The New Explorers. Series III; No. 313; Childen of the River

<v Bill Kurtis>They are native people waging a battle to hang on to an ancient way of life. <v Bill Kurtis>An invisible menace threatens to destroy the river their lives depend on. <v Interviewee 1>What mother in her right mind would tell their kid to eat fish out of the St. Clair <v Interviewee 1>River? <v Edison Isaac>You see the bioaccumulation up the food chain. <v Edison Isaac>How much pollution is in my body? We're afraid. <v Bill Kurtis>The best chance of winning their fight comes from a man who places hope for the future <v Bill Kurtis>exactly where it belongs: into the hands of children. <v TV Announcer>Major funding for The New Explorers is provided by Amoco, celebrating

<v TV Announcer>the adventure of scientific discovery for the year 2000 and beyond. <v TV Announcer>Additional funding is made possible by Waste Management Inc., providing <v TV Announcer>recycling and other waste services around the world. <v TV Announcer>And by Duracell, embracing the power of science education, <v TV Announcer>the source of future technology and innovative growth. <v TV Announcer>Duracell, the copper top battery. <v Bill Kurtis>Hello, I'm Bill Kurtis. From the beginning, people have lived along rivers. <v Bill Kurtis>We've used them for food and water, transportation. <v Bill Kurtis>But we have also abused them. <v Bill Kurtis>We've dumped waste and chemicals into them until now, in country after country, there <v Bill Kurtis>are rivers that we can no longer use. <v Bill Kurtis>People who once depended on them are now afraid of them. <v Bill Kurtis>In this episode, we'll meet a team of scientists that is empowering children <v Bill Kurtis>to use science to reclaim the rivers of the world. <v Bill Kurtis>At the mouth of the St. Clair River, just 60 miles from Detroit, is a place of

<v Bill Kurtis>real wilderness. <v Bill Kurtis>Home to hundreds of species of animals and birds. <v Bill Kurtis>It is called Walpole Island, an Indian community in Ontario, <v Bill Kurtis>Canada. <v Bill Kurtis>Ancient artifacts show that people were hunting and fishing here 3000 years ago. <v Bill Kurtis>And for all that time, native people preserve nature's delicate values, <v Bill Kurtis>understanding that their lives depended on the river. <v Interviewee 2>Everything that's here. <v Interviewee 2>We do not own that. <v Interviewee 2>It owns us. <v Interviewee 2>And all we have to do is take care of it. <v Interviewee 2>It's been like that since the beginning of time, and

<v Interviewee 2>water- that was the greatest of all things. <v Interviewee 2>You take the water away from everything that's here, <v Interviewee 2>it's like taking the blood out of our bodies. <v Bill Kurtis>Today, it appears little has changed on Walpole Island. <v Bill Kurtis>The people continue to have a unique relationship with the river as their entire way <v Bill Kurtis>of life still depends on it for food and water. <v Speaker>[singing and drums] <v Bill Kurtis>The Walpole Island first nation is home to Ojibway, Pottawattamie, <v Bill Kurtis>and Ottawa people. <v Bill Kurtis>They are people who work hard to keep ties to their rich heritage, but there is a threat <v Bill Kurtis>facing these people that may destroy their traditional way of life. <v Bill Kurtis>It's the river. What was once a provider for native people is now a strategic

<v Bill Kurtis>highway for commerce, a waste basin for industry. <v Bill Kurtis>The St. Clair River connects the upper Great Lakes with the lower, flowing from Lake <v Bill Kurtis>Huron into Lake St. Clair. <v Bill Kurtis>Michigan on 1 side, Ontario, Canada on the other. <v Bill Kurtis>And just 40 miles upriver from Walpole Island is a place called Chemical Valley, <v Bill Kurtis>the second-largest concentration of petrochemical companies in North America. <v Bill Kurtis>In recent years, thousands of pounds of chemicals have been spilled into the St. Clair <v Bill Kurtis>River and carried directly to Walpole Island. <v Interviewee 1>There are spills on a regular basis. <v Interviewee 1>The laws in Canada, Ontario, aren't very <v Interviewee 1>hard on polluters. <v Interviewee 1>It's cheaper for them to pay the fine and continue spilling than it is for them to clean <v Interviewee 1>it up. <v Bill Kurtis>To the people of Walpole Island, the river can no longer be trusted. <v Interviewee 3>I used to like to go swimming out there. <v Interviewee 3>I was getting sores on my leg and I went over to see the hospital over

