Poisoned Waters:

Frontline to focus on Chesapeake Bay

On April 21, “Frontline,” the acclaimed documentary series, turns its camera eye on the demise of two of the nation’s coastal jewels, the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. Entitled “Poisoned Waters,” the two-hour documentary will describe the sorry condition of two treasured estuaries, one on the East coast and one on the West. Both bodies of water have drawn thousands to live, work, and play along their shores, and both have suffered from development, runoff, and weak political will.

The new documentary points the finger at industry and at agriculture but also at the way we live — at the habits that label the citizens of the U.S. as the most consumptive in the world in terms of the natural resources we use and abuse.

To learn more about the documentary, "Poisoned Waters," visit www.pbs.org/frontline/poisonedwaters

For information about the Chesapeake Bay from Maryland Sea Grant, see www.mdsg.umd.edu/issues/chesapeake

Chief among the problems that face the Chesapeake are:
• the increasing cloudiness of its waters, what scientists call turbidity.
• the impacts of modern agriculture and the challenges of farming in the Bay region.
• the decline of signature Bay species: the oyster, the blue crab, even the terrapin.
• the struggle to manage fisheries in the face of an ecosystem under pressure from a growing population.
• the impacts of urban and suburban runoff.

For additional information about the Chesapeake Bay, see:
UM Center for Environmental Science: www.umces.edu
Chesapeake Bay Foundation: www.cbf.org
Chesapeake Bay Program: www.chesapeakebay.net
Chesapeake Research Consortium: www.chesapeake.org
Chesapeake Bay Commission: www.chesbay.state.va.us/