley
produces about 25 percent

of the food consumed
in the United States.

We now have about 7
million irrigated acres.

We're stretching a limited
resource to its limits.

It really is a giant
can of worms.

>> These almonds
are being removed

because of the lack of water.

I had to walk away, yeah.

I knew it was coming,

but I couldn't take the
hardship to watch, yeah.

Certainly, it's heartbreaking.

When I was out here putting the
trees in the ground 23 years ago

and now we've had the rug
pulled up from under us.

>> Some people say, "This is
the first instance of people

in the United States turning on
the tap and not getting water."

>> West Valley farmers will
not get any federal water

this season.

>> That decision is a
result of less water pumping

to protect fish populations
in Northern California.

>> The Central Valley

of California was once
considered the bread basket

of America.

But now, farms all over that
region have been allowed

to dry up.

Now why? Because of
a two-inch minnow

on the endangered species list.

>> Where I come from,
we call that bait.

>> Somebody has got to
turn the water back on --

>> Either that or put us on
the endangered species list.

You're going to
get your vegetables from China

and I understand they made
great baby milk formula.

>> By the way, be sure to check

out Sean Hannity's new
children's book, One Fish,

Two Fish, Red Fish, boo!

Boo fish.

>> It's been convenient for
certain politicians to say,

"Look, we're hurting people.

Why should we protect
this little fish

at the expense of people?"

But that's wrong.

The Delta smelt is a small
insignificant little fish.

But it's not insignificant

if you realize the delta
smelt is just a symbol

of a much bigger problem.

It's a symbol of an
ecosystem that's collapsing.

>> The water for the Central
Valley comes from the Sierras.

It ends up in the Bay Delta.

>> This is the greatest
estuary on the West Coast

and we've allowed it to crash.

All of the fish, it's
not only the salmon,

it's not only the Delta smelt,
it's going to impact everything.

It's going to impact the people.

The last two seasons, we
didn't have any salmon

fishing whatsoever.

You know, we still sell
fish but we bring it

in from someplace else.

We could see the absolute demise
of salmon here in California.

We fishermen have to speak up.

We've become politicians
and activists.

>> No water for the farmers
because of this fish.

>> Boo!

>> Yeah, that fish.

>> California in many
ways is the epitome

of the global water problem.

>> We need water!

We need water!

>> We love water!

>> The truth is there's
not enough water

to do everything
everybody wants.

>> Farmers use most
of the water.

That's about 80 percent
in most states.

In some western states,
it's as high as 90 percent.

So when we want to talk
about the future of water,

we have to talk about farm use.

>> The people that have
taken the water away

from us have told us,
"Well, your solution is

to turn to groundwater."

So I ask them, "Is it going to
be on your watch that we now dry

up all the groundwater source
in the San Joaquin Valley?"

Hard decisions, aren't they?

>> The water that gets
deep into the ground stores

up as a subterranean treasure.

>> Farmers have had their
surface water cut way, way back.

And so, the logical thing to
do then is to pump groundwater.

>> All around the United
Sates, the water table

in the aquifers is going down
and it took in many places,

thousands of years for
this water to accumulate

in the aquifers and yet,

we're going through
it in mere decades.

>> For many years,
I've been working

with a satellite called GRACE.

If you are looking at an area
that's had a big mass change,

say from groundwater
depletion, GRACE can see

that because the
mass change is so big

that it's actually
sensed by the satellites.

We can see a significant
depletion in California.

We've been keeping a close
eye on the Central Valley.

If we go back to 1998, the
aquifer has lost about one

and a half times the
volume of Lake Mead.

That's a huge amount of water.

>> How much is left
in the aquifer?

>> Let me see how I
can sugarcoat this.

You know, I ran some back of
the envelop numbers looking

at how long it would take
at those pumping rates

for the aquifer to be depleted.

And I got a number between
say, 60 and 100 years.

So at the low end, 60
years, that's frightening.

I think California
is in trouble.