<v Interviewee 3>here and they- they said I had ulcers on the outside. <v Interviewee 4>I have a son, uh ?Pechengat?, who's 12 now. <v Interviewee 4>2 years ago, um he had a liver infection. <v Interviewee 4>And the doctor, he felt that it was the chemicals that, you know, the unseen chemicals <v Interviewee 4>that were probably doing it. <v Bill Kurtis>The people here believe that the evidence of contamination comes in many forms. <v Bill Kurtis>Well, they smell like you've had them for a while. <v Bill Kurtis>Fish these days are showing up with tumors. <v Bill Kurtis>Wow, now that's just a growth sticking out of the top. <v Bill Kurtis>People here rely on fish like this to feed their families. <v Bill Kurtis>It is why the pollution of this river is particularly devastating for native people. <v Edison Isaac>All of Walpole Island is considered our hunting grounds. <v Bill Kurtis>We're headed out to the marsh, 17000 acres of wetlands, 1 of the most <v Bill Kurtis>important wildlife habitats in the Great Lakes. <v Bill Kurtis>With me is Edison Isaac, who grew up on Walpole Island and is leading the fight

<v Bill Kurtis>to save the river. <v Edison Isaac>If you're to walk in that marsh, you'd see the snakes, you would see the frogs, <v Edison Isaac>you'd see all the different uh aquatic life. <v Bill Kurtis>The marsh is the backbone of the community. <v Bill Kurtis>People come here to fish and hunt. <v Bill Kurtis>But it's also a place where the river slows and the chemicals can linger. <v Edison Isaac>We're afraid. We're afraid of uh the water. <v Edison Isaac>Certainly, I'm afraid of genetic damage that might occur. <v Edison Isaac>We have a high incidence of uh miscarriages and a high incidence of <v Edison Isaac>asthma. And I think you can find this in the neighboring communities <v Edison Isaac>as well. <v Bill Kurtis>Although no health reports have confirmed their suspicions, the residents continue to <v Bill Kurtis>voice their concerns and the Chemical Valley companies have responded, working to <v Bill Kurtis>reduce their toxic discharges. <v Bill Kurtis>But the chemical spills continue, and the people here are wary of government and industry <v Bill Kurtis>reports of improvement. They feel completely without recourse. <v Interviewee 5>We have no standing, we can't go to court.

<v Interviewee 5>It- it has to be the government that takes a polluter to court. <v Interviewee 1>I think we've probably been written off or declared a national <v Interviewee 1>sacrifice. We're a native community. <v Interviewee 1>We're not important enough for the politicians or anybody to do <v Interviewee 1>an- you know, to do anything about. <v Bill Kurtis>This is the story of 1 year in the long history of this river and its people. <v Bill Kurtis>A year in which the people will try a new strategy to take back the river. <v Bill Kurtis>Not with demonstrations, but with an entirely new battle plan. <v Teacher>What particles might you find in an atom? <v Speaker>[classroom chatter] <v Bill Kurtis>This is the secret weapon of Walpole Island. <v Bill Kurtis>Young people who will be given the tools to take charge of the river and in doing so, <v Bill Kurtis>they will change their view of the world and of themselves. <v Teacher>Who can tell me 1 of the functions of the water cycle?

<v Bill Kurtis>It's all part of a plan conceived by University of Michigan Professor Bill Stapp. <v Bill Stapp>Put the net down there and just step in front of us. <v Bill Stapp>Move your feet right and left and you can ?inaudible? <v Bill Stapp>right into the net. <v Bill Kurtis>For 40 years, Stapp has been working to get schoolchildren to care about the quality <v Bill Kurtis>of our water and air. He's recognized internationally as the founder of Environmental <v Bill Kurtis>Education. Recently, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize. <v Bill Stapp>Then it emerges into a Dobson fly. <v Bill Stapp>We'll leave the water, eventually lay her eggs back in the water again. <v Bill Kurtis>Today, Stapp and his graduate students are working just north of Walpole Island in Port <v Bill Kurtis>Huron, Michigan. <v Speaker>[counting in background]. <v Bill Kurtis>They are teaching elementary and high school students to perform water quality tests on <v Bill Kurtis>the Black River. Suddenly, science class has become part of real <v Bill Kurtis>life.

