00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:03.947
(river rushing)

00:00:05.373 --> 00:00:07.623
(chanting)

00:00:15.570 --> 00:00:17.170
(calm music)

00:00:17.170 --> 00:00:20.337
- The world, the people on this earth,

00:00:21.279 --> 00:00:25.093
they do not know how to use water.

00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:27.761
That's why we're running out.

00:00:27.761 --> 00:00:29.039
(calm music)

00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.039
(river rushing)

00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:34.410
Tó éí ííńá át'é,

00:00:34.410 --> 00:00:36.503
which in Navajo means "water is life."

00:00:37.999 --> 00:00:39.190
(calm music)

00:00:39.190 --> 00:00:40.373
Water carries memory.

00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:44.538
It's a living, living being
and we're dependent on it.

00:00:44.538 --> 00:00:46.955
(calm music)

00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:50.560
- The planet is running
out of clean water.

00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.490
It's not that we don't
have water somewhere,

00:00:52.490 --> 00:00:55.340
but we polluted and
diverted and mismanaged

00:00:55.340 --> 00:00:57.187
the world's water very badly.

00:00:57.187 --> 00:00:58.930
- You drank that glass of water,

00:00:58.930 --> 00:01:02.111
literally your blood lead
can rise to a level

00:01:02.111 --> 00:01:03.590
that you could be hospitalized,

00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:05.073
one glass of water.

00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:10.374
- [Adam Murphy] We just
went and paid for our water--

00:01:10.374 --> 00:01:11.207
- [Christina Murphy] Our poison.

00:01:11.207 --> 00:01:13.520
- [Adam]
Our poison for the month.

00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:15.170
- [Janene Yazzie] People just assume

00:01:15.170 --> 00:01:17.520
that once your water
is running, it's safe,

00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:19.970
that someone out there
is taking care of it

00:01:19.970 --> 00:01:21.960
on our behalf.

00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:24.780
- In 2010, I covered the
resurgence of uranium mining

00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:26.900
in the Grand Canyon area.

00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:29.210
I'm at the Arizona One uranium mine,

00:01:29.210 --> 00:01:31.660
and this is the uranium ore,

00:01:31.660 --> 00:01:35.693
which has been dug up from
400 meters underground.

00:01:37.681 --> 00:01:39.220
(indistinct chatter)

00:01:39.220 --> 00:01:42.670
- If you were in a high
rise in downtown London,

00:01:42.670 --> 00:01:45.680
this would be 120 story
building equivalent.

00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:46.780
That's what you're going from the top

00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:48.963
of that building down to
the bottom of that building.

00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:56.890
- So this is what we
call a radiometric probe

00:01:56.890 --> 00:02:00.030
and it directly reads
out in percent U3O8.

00:02:00.030 --> 00:02:02.228
- [Leana] Is it like a Geiger counter?

00:02:02.228 --> 00:02:04.540
- Exactly, yeah, basically.

00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:06.090
- [Miner] Almost one percent ore.

00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.440
- [Leana] You feel happy
about mining uranium?

00:02:10.440 --> 00:02:14.030
You don't feel concerned
at all about toxicity?

00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:15.850
It's all over your face, right?

00:02:15.850 --> 00:02:18.947
- Yeah, it washes off.

00:02:18.947 --> 00:02:21.509
(somber music)

00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:22.710
- [Leana] But when I went to the nearby

00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:24.290
Navajo Native American reservation,

00:02:24.290 --> 00:02:26.260
I saw a different side.

00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:28.910
People told me uranium mining
had poisoned

00:02:28.910 --> 00:02:30.850
their drinking water.

00:02:30.850 --> 00:02:32.950
I met a sheep herder, Milton Yazzie,

00:02:32.950 --> 00:02:35.040
and he showed me the old mine pit filled

00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:37.670
with rainwater where he swam as a kid.