The combination of
climate change growth

and groundwater depletion
spells a train wreck.

>> Well, if you had to pick
one place in the United States,

it's really right
in the crosshairs,

it's got to be Southern
California.

What would happen if we
suddenly didn't have the water?

That's when people will
finally say, "Oh my god,

we have a water problem.

Build new dams, do
this, do that."

Too late.

>> We need to start planning
for the future and it's a future

in which we're not going to have
a huge snow pack in the Sierras

or the Rocky Mountains.

It's just -- it's not
going to be there.

>> If you told your parents that
by the end of the 21st century,

there would be no
snow in California,

do you think they'd believe you?

This is the future.

Okay, this is the water --

>> They'll see it happen.

They'll experience it.

That's a very difficult
thing for people to grasp.

It's been like watching
a Polaroid develop truly.

It's like an, "oh my god
moment" and you realize,

I can't believe this
is happening and I need

to tell somebody about it.

California faces a water crisis
of potentially epic proportions.

You know, how we respond today
will define who we are tomorrow.

>> Need additional storage.

I mean, they've built
reservoirs for a reason.

Shasta, Hoover.

>> You owe the bank
and the county taxes.

You're going to try to
farm as much as you can.

>> They're not going
to make more water.

The only solution to this
thing is conservation.

>> I agree.

We should look into
conservation,

but that's not going to
yield or have any effect

on our groundwater shortage.

>> I didn't want
to give into this.

But your arguments
about conservation

and efficiency are just wrong.

And if you're right,
the conservation

and efficiency isn't
going to get us anything.

And if I'm right, there's not
a lot of new supply out there.

Then what are we left with?

Take land out of production,

I don't know anyone
who wants that.

>> Your arguments just
don't make any sense.

You have to live in the valley,

you have to understand the
management of water here.

>> Well, that's a
bad management.

And you're one of the managers.

I'm sorry.

>> What I'm telling you
is 1.2

>> That whole system --

>> And they wanted to
make clearly the statement

that we do face a crisis
now of epic proportions.

And I said that.

And I'm not sure that
it really resonated

which to me is a
little startling.

>> Whether we talk
about water --

>> We need a plan and
we don't have one.

And it is complex.

We're screwed, yeah.

>> Australia is much like
California in many ways.

It has a very large agricultural
community that uses most

of the water that
humans in Australia use.

The one thing that
Australia has had

that California has not
had is nearly a decade

of incredibly severe drought.

>> We're seeing it
as a whole host

of bizarre problems
that are cropping up.

>> Australians in Sydney
woke up this morning

to find the skies glowing red.

>> The inland parts are so dry.

It picked up vast
quantities of topsoil.

>> There is a plague ravaging
the Australian outback.

Drought is driving the
animals into towns.

>> Crews in Australia battling
the deadliest wildfires

in the country's
history right now.

>> The California of tomorrow
was the Australia of today.

They're having to dramatically

and radically rethink
agriculture.

>> There was actually
nothing that grew.

You put the crop in, and
you had nothing but dust.

I was at a guy's house once,

the stock was the worst
they've ever seen.

In my opinion, some of
these cattle might have

to be put down.

How would you cope with that?

He said, he will kill himself.

He told me straight
out, "I'll kill myself."

>> I go to farms in
a couple of shires

and ask them how they're going.

Well over here where
are you going today,

they haven't hit any water
allocation for five years.

>> So we'll have to
buy in a lot of food

because we can't grow it
ourselves with no water.

So the milk price doesn't
cover the cost of production.

>> You must have had enormous
stress on your families

and yourself going through
all this

with no water and --

>> That's an understatement.

>> That would be
an understatement.

>> Yeah. That's an
understatement.

>> It's our cows.

They're my babies.

There is no future here because
of the control of the water.

They are taking it
away from the farmers.

>> When you go to
two or three houses

and you hear the same story
about stress, anxiety, debt.

>> I would never know
what I was coming home to.