<v Graduate Student>Okay, who's going to be the dripper? <v Bill Kurtis>Stapp's project is called the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network, known <v Bill Kurtis>as GREEN. It's an educational program that puts kids in <v Bill Kurtis>charge of water quality. <v Bill Stapp>And what's the P.H. level of this water? [background chatter] 7.5 percent, so a little <v Bill Stapp>bit on the alkaline side [fade out] <v Bill Kurtis>But for Bill Stapp, GREEN is about much more than testing water. <v Bill Kurtis>It's about inspiring children. <v Bill Stapp>We have no idea where our young people are going to be 10, 15, 20 <v Bill Stapp>years from now. But we know that to an increasing extent they're going to be asked to <v Bill Stapp>make decisions in their environment. <v Bill Stapp>They're going to ask to make decisions in recreation and parkways and highways and <v Bill Stapp>air problems and water problems and hazardous waste. <v Bill Stapp>So we must provide them the opportunity to bring information together <v Bill Stapp>to reflect on that information, to take action. <v Bill Kurtis>Students from GREEN projects often take action and they get results.

<v Bill Kurtis>In Saginaw, Michigan, students' reports of high levels of fecal coliform helped convince <v Bill Kurtis>the city council to redesign its sewage treatment system. <v Student>When students were testing the river on Ojibwe Island, they found very high levels of <v Student>fecal coliform in the water. <v Bill Kurtis>This is the kind of program that could make a world of difference to Walpole Island. <v Bill Kurtis>But Ed Isaac learns about Bill Stapp's work on the Black River, he suggests GREEN <v Bill Kurtis>come to the St. Clair River. <v Edison Isaac>I think our children would do a lot for us. <v Edison Isaac>Government keeps saying document. Give us some documentation, prove it. <v Edison Isaac>Well, hopefully we'll be able to do that now. <v Gloria Henry>So is going to be the brave person to go into the water? <v Gloria Henry>Okay [fade out] <v Bill Kurtis>By midsummer, Gloria Henry, a Port Huron teacher who worked with GREEN on the Black <v Bill Kurtis>River, volunteers to come to Walpole and plant the seeds for a GREEN project <v Bill Kurtis>here. <v Gloria Henry>Okay.

<v Bill Kurtis>She's recruited 5 children to help her test for fecal coliform, bacteria that enters the <v Bill Kurtis>river from flooded sewer systems. <v Gloria Henry>And you remember what to do? Which way is the water? <v Gloria Henry>The current goes down this way. <v Gloria Henry>So you're going want to hold the [fade out]. <v Bill Kurtis> Levels of fecal coliform are high, the beaches here close. <v Bill Kurtis>Now the children know why. <v Gloria Henry>Count to 10 for you. I'll tell you when to stop and- you keep, you walk out and I'll tell <v Gloria Henry>you when to stop. <v Gloria Henry>And how about you count for me? So 1-1000, 2-1000? <v Gloria Henry>Okay. Bring it straight up. <v Gloria Henry>Grab hold of the bottom so it doesn't slip off. <v Gloria Henry>And why don't you put the lid on for me? <v Gloria Henry>Um Mike, what is this place called? <v Bill Kurtis>To test for the bacteria, the river water is put through a filtration system. <v Gloria Henry>And then just lift it off and the bacterial will stay on that filter paper that we put in <v Gloria Henry>there. <v Bill Kurtis>The river water is forced through the filter, which collects the bacteria. <v Gloria Henry>And then we'll take that bacteria and we'll put it in petri dishes. <v Bill Kurtis>In the Petri dishes, it will incubate for 24 hours.