00:02:37.670 --> 00:02:41.620
Aged 50, had been told
he'd not got long to live.

00:02:41.620 --> 00:02:44.103
Later on, I saw him coughing up blood.

00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:46.500
The next morning I had an interview

00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:47.600
with a local woman.

00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:50.740
When she didn't turn up I
assumed she'd got a flat tire,

00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.190
but I later found out she had
died that morning of cancer.

00:02:54.190 --> 00:02:55.810
This seemed like a big scandal,

00:02:55.810 --> 00:02:58.570
yet back at the BBC I wasn't
allowed to include anything

00:02:58.570 --> 00:03:00.450
about people getting ill.

00:03:00.450 --> 00:03:03.340
There wasn't enough evidence
at the time to link the deaths

00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:05.103
to uranium contamination.

00:03:06.410 --> 00:03:08.780
As a journalist,
this was so frustrating,

00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.230
as I knew there was more to say.

00:03:11.230 --> 00:03:13.060
I was crushed.

00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:15.150
I knew I had to return
to America and give the

00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:18.023
story the time it needed
to properly investigate.

00:03:19.250 --> 00:03:21.570
So I've come back out to Arizona.

00:03:21.570 --> 00:03:24.360
The Navajo reservation was
heavily mined for uranium

00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:28.260
from the mid 1940s to the mid
'80s for nuclear weapons.

00:03:28.260 --> 00:03:32.383
Cancer rates doubled from
the 1970s to the 1990s.

00:03:33.836 --> 00:03:35.770
(orchestral flourish)

00:03:35.770 --> 00:03:36.930
- [Narrator] What other possibilities

00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:39.130
does the future hold
for the use of uranium?

00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:41.980
- The implication of the
future of uranium

00:03:41.980 --> 00:03:44.020
is simply fantastic.

00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:47.010
And it's my guess that the minerals

00:03:47.010 --> 00:03:49.210
and the metals that we
will extract from it

00:03:50.140 --> 00:03:54.890
will be the basis of our very life
for a long, long time to come.

00:03:59.597 --> 00:04:01.050
- [Leana] I'm meeting a
young woman, Janene Yazzie,

00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:03.450
who helped organize her
community water testing.

00:04:05.970 --> 00:04:10.970
- I remember getting the text
and the call with the results.

00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:16.180
There's uranium in Sanders
school's water system.

00:04:16.410 --> 00:04:21.410
They're almost two times the
acceptable drinking water limits.

00:04:22.350 --> 00:04:26.680
And you're now a part of
that never ending struggle

00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:28.590
to prove that this was unjust,

00:04:28.590 --> 00:04:31.873
that our babies didn't
deserve to be poisoned.

00:04:33.530 --> 00:04:37.650
And the last thing you want
to know is that you are

00:04:37.650 --> 00:04:41.090
unable to protect your babies
from something that you know

00:04:41.090 --> 00:04:43.223
is extremely harmful for them.

00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:45.820
So Solaris, what do you do when

00:04:48.590 --> 00:04:50.130
there's no water at school?

00:04:50.130 --> 00:04:52.283
- If I don't take a water bottle,

00:04:53.130 --> 00:04:57.029
there's no water at school.

00:04:57.029 --> 00:04:57.963
- See you later, okay?

00:04:57.963 --> 00:05:00.650
This is the letter that
they gave to the parents,

00:05:00.650 --> 00:05:03.560
saying that, like, yeah,
the standards are 30

00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.500
and here it's 34.6, but there's
nothing you can really do.

00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:09.210
"If you have a compromised
immune system,

00:05:09.210 --> 00:05:12.040
"if you're an infant,
pregnant, or elderly,

00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:14.150
"you may have increased risk

00:05:14.150 --> 00:05:16.510
"and you should seek advice
from your healthcare provider"

00:05:16.510 --> 00:05:18.900
about if you should
drink this water or not.