>> You had a fear of that?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

Be wondering about
it the whole time.

>> Yeah.

>> I'd better just make
sure he was still alive

and that sort of thing.

>> Yeah. In the area
that I work,

there has been eight people
that have taken their own life.

One was fairly recent where
I've done all the referrals

that I could and he had his
medication, there's nothing

that I know or that anybody
that I work with could have put

in place more than what it was.

And he took his own
life last September.

And the way that I
cope with that is

through my family and my horses.

All day I
face the barren waste

without the taste of water.

Cool clear water.

>> Here's the burning question,
do you believe what's going

on in the last few
years is climate change?

>> Look. I think the climate
has constantly changed.

I don't think there's been any
short-term thing that's made

a difference.

>> Personal opinion, climates
change all the time don't they,

Ivan?

>> We're hoping that's a
severely dry cycle in Australia

and not climate change,
because if it is climate change,

this part of Australia
is in deep shit.

>> In the scientific
community, we're starting

to think it's not drought, it's
really part of climate change.

Australia is way past
what many people consider

to be the carrying
capacity in terms

of how much water there is.

They're way past it.

>> We're having an
auction which we're selling

around about 170 head of
their cows that's starting

to wind the farm down.

>> We're seeing good friends
go through the same issues.

So we know what -- got
a bit of an inkling

of what we're headed for.

>> What would be the hardest
thing for you two to see today?

>> I suppose a farm with no
black and white cows on it.

Anyway --

>> All day
I face a barren waste

without the taste of water.

Cool, water.

Old Dan and I, with
throats burnt dry

and souls that cry for water.

Cool, clear water.

>> The whole nature of the
water cycle is changing driven

by changing climate.

In our new study, we found that
the water cycle is intensified.

That truly means a
much more stormy future

in many parts of the world.

And then other regions will
have more extreme droughts.

These are first of
their kind observations.

There have been many
studies that suggested

that this may be
happening in the future

and our research has shown this
is actually happening right now.

Will the water cycle
spin out of control?

It's hard in the United
States to fathom the scope

of the potential change.

And the scope is huge.

>> These current
findings as this is going

to get people's attention.

>> I don't think so.

We think that we have this
right to use as much water

as we can get our hands on.

There aren't many things
that my neighbors do

that drive me crazy.

And one of the biggest is
over-watering the yard.

In arid and sub-arid regions,
watering the lawn may account

for 50 to 75 percent
of household water use.

We're talking about three times
the volume of Lake Mead just

to water the grass every year.

>> The biggest mistake
in thinking

about water has always
been thinking about it

as disconnected from
everything else.

>> There are hidden
costs of water

in almost every product we use.

>> In most households,
the single largest user

of water is the toilet.

Now, this is a high
efficiency toilet.

It uses 1.2 gallons
every time you flush it.

There I've just wasted
1.2 gallons.

The toilets in many people's
homes still use 6 gallons.

That's 6 billion
gallons a day that we use merely

to flush away human waste.

>> The plan itself
is an amazing process

where you can actually take
dirty, filthy, disgusting water

and make it clean so it's
fishable and swimmable

in the area around New York.

Understanding waste
water is just one step

in understanding everything
about your environment.

>> All this is like
pretty Egyptian technology.

This is just the wheel
moving up and down

with a simple rake embedding
the tides in between the spaces

and clearing the debris away.

The debris that comes in
is the debris that comes

from our toilets, our
sinks, our bathrooms,

and also from the street.

As emerging things change, they
wind up in the waste stream

that we see it here up until
maybe eight years ago or so,

we very rarely saw a bottled
water, it's very prevalent now,

the spirit of the times.

I'm about to open up one of
the four doors that allow you

to see what goes on here.

You can see the condoms floating
on the top of the surface.

It is what it is.

If 100 pounds of waste product
comes in with all that water,

I have to remove 85 pounds of it

and the 15 pounds remaining
is legally allowed to go

into the receiving water.