<v Gloria Henry>Okay. Do you remember what I said, that the um when the bacteria all grouped together, <v Gloria Henry>what that's called? <v Kid>A house. <v Gloria Henry>Almost. Almost. A colony. <v Gloria Henry>Very good. So if there is more than 1 or 2 colonies, that's really <v Gloria Henry>not that safe to drink. <v Gloria Henry>But if there's less than a hundred, you can swim in it. <v Bill Kurtis>After the filter has been incubated, the colonies of bacteria appear as little blue <v Bill Kurtis>dots. 1 out of 6 tests here comes back high and the young residents of Walpole <v Bill Kurtis>begin to understand: they could make a difference. <v Bill Kurtis>Something Bill Stapp believes is critically important. <v Bill Stapp>We know that by time a child is 15, 16 years old, if they themselves <v Bill Stapp>don't feel that they can make a difference, it's very difficult to develop <v Bill Stapp>it later on, according to research. <v Bill Stapp>But this provides them an opportunity to try to make a difference in improving the water <v Bill Stapp>quality and thereby the lives of people that are dependent upon that water. <v Edison Isaac>Okay, Hawkeye, you see anything out there?

<v Edison Isaac>Which way should we go? <v Bill Kurtis>By fall, duck hunting season has begun on Walpole Island. <v Bill Kurtis>It used to be a bigger business here, but stories of contaminants in the ducks have <v Bill Kurtis>scared away some American hunters. <v Edison Isaac>Lead Bear, take us to the ducks. <v Bill Kurtis>For Ed Isaac, it's important to teach his son the way of life he was taught by his <v Bill Kurtis>father. <v Edison Isaac>When I was Lakota's age, the sky used to be filled with clouds of ducks. <v Bill Kurtis>But he fears that the traditional way of life of his people is hunters and trappers <v Bill Kurtis>may be seeing its final days. <v Bill Kurtis>He believes his best hope for preserving the past is in the GREEN project. <v Bill Stapp>We just really welcome the opportunity to be with you to talk about a program that <v Bill Stapp>might meet your needs.

<v Bill Stapp>You have the story of sustainability, and I think it's from the indigenous people that <v Bill Stapp>we need to really listen the world around is to how you have lived in harmony <v Bill Stapp>with your natural resources. So the children as well [fade out]. <v Bill Kurtis>Bill Stapp is meeting with members of the community to offer a formal proposal that GREEN <v Bill Kurtis>come to Walpole. <v Bill Stapp>I've heard very closely about how dependent you are, what's in your iceboxes and where <v Bill Stapp>you're getting that food. I've heard about your beaches you know being closed <v Bill Stapp>and you want to know more accurate information. <v Bill Stapp>You want to be the collectors of information as to what's really you know happening. <v Bill Kurtis>For the people of Walpole, this represents an opportunity to take control of information <v Bill Kurtis>about the river. To get data they can trust. <v Bill Kurtis>They listen quietly. They will make their decision later. <v Bill Kurtis>The crisis that is felt in Walpole Island is a crisis felt in countries all around the <v Bill Kurtis>world. In developing nations, 70 percent of the people don't have <v Bill Kurtis>access to safe drinking water. <v Bill Kurtis>Rivers are ripe with bacteria due to inadequate sanitation systems.

<v Bill Kurtis>90 percent of children's deaths in those countries are attributable to waterborne <v Bill Kurtis>diseases. <v Bill Kurtis>In the industrialized world, pollution often comes in the form of invisible toxic <v Bill Kurtis>chemicals that can be just as devastating. <v Bill Kurtis>In the 1970s in Minamata, Japan, hundreds of men, women, and children <v Bill Kurtis>were severely crippled by mercury poisoning. <v Bill Kurtis>Bill Stapp looked at the world's rivers and saw an opportunity to make a difference. <v Bill Kurtis>He began to take GREEN on a steady march around the globe. <v Bill Kurtis>It is now at work in 130 countries in some very remote corners <v Bill Kurtis>of the world. <v Bill Kurtis>This is Ecuador, where a growing population and industrial base are damaging <v Bill Kurtis>a fragile environment. <v Bill Kurtis>GREEN came to Ecuador in 1989 and its message was carried to places like