00:05:18.900 --> 00:05:22.430
- We've gotten pretty much no assistance

00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:25.283
from any governmental agency.

00:05:26.210 --> 00:05:28.357
I said, "Why don't you
have water trucks up here?"

00:05:28.357 --> 00:05:29.190
"Live with it,"

00:05:29.190 --> 00:05:31.060
basically is, you know, what I was told.

00:05:32.230 --> 00:05:34.400
- [Leana] Janene, did
you go to that school?

00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:37.020
- Yes, I went to both the
Sanders elementary school

00:05:37.020 --> 00:05:38.120
and the middle school.

00:05:39.380 --> 00:05:43.100
- [Leana] So you were drinking
uranium-contaminated water?

00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:45.313
- Yeah, and we didn't
know it then, either.

00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:48.450
So all of us were severely exposed

00:05:48.450 --> 00:05:50.147
over a very long period of time.

00:05:50.147 --> 00:05:53.710
And you know, considering
the size of this issue

00:05:53.710 --> 00:05:56.470
and the fact that the
school itself serves

00:05:56.470 --> 00:06:00.300
about five to six communities
in the surrounding area,

00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:02.260
we don't have cancer screening.

00:06:02.260 --> 00:06:03.820
- [Leana] What do you suspect

00:06:03.820 --> 00:06:06.430
might be to do with the contamination?

00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:11.290
- I definitely suspect the
Church Rock uranium spill of 1979

00:06:11.290 --> 00:06:13.970
was a major contributing factor.

00:06:13.970 --> 00:06:16.360
- [Leana] What was the Church
Rock uranium mine spill?

00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:20.530
- The Church Rock dam break
of July 16th, 1979,

00:06:20.530 --> 00:06:22.840
remains the largest release
of radioactive waste

00:06:22.840 --> 00:06:24.660
by volume in US history.

00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:27.540
Right now, I'd probably--
in terms of radioactivity released,

00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:30.763
it ranks third behind
Fukushima and Chernobyl.

00:06:31.710 --> 00:06:33.400
This is bad stuff.

00:06:33.400 --> 00:06:34.920
You don't want to be exposed to it

00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.103
and you don't want it to be released.

00:06:38.380 --> 00:06:41.700
That's why they put it
in ponds behind dams.

00:06:41.700 --> 00:06:44.350
But that morning the dam broke.

00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:47.611
- [Janene] So that must
be all radioactive.

00:06:47.611 --> 00:06:49.111
Yeah, this is...

00:06:50.200 --> 00:06:52.830
- [Chris] The fluids went from the site,

00:06:52.830 --> 00:06:54.520
northeast of Gallup, New Mexico,

00:06:54.520 --> 00:06:56.270
in the community of Church Rock,

00:06:56.270 --> 00:06:58.750
about 75, 80 miles downstream.

00:06:58.750 --> 00:06:59.583
- [Leana] The government said

00:06:59.583 --> 00:07:01.400
they couldn't assign responsibility.

00:07:01.400 --> 00:07:03.090
And that was it.

00:07:03.090 --> 00:07:05.980
It wasn't until a curious PhD student

00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:09.740
37 years later decided
to do some water testing

00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:12.160
that the truth was finally uncovered.

00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.860
- This is where the spill
happened back in '79.

00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:17.723
This is where all the
problem began for Sanders,

00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:20.623
the groundwater contamination.

00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:24.130
- [Leana] But when he took his
results to the authorities,

00:07:24.130 --> 00:07:26.100
he found out something chilling.

00:07:26.100 --> 00:07:30.300
- [Tommy] They knew all along
that there was elevated uranium

00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:32.700
in the public water system in Sanders,

00:07:32.700 --> 00:07:33.893
but nothing was done.

00:07:36.520 --> 00:07:38.550
- Sanders, like, undoubtedly

00:07:38.550 --> 00:07:40.213
has the highest concentration

00:07:40.213 --> 00:07:42.127
of those metals.