>> The treatment sewage is a
very simple biological process

in which we're just
speeding up nature.

There's a lot of talk
nowadays about chemicals coming

in to the systems
and antibiotics

that are coming in
to the systems.

And those things were not --

never meant to be treated

in a domestic waste
water treatment plant.

Right now, they cannot
possibly deal with the myriad

of chemicals that are out there.

>> The traditional pollution
scenario was a large industrial

pipe sticking out of the side
of a factory spewing brown gunk

into the pristine waters

and seeing the fish
and the ducks die.

Then there were a few
astonishing examples

of water pollution.

The Cuyahoga River in Ohio
burst into flames in 1969.

>> It was just so bizarre.

How can water catch fire?

>> This case made
national headlines

and galvanized the
environmental movement.

>> People start pollution.

People can stop it.

>> The net result of
that was the foundation

of the Environmental
Protection Agency,

the signing of the
Clean Water Act

and the Safe Drinking Water
Act in the early '70s.

It was originally
a very strong law.

But times have changed.

Pollution in America
is increasing rather

than decreasing.

In the five years
between 2004 and 2009,

the Clean Water Act was
violated a half a million times.

The old pollution
was a river on fire.

The new pollution is
something you can't even see.

>> Whether it's birth
control pills,

erectile dysfunction
medicines, hormone supplements,

our bodies absorb some of them.

We excrete the rest of the
chemicals, we flush them away,

they go to the treatment plant
and they are not removed.

>> Consider vast Lake Mead.

Tests have found trace
levels of birth control,

steroids, narcotics, and more.

>> The U.S. is the
leading producer

of these new contaminants.

We don't know how harmful
these chemicals are.

And there are more
added all the time.

The EPA approves 1 to
2,000 chemicals a year.

>> The more difficult

and dangerous ones are
industrial contaminants.

These are the chemicals

that were the subject
of Erin Brockovich.

>> Counselors.

>> The scene where -- you know,
so funny to say Ed Masry and I,

but Albert Finney and Julia,
are on one side of the table

and PG&E's defense
attorneys were

on the other and Julia says --

>> "By the way, we
had that water brought

in special for you folks.

It came from a well in Hinkley."

>> Why would you pick up
and knowingly drink a glass

of contaminated water?

You wouldn't.

I just think that said so much.

That was my wakeup
call in Hinkley.

I would see the absence of
wildlife, I would listen

to these people's accounts

of what was happening
to their health.

And I thought, what
is happening here?

What's the common denominator
that is affecting all of this?

And I was like, "Uh, water."

And remember way back when I
began my work out there in 1991

that it was an isolated
incident.

And it is far from
anything isolated.

For 20 years, I'm
down on the ground.

And we've got these communities,

maybe they've noted too
many children with cancer,

the animals that are
dying with tumors

and we don't know what it is,
you ask for their people here

in this room that may
have cancer or leukemias.

>> Can I see a show of hands?

Oh my, can you keep
your hands up?

>> People started
looking around the room

and I'm like, you have cancer.

I didn't know you
have that cancer.

Your child has that cancer?

Well, my child has that cancer.

So that is what's starting
to really rattle me.

>> A developing story out
of Midland this evening,

high profile environmental
activist, Erin Brockovich is

in town tonight with a toxic
contaminated water problem.

>> Concerned residents called in
Brockovich, who was a consultant

for two environmental
law firms to investigate.

>> A year ago, one of the
community members came to me.

Her granddaughter was having
these very strange skin rashes

and sent me a picture of a
swimming pool that was green.

Oh yeah. Definitely greener.

And I was just immediately
-- I'm like, "Uh-oh,

I have a feeling I
know what this is,

the hexavalent chromium."

The reason I had to contact
her is because we went

through our local government.

I bet I wrote over a
thousand letters to all

of our congressmen and
legisla -- everybody.

They've just failed us.

>> I emailed Erin Brockovich

and she emailed me
back in 30 minutes.