<v Bill Kurtis>this, the small town of Tembisa in the Ecuador highlands. <v Bill Kurtis>Here, students from an ecology club called Alpha, come to their small river <v Bill Kurtis>with simple instruments to measure the quality of the water. <v Bill Kurtis>As GREEN grew, so did its purpose. <v Bill Kurtis>Dr. Stapp saw it as a way to bring the world closer together. <v Bill Stapp>And hit return. From this computer, you can talk about with students and <v Bill Stapp>about 200 different rivers in the United States. <v Bill Stapp>And about a hundred and 27 different nations that we can also talk with by the computer, <v Bill Stapp>if not now, very shortly. Now we're now connected [fade out]. <v Bill Kurtis>A computer network now links all the GREEN projects, enabling students from different <v Bill Kurtis>parts of the world to share their concerns and their successes. <v Bill Kurtis>And now we can begin to talk between schools that are part of this uh program. <v Bill Kurtis>As winter descends on Rhode Island, so do students from the University of Michigan.

<v Bill Kurtis>The elected council has taken a vote. <v Bill Kurtis>Walpole has agreed to join GREEN. <v Graduate Student>You'll notice each- each activity is set up. <v Graduate Student>We have objectives. We have an age group set out and then we describe the activity. <v Graduate Student 1>When we do those activities, it's going to show about Walpole. <v Graduate Student 1>When you look at a satellite photo and you see that Walpole is all green and you see that <v Graduate Student 1>Detroit is all white and gray, you're going to understand what people in Walpole <v Graduate Student 1>have done to preserve their ecosystem versus people in Detroit. <v Bill Kurtis>Outside on the river, the chemical spills continue. <v Bill Kurtis>In February, there was a spill of 250 pounds of benzene. <v Bill Kurtis>The water intake at Walpole was closed as the chemical moved down the river. <v Bill Kurtis>But on the marsh, life continues as it has for centuries. <v Bill Kurtis>In winter, duck hunting gives way to muskrat hunting. <v Bill Kurtis>There is no question that the wildlife here, like the river, is contaminated. <v Bill Kurtis>Persistent toxic chemicals have been found in the tissue of ducks and muskrats.

<v Bill Kurtis>Concentrations of PCBs in snapping turtles are high. <v Bill Kurtis>But still, over 80 percent of the people on Walpole Island continue to eat wild <v Bill Kurtis>meat. <v Bill Kurtis>It's of concern because of a process known as biomagnification. <v Bill Kurtis>As toxic chemicals that absorbed up the food chain from bottom-dwelling organisms to fish <v Bill Kurtis>to ducks and muskrats to people, the concentration of the chemical is <v Bill Kurtis>multiplied, and so a small concentration of the chemicals in the water <v Bill Kurtis>can reach a high concentration in a consumer of wild meat. <v Bill Kurtis>It leaves the people of Walpole Island wondering, with every birth defect, every case of <v Bill Kurtis>cancer, was it the chemicals? <v Bill Kurtis>Was it the river? <v Bill Kurtis>It's why they need their own data about the river. <v Bill Kurtis>And by spring, the army of children is ready to get to work. <v Bill Kurtis>It's a perfect day in May.

<v Bill Kurtis>280 take to 5 sites around the island. <v Edison Isaac>Can everybody jump? <v Bill Kurtis>Second and third graders were assigned to Pottawattamie Island. <v Edison Isaac>This is a trail we all used to walk on for years and years. <v Bill Kurtis>These children grew up on the rivers, swam in fish sticks, drank from it. <v Bill Kurtis>But today they're seeing it with new eyes. <v Edison Isaac>Anybody see any animals? <v Edison Isaac>When we walked this farm when I was your size, by the time we got this far, I stepped on <v Edison Isaac>at least 2 or 3 snakes. <v Bill Kurtis>They will perform 9 water quality tests, checking the temperature, the turbidity <v Bill Kurtis>or clarity of the water, the P.H., dissolved oxygen, and the fecal <v Bill Kurtis>coliform count. <v Student 2>That's why you have-. <v Student 3>I would say 17. 17. <v Bill Kurtis>The information will become part of a permanent data bank on the river. <v Bill Kurtis>From this day on, students can monitor the river looking for changes. <v Green Worker>Can everybody write that down? <v Bill Kurtis>Everyone's favorite assignment is looking at the bugs. <v Bill Kurtis>Benthic macroinvertebrates is what the scientists call them.