00:07:42.127 --> 00:07:45.620
But, like, we have no data to show why.

00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:47.890
And in this case, since
we're taking gamma readings,

00:07:47.890 --> 00:07:51.493
it is showing that there is
some sort of deposit of uranium.

00:07:51.493 --> 00:07:53.849
I mean, it's all this yellow stuff

00:07:53.849 --> 00:07:58.627
that seems to be making this pop off.

00:07:58.627 --> 00:08:03.627
I started to get really
sick in college, around 2005.

00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:07.973
They told me that I had ovarian cancer.

00:08:09.954 --> 00:08:11.503
I was extremely scared.

00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:18.273
But I kind of just resolved--

00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:21.693
just resolved myself to die.

00:08:24.630 --> 00:08:26.893
I got treated using
alternative medicine,

00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:31.323
go back to a traditional
diet, an indigenous diet.

00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.800
It wasn't until I found out
I was pregnant

00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:39.050
that I got really scared.

00:08:40.210 --> 00:08:41.960
They were going to do an ultrasound

00:08:43.235 --> 00:08:46.533
and find that I was never better,
that I was worse.

00:08:47.380 --> 00:08:50.770
And they're like, "Oh, you
have two spots on

00:08:50.770 --> 00:08:53.160
"your ovaries,
but that's not a big deal."

00:08:53.160 --> 00:08:54.940
Like, "Don't let it freak you out."

00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:57.580
I remember, like, nearly
falling out of that chair.

00:08:57.580 --> 00:08:58.770
It was real.

00:08:58.770 --> 00:08:59.603
It was real.

00:08:59.603 --> 00:09:00.890
I was going to be a mom...

00:09:05.123 --> 00:09:07.183
...and have this miracle baby.

00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:10.590
- [Leana] That's amazing
that Janene recovered

00:09:10.590 --> 00:09:12.700
and went on to have children,

00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:14.720
and it seems plausible that she got

00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.290
ovarian cancer from drinking
uranium-contaminated water.

00:09:18.290 --> 00:09:19.580
But I remain unsure

00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:22.430
if this could have been
the origin of her illness.

00:09:22.430 --> 00:09:25.270
So I'm going to meet an
expert who fed rats water

00:09:25.270 --> 00:09:27.560
with uranium at similar
levels to that found

00:09:27.560 --> 00:09:29.923
on the reservation,
to see what she has to say.

00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:32.850
- The Navajo, unfortunately,

00:09:32.850 --> 00:09:34.480
have had a lot of exposure to uranium,

00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.006
both in their water and

00:09:36.006 --> 00:09:38.253
dust that blows around the reservation.

00:09:39.090 --> 00:09:43.440
Our study was proof of
principle that exposure

00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.870
to uranium in your
drinking water might lead

00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:47.740
to gynecological problems,

00:09:47.740 --> 00:09:50.560
uterine cancer, ovarian cancer.

00:09:50.560 --> 00:09:53.410
Given some of the health
problems that are well known

00:09:53.410 --> 00:09:57.460
on the reservation,
young girls, high school-aged girls

00:09:57.460 --> 00:09:59.903
having hysterectomies and so forth,

00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:02.993
It makes you think, "Is there a link?"

00:10:05.930 --> 00:10:09.533
- Great power and great
crimes are inseparable.

00:10:10.390 --> 00:10:14.800
It is only those with great
political economic power,

00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:16.810
who can, with the stroke of a pen

00:10:16.810 --> 00:10:18.830
or the utterance of an order,

00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:21.540
or even a knowing nod of its head,

00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:23.970
send thousands of people to their deaths

00:10:23.970 --> 00:10:26.180
or consign millions to lives

00:10:26.180 --> 00:10:28.550
of unrelenting want and misery.

00:10:28.550 --> 00:10:32.400
When economic and political
powers pursue common interests,

00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:35.300
the potential for harm is magnified.