I hadn't even seen the
movie Erin Brockovich.

I had never seen it
until after I met Erin,

then I watched the movie.

>> Hexavalent chromium.

It's poisonous.

>> Yeah.

>> Oh my gosh, the biggest
scene was when she's talking

to the lady and she
looks out there

and her kids are
playing in the pool.

>> Ashley, Jenna,
get out of the pool.

>> How come?

>> That's how I felt
when I realized

that I had been putting my
grandkids in toxic water

in that swimming pool.

It was very, very
emotional for me.

My grandkids all said,
"The pool hurts us."

And I didn't even
put it together.

>> Here is Janet
now and --

>> There were very high
numbers of hexavalent chromium.

Higher than anything I've
ever seen in Hinkley.

>> You can't go on city water?

>> Well, if they're telling
us there's no water for us.

>> No water for you.

>> Yeah.

>> And -- just drink
the poisons.

>> "Not my problem."

>> This is part of the 40
million Americans are still

on their own well water.

>> Forty million?

>> Yeah.

>> People just fall
off the grid.

>> One of the big loopholes
in American water law is

for so-called domestic wells.

Many of these are never
tested for chemicals.

>> The state acted
pretty quickly,

they got filtration
systems on there.

But then that's kind
of where it ends.

>> Honestly, when I got
the letter from the state,

I really thought, you know,
it said my water was safe

for drinking so we
haven't really stopped.

I mean, we bathe,
we take showers,

we -- I mean, we have to.

This is where we live.

>> Our tests showed
dangerously high levels

of hexavalent chromium.

That poor guy could
have gone years.

It could have been years
that he'd consume this water.

The chemical concentration
of chromium-6 here

in Midland is the largest
I've ever seen anywhere.

The concentrations
are just extreme.

>> My house is right
here where it's 319.

Right now, we're at 818.

But right here, where Angie
died, it was 1,100 last year.

Angie lives right next
door to ground zero.

She passed away three
weeks ago from lupus

which I've got the
forerunner to lupus now.

>> Are you feeling okay?

>> That's my -- my fear is not
living long enough to take care

of everybody out here and
especially my grandkids.

>> So what their last
resort is some litigation.

How long is that going to take?

Fifteen, 20 years?

>> You know, I just
get so aggravated

because they're not
listening, they're not caring,

and they're not even
trying to find who did it.

>> There was this out
here that you've got --

>> This is the pits.

We believe all the oil field
companies dumped in that pit.

>> Through our investigative
work,

we actually believe
it's a company,

Schlumberger just
up the road here.

>> This particular Schlumberger
facility is the mother ship.

Schlumberger's official
statement is

that they never used
hexavalent chromium

and the EPA's initial report
never identified the source.

Through further investigation,
we will get to the bottom of it.

What makes it so frustrating is
that you can't find out what any

of the chemicals are
that are being deployed

out into the environment
under something referred

to as the Halliburton Loophole.

The Halliburton Loophole
was pushed

through by then Vice
President Cheney.

Cheney exempted all of the
oil and gas fracking companies

from the Safe Drinking
Water Act.

It's insanity.

>> Whoa, it's good to
be in Midland, Texas.

I'm calling to
George W. Bush is thinking

right now,

is the
Texas airspace.

>> Midland, Texas is one of
North America's most aggressive

in oil and gas field
development.

And it is the childhood
home of George Bush.

People don't usually poison
their own neighborhoods.

What's the old saying is, "You
don't shit where you eat."

>> We live about a
block and a half west

of the contaminated area.

Are we really safe?

>> What can we do to
protect ourselves now?

>> Are we still going

to be declared a
Superfund in your opinion?

>> They can come in and
issue you a Superfund status,

but that ain't going
to stop anything.

This agency is broke.

>> They don't have any money?

>> Oh, EPA is broke.

They got nothing.

Nothing. Nothing.

They have 1,200 Superfund sites
now they can't do anything with.

I'm telling you,
Superman is not coming.