<v Bill Stapp>Which one's the ma-? Damsel fly. Now, where's the mayfly? <v Bill Kurtis>They're organisms that live at the bottom of the river. <v Bill Stapp>That's a side swimmer. And you're in what grade? <v Second Grader>2. <v Bill Stapp>You're in second grade? <v Bill Kurtis>Some live only in clean water. Others are more tolerant to polluted water. <v Bill Stapp>So we're finding some animals here in the high water quality. <v Bill Stapp>We're finding some in the moderate water quality. <v Bill Stapp>So it's probably the water quality is between those 2 uh groups. <v Bill Kurtis>For Bill Stapp, it's clearly a great day. <v Bill Kurtis>The international leader who plans global environmental policies is just <v Bill Kurtis>as thrilled as an eighth-grader by the discovery of an insect. <v Bill Stapp>Oh, boy, oh boy. Oh boy. <v Bill Stapp>Hey. And you just found the prize of the day. <v Bill Stapp>See this red one? <v Bill Kurtis>The children are finding, organisms that indicate that contaminants here have been <v Bill Kurtis>reduced just as the chemical companies have claimed. <v Bill Kurtis>But this time, the children of Walpole are discovering for themselves that the river has <v Bill Kurtis>improved. This is information that can be seen and touched. <v Bill Kurtis>This can be believed.

<v Speaker>[background chatter] <v Teacher>Who had a good time yesterday? Alright. <v Bill Kurtis>By the next day, the enthusiasm for the work done at the river is obvious. <v Gloria Henry>What do you remember names of different bugs that you found? <v Gloria Henry>Okay, Rob. <v Bill Kurtis>What they learned about the river is that it may not be as bad as they feared. <v Rob>I don't know what else. <v Bill Kurtis>In a few sites, the water quality was found to be good. <v Bill Kurtis>But overall, the benthic organisms indicated only fair quality. <v Bill Kurtis>And they did find high levels of heavy metals, copper and iron. <v Bill Kurtis>Mercury testing will be done later. <v Teacher>So we only got a fair water quality in this site. <v Teacher>So that means that swimming there probably wouldn't be that safe. <v Teacher>Right? <v Bill Kurtis>In the weeks to come, they will present their findings to industry and government <v Bill Kurtis>officials. <v Teacher>Do you ever swim? <v Bill Kurtis>With their perceptions of the river now quantified and the hard data, they will be in a <v Bill Kurtis>much stronger position to push for further reductions in contaminants. <v Bill Stapp>So I think our laws are getting stronger because people care.

<v Bill Stapp>And I think that starts with our young people and begin to help them to develop <v Bill Stapp>the kinds of critical skills that they need in order to be able to make a difference. <v Bill Kurtis>Collecting the information on the water was important, but that's not all that was <v Bill Kurtis>accomplished on the riverbanks. <v Bill Kurtis>The lives of these children were also dramatically changed. <v Bill Kurtis>Look at their faces: intent, curious, <v Bill Kurtis>excited. <v Bill Kurtis>These children are now empowered to take charge of the future of their island. <v Bill Kurtis>It's in their hands to come back to the river next year, in 5 years, in 10, <v Bill Kurtis>to keep track of every detail. <v Bill Kurtis>Because life here will always depend on the river, and on that balance <v Bill Kurtis>of nature, that has existed for thousands of years. <v TV Announcer>Major funding for the new explorers is provided by Amoco, celebrating

<v TV Announcer>the adventure of scientific discovery for the year 2000 and beyond. <v TV Announcer>Additional funding is made possible by Waste Management Inc., providing recycling <v TV Announcer>and other waste services around the world. <v TV Announcer>And by Duracell embracing the power of science education, <v TV Announcer>the source of future technology and innovative growth. <v TV Announcer>Duracell, the copper top battery. <v TV Announcer 2>A videocassette and accompanying teacher's guide are available for each episode of The <v TV Announcer 2>New Explorers. To order, call 1 800 6 2 1 0 6 6 0, or write <v TV Announcer 2>The New Explorers, 1 5 1 8 1, Route 58 South, Oberlin, Ohio, <v TV Announcer 2>4 4 0 7 4.