00:10:35.300 --> 00:10:37.610
These harmful collaborations are called

00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:39.370
state corporate crime.

00:10:39.370 --> 00:10:41.480
All American Indian tribes have

00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:46.160
and continue to experience
extreme exploitation.

00:10:46.160 --> 00:10:50.620
Since the 1950s,
multinational mining corporations

00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:53.873
went to the Navajo reservation
to mine uranium,

00:10:53.873 --> 00:10:55.590
with the only customer being

00:10:55.590 --> 00:10:57.970
the United States government
at the time.

00:10:57.970 --> 00:10:59.450
- [Narrator] Many of the Navajo men

00:10:59.450 --> 00:11:01.730
are employed in the uranium mines,

00:11:01.730 --> 00:11:04.970
where they are valued as
conscientious workers.

00:11:04.970 --> 00:11:06.770
Day by day, they take their places

00:11:06.770 --> 00:11:08.680
in operating power machinery

00:11:08.680 --> 00:11:10.973
and the numerous other
jobs about the mines.

00:11:13.100 --> 00:11:15.740
- So this is a map of the Navajo Nation,

00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:20.740
and it spans Arizona,
New Mexico, Utah, Colorado.

00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:25.300
And if you can see here,
all these red dots?

00:11:25.300 --> 00:11:27.140
These are all the uranium mines.

00:11:27.140 --> 00:11:29.202
(ominous music)

00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.620
Am I afraid to be here?

00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:35.270
Yes, I am.

00:11:35.270 --> 00:11:36.630
It's radioactive.

00:11:36.630 --> 00:11:37.570
But the point is

00:11:37.570 --> 00:11:40.050
that this is not the only
abandoned uranium mine.

00:11:40.050 --> 00:11:43.170
There are 520 abandoned
uranium mines sites.

00:11:43.170 --> 00:11:45.170
And with more than
one mine at each site,

00:11:45.170 --> 00:11:48.220
there's something like 1,300
abandoned uranium mines

00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.230
on the Navajo reservation alone.

00:11:50.230 --> 00:11:53.500
That's not including
piles like this one,

00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:56.330
which is just exposed
and out blowing in the wind.

00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:58.080
Some of it has been
covered with clean dirt,

00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.650
but a lot of it hasn't.

00:11:59.650 --> 00:12:00.940
I really want to meet someone

00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:02.890
from the uranium industry about this.

00:12:02.890 --> 00:12:06.790
Unfortunately, all the companies
that operated here have closed,

00:12:06.790 --> 00:12:11.053
but the uranium producers association
is in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

00:12:12.213 --> 00:12:19.410
- The US was the major producer
of uranium in the '50s, '60s, '70s.

00:12:19.410 --> 00:12:23.560
There are several abandoned
mines on the reservation.

00:12:23.560 --> 00:12:28.560
You see numbers that range
from a hundred to a thousand.

00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:30.780
The uranium is just a small particle of,

00:12:30.780 --> 00:12:32.370
you know, a piece of sand.

00:12:32.370 --> 00:12:37.250
And you break that off the sand,
the product is then dried

00:12:37.250 --> 00:12:40.080
into what we call U3O8 or "yellow cake."

00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:41.290
And it's called yellow cake

00:12:41.290 --> 00:12:42.950
because that's what it looks like.

00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:44.800
- [Leana] Is yellow cake dangerous?

00:12:44.800 --> 00:12:45.950
- Not really.

00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:49.340
It's, it's you know, like we mentioned,

00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:50.173
you could eat it.

00:12:50.173 --> 00:12:53.490
It doesn't really--
we wouldn't advise you to do that,

00:12:53.490 --> 00:12:55.550
but it's not terribly dangerous.

00:12:55.550 --> 00:12:56.811
It's not very radioactive.

