The April 18 Rachel Carson Forum on Future of the Environment will feature the documentary, “Hope for Polluted Waters” with an introduction by Bucknell University Professor Carl Kirby.

Produced by WVIA TV, "Hope for Polluted Waters" tells the personal stories of volunteers working throughout the coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania to clean up pollution from abandoned coal mines.

Historic coal mining practices have polluted more than 4,600 miles of once pristine waterways, left more than 200,000 acres of land scarred and barren, and left communities with the burden.

While the problem seems overwhelming, and might make most people accept defeat - that's not what's happening in Pennsylvania. People are turning this problem around, and in many cases, returning life to streams that have been dead for more than 50 years.

The film takes the viewer from the eastern anthracite region to the western and north-central bituminous regions to explore the challenges people face when treating AMD.

The story focuses on the people themselves; their passions, frustrations, challenges and ultimately their triumphs over pollution. Dedication drives these individuals - whose goal is a better future. These are the stories this documentary shares.

The showing will take place from noon-1 p.m., April 18 in the Second Floor Auditorium of the Rachel Carson State Office Building, Harrisburg.

The Rachel Carson Forum on Future of the Environment is a monthly mid-day speaker/film series that seeks to stimulate discussion of important environmental and sustainable development issues.

The Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Policy, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Office of Conservation Science, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium are organizing this series.

For more information on the screening, contact Marcus Kohl at 717-787-4686 or send email to: mkohl@state.pa.us .

Link: Hope for Polluted Waters Premier Attracts 250 at Bucknell

3/28/2008