>> People still believe
that that arm

of government is
going to come save us.

And the look on their face
even kind of startled me.

>> I wish that I could
come here tonight

and tell you it's
going to be okay.

But that's not what's
going to happen

and I don't want to lie to you.

>> We moved here from Mesa.

I've done hair there for
years and I do hair here.

I have more clients
here with cancer,

I have shaved more heads
here in three years

than I ever did there.

And I'm just concerned about
our own children are waking

up with nosebleeds.

>> I don't think I need
to tell you nor do I want

to scare you how carcinogenic
hexavalent chromium is.

>> You know, when we first saw
the numbers, I have to tell you,

some people I work with,
we looked at each other

and it was -- they're
walking dead.

And at that point for
me, it gets really hard

to be a cheerleader
and always try

to find some hope
in it for them.

>> If you stay together
and you use your voice

and you push back, you
will make some progress.

At least you know the truth.

>> We the community,
we want water.

That's all we want, is
good, potable water.

Something when we turn on the
faucet and we know it's okay

to brush our teeth with it.

>> Some of these
chemicals can take

up to 100 years to get rid of.

And what are we supposed
to do in the interim?

I mean, there's this vast
world underneath our feet

that we don't see.

Out of sight, out of mind, we
don't see it, we don't know

where it goes, and therefore,
we don't pay attention.

>> I've been fascinated
by amphibians

for as long as I can remember.

So as a child, I was
fascinated by metamorphosis,

watching tadpoles
turn into frogs.

Then I ended up at Harvard
where I majored in biology.

And I ended up in a
laboratory there where I focused

on amphibian development.

My work was getting
fairly well-known.

Fork in the road,
should we take it?

Twelve years ago,
I've never heard of atrazine.

Atrazine is an herbicide
or a weed killer.

Until a few years ago,

it was the number one
selling agricultural pesticide

in the world.

I was approached by the
manufacturer to examine whether

or not atrazine was an endocrine
disruptor in amphibians.

The term endocrine
disruptor refers to anything

that would interfere with
the hormone's action.

And we found that the
atrazine-exposed animals weren't

making testosterone properly.

In some cases, the atrazine
makes them make enough estrogen

that they actually
turn into females.

These are two genetic males
that were exposed to atrazine

that actually developed
into females.

So as you can see, the males
are smaller but now genetically,

right, these are all males.

The guy on top is a male,

and that's his brother
that he's on top of.

It's a hard thing to describe.

What does this have
to do with people?

Why do we care?

Frogs and fish which live
in the contaminated water,

they're much more
sensitive as they're going

through these developmental
stages.

On the other hand, a human fetus
is inside an amniotic sac filled

with water, that's going through
critical developmental stages

where hormones are important.

The same estrogen for example
that makes my frogs turn

into hermaphrodites, that
same estrogen is important

in breast cancer.

When people think of science,
you know, they think of CSI.

In field work, you
really have to sort

through all these
potential suspects.

I think there's a line from
a lot of the guys in CSI,

how do you find the answer?

>> Follow the evidence even if
we don't like where it takes us.

>> And that's really what
we're doing is in this case,

following the atrazine.

Atrazine is the most
common pesticide contaminant

of drinking water, groundwater.

And there're a couple of
studies came out showing

that atrazine is
associated with breast cancer

and birth defects in humans.

There's a factory where
Syngenta produces atrazine.

The prostate cancer in their
workers is 8.4 times higher.

The U.S. Geological Survey
says they can detect it

in the rainwater in Minnesota

from when they're
applying it in Kansas.

>> I'm the principle
scientist here

at Syngenta Crop Protection.

On the occasions where
atrazine is found

in water it's extremely low
in the part per billion range.

>> Starting at 0.1
parts per billion,

we started getting
these hermaphrodites.

And that's an incredible
number, 0.1 parts per billion.

The drinking water standard for
atrazine is 3 parts per billion.

That's 30 times higher than we
know is biologically harmful