00:12:56.811 --> 00:12:59.400
(Geiger counter shrieking)

00:12:59.400 --> 00:13:02.230
- This place is the highest
readings that I've got.

00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:04.550
I mean, I maxed out the Geiger counter,

00:13:04.550 --> 00:13:06.000
the highest reading possible.

00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:10.363
- You were reading 5,000.

00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:15.853
That's higher than the
levels around Chernobyl.

00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:18.723
Much higher.

00:13:19.710 --> 00:13:24.490
What I found, that keeps me up at night,

00:13:24.490 --> 00:13:29.590
is I found readings that were half
of what you found

00:13:29.590 --> 00:13:33.590
in an unmarked uranium mine

00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.180
that was next to a grade school.

00:13:38.180 --> 00:13:41.340
It's not just the external dose,

00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:43.480
which is what you measure,

00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.463
but they'll be breathing in dust,

00:13:46.390 --> 00:13:50.660
they'll be getting it on
their hands and swallowing it.

00:13:50.660 --> 00:13:54.440
And anything that's
edible becomes radioactive

00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:56.663
and then contributes to the dose.

00:13:58.590 --> 00:14:02.010
- 24 hours spent at this site exposed me

00:14:02.010 --> 00:14:05.800
to the yearly maximum
dose of a nuclear worker.

00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:07.660
This freaks me out,

00:14:07.660 --> 00:14:10.200
but imagine what it's like living here.

00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:12.350
And that's not all.
The Bureau of Land Management

00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:14.350
and the Environmental
Protection Agency

00:14:14.350 --> 00:14:17.620
say there's at least 15,000
abandoned uranium mines

00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:19.650
across the western United States.

00:14:19.650 --> 00:14:21.370
How radioactive they are

00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:24.840
and how they're impacting
communities is not known--

00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.227
at least not publicly, anyway.

00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:32.130
At the same time as residents in Sanders

00:14:32.130 --> 00:14:34.360
proved their water was contaminated,

00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.220
so did residents in Flint, Michigan,

00:14:36.220 --> 00:14:37.447
on the other side of the country.

00:14:37.447 --> 00:14:39.700
- [Male Reporter] This morning,
a lead poisoning alert

00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:41.230
near a major American city.

00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:42.540
Residents in Flint, Michigan,

00:14:42.540 --> 00:14:45.550
under a state of emergency
being told don't drink the water,

00:14:45.550 --> 00:14:48.490
don't even touch the water.

00:14:48.490 --> 00:14:51.220
- In Flint the water is
contaminated with lead

00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:54.270
after the city switched from
a clean source to the Flint River,

00:14:54.270 --> 00:14:56.280
and didn't treat the water properly.

00:14:56.280 --> 00:14:58.620
The river water was
actually more corrosive

00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:01.417
and dissolved the lead
pipes into the water,

00:15:01.417 --> 00:15:03.670
and that's what people drank.

00:15:03.670 --> 00:15:05.960
I'm on my way to Flint to find out more,

00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.470
because this willful neglect
that I see here on the Navajo Nation

00:15:09.470 --> 00:15:11.570
is so shocking to me.

00:15:11.570 --> 00:15:13.960
I want to know if it's because of racism

00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:18.940
against indigenous Americans,
which I feel must play a part,

00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:21.663
or if there's something
more widespread going on.

00:15:23.900 --> 00:15:27.003
Flint residents Christina and Adam
have agreed to meet me.

00:15:29.557 --> 00:15:32.010
- I mean, people have died
from this freaking water

00:15:32.010 --> 00:15:34.720
and then they're going
to charge us for it.

00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:36.060
- [Christina] Funerals are cheaper

00:15:36.060 --> 00:15:38.990
than paying everyone back
for everything they took.

00:15:38.990 --> 00:15:41.120
- Or treating it,
treatment's going to cost more

00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.150
than it is to bury somebody.

00:15:43.350 --> 00:15:44.650
- Adam used to earn good money

00:15:44.650 --> 00:15:47.580
as a millwright at the
General Motors plant,

00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:49.063
but that life is gone now.

00:15:50.290 --> 00:15:54.223
- [Adam] The toxins have attacked
my central nervous system.

00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:59.080
- [Christina] Yeah, you get
the tremors though, real bad.

00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.847
- It's a bad rollercoaster ride,
it's like...

00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:04.670
- What's going on with you right now?

00:16:06.690 --> 00:16:08.290
- It's like everything's tense.

00:16:10.540 --> 00:16:11.490
Yeah, I gotta take a break.

00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:12.490
- [Leana] Yeah, okay.

00:16:13.430 --> 00:16:14.912
Can I help at all?

00:16:14.912 --> 00:16:15.906
- [Adam] I'll be right back.

00:16:15.906 --> 00:16:17.136
- He'll be all right.

00:16:18.136 --> 00:16:20.030
That's what my husband
goes through all the time.

00:16:20.030 --> 00:16:22.780
That's why we don't go
to all the meetings

00:16:22.780 --> 00:16:26.120
because he's, he's a wreck.

00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:30.073
Our doctor gave us a packet
to get our will together.

00:16:31.650 --> 00:16:33.550
So, you know...

00:16:35.533 --> 00:16:38.270
We don't know if he's
going to die or not.

00:16:39.270 --> 00:16:42.750
- How can brand new parts
on these machines, like,

00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:46.540
just fall apart, corrode, and then warp

00:16:46.540 --> 00:16:49.190
these engine blocks
that they were cutting.

00:16:49.190 --> 00:16:51.590
So it's corroding their parts,
but they don't tell the public,

00:16:51.590 --> 00:16:53.950
"Hey, don't drink this water."

00:16:53.950 --> 00:16:55.873
- [Leana] What did they
tell the workers?

00:16:55.873 --> 00:16:58.690
How did they explain this
to the workers?

00:16:58.690 --> 00:17:02.000
- [Adam] They shut off all
the drinking fountains in the plants.

00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:02.833
- They did?

00:17:02.833 --> 00:17:05.518
Yeah, yeah, they had them all...

00:17:05.518 --> 00:17:06.351
- You never....

00:17:06.351 --> 00:17:07.184
- Yeah, they had them all off,

00:17:07.184 --> 00:17:09.480
and they had these
water jugs next to them.

00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:12.530
So you get water from
these water jugs, not--

00:17:12.530 --> 00:17:17.490
You couldn't use the plant's water
to drink from the fountain.

00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:18.340
- Yeah, so they knew.

00:17:18.340 --> 00:17:19.390
- So they knew.

00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:24.097
- Mr. Murphy presented to
my office on April of 2017.

00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:29.800
We did a number of different
tests to actually prove

00:17:29.800 --> 00:17:32.907
that he had problems with neurotoxicity.

00:17:32.907 --> 00:17:36.000
He did have seizures, of course.

00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:38.530
His lead levels were found
to be in excess

00:17:38.530 --> 00:17:41.530
of six times higher than
what they should have been,

00:17:41.530 --> 00:17:46.090
to the point where he was
dysfunctional and disabled.

00:17:47.340 --> 00:17:49.030
- [Leana] Protests at the city hall

00:17:49.030 --> 00:17:52.360
are now relatively regular in Flint.

00:17:52.360 --> 00:17:55.900
It's not so much that local
officials aren't listening,

00:17:55.900 --> 00:17:57.920
but they was stripped of their powers,

00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.750
as Flint was put under
an austerity manager

00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:03.700
whose sole goal is to save money.

00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:06.667
- General Motors engine
plant in Flint said,

00:18:06.667 --> 00:18:09.240
"We have a problem.
Since the switchover,

00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.720
"engine parts are rusting before
we even get them out of the factory."

00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:17.720
The emergency manager
allowed General Motors

00:18:18.290 --> 00:18:21.960
to change back to the Detroit system.

00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:26.990
Yet when the Flint city council
voted to return to the Detroit system,

00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:30.350
the emergency manager
overruled that vote.

00:18:30.350 --> 00:18:34.363
Capital was protected
and people were poisoned.

00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:36.833
Period.

00:18:38.520 --> 00:18:39.480
- Hi everybody.

00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:44.480
We are here to celebrate
the life of Shyonda Roberson.

00:18:45.040 --> 00:18:47.383
She's 30 years old today.

00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:52.260
She's truly missed.

00:18:52.260 --> 00:18:57.430
We doing what as a family
is supposed to do.

00:18:57.430 --> 00:18:59.173
We keeping her name alive.

00:19:00.672 --> 00:19:04.080
(all singing "Happy Birthday")

00:19:04.080 --> 00:19:09.080
- October 31st, 2015, my daughter,
she wasn't feeling good,

00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:13.960
and they told her she had pneumonia.

00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:18.880
Monday morning we called 911,
and she was unresponsive.

00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.240
They rushed her to McLaren.

00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.920
They was able to resuscitate her.

00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:24.860
Then she started seizing.

00:19:24.860 --> 00:19:29.463
She was having anywhere from 100
to, like, 150 seizures a day.

00:19:30.650 --> 00:19:32.930
And she was 28 years old.

00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:34.120
And that's when they found out

00:19:34.120 --> 00:19:37.900
it was the Legionnaire that opened
the threshold for the seizing,

00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:39.210
and they couldn't stop the seizing

00:19:39.210 --> 00:19:42.190
'cause the Legionnaire
was so far in her body.

00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:44.220
- We had recently done
experiments that said

00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.300
if a city should ever do what Flint did,

00:19:47.300 --> 00:19:51.520
which is to stop adding
corrosion control to their water,

00:19:51.520 --> 00:19:53.490
they would have a serious problem

00:19:53.490 --> 00:19:56.470
with dangerous bacteria
called Legionellae.

00:19:56.470 --> 00:20:00.050
So who's responsible for the deaths?

00:20:00.050 --> 00:20:01.173
Interesting question.

00:20:02.580 --> 00:20:05.500
- We're going to have to
collect data ourselves.

00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:07.710
I kept all my water.

00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:09.999
Like this crap, I kept it all.

00:20:09.999 --> 00:20:12.999
And we didn't drink it
when it looked like that.

00:20:12.999 --> 00:20:14.500
We would let it run.

00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:17.927
Like, they told us,
"Let it run and then boil it."

00:20:17.927 --> 00:20:21.980
And then this was one, I think
was out my hot water tank.

00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:24.823
And then this one had,
like, slime in it.

00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.880
- There's got to be an
explanation for this.

00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:32.010
This can't be so horrible.

00:20:32.010 --> 00:20:34.840
The government couldn't
possibly be changing data.

00:20:34.840 --> 00:20:36.360
This doesn't make sense.

00:20:36.360 --> 00:20:37.960
Now when you're in my world

00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:42.540
of science and experiments
and conclusions

00:20:42.540 --> 00:20:45.840
and you're still ignoring it,
that was scary.

00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:47.140
When I got sick

00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.520
I had to be in isolation
because I had dysentery

00:20:49.520 --> 00:20:50.900
and it's so incredibly contagious.

00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:54.350
And then coming home,
and I was afraid of my house.

00:20:54.350 --> 00:20:57.883
If I wash my hands
with anti-bacterial soap,

00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:00.660
what do I rinse my hands with?

00:21:02.780 --> 00:21:04.430
The Medical Society of Genesee County

00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:06.067
put a statement out saying,

00:21:06.067 --> 00:21:09.140
"We recognize that there
are certain populations,

00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:11.310
"pregnant women, infants,
elderly people,

00:21:11.310 --> 00:21:15.530
"people with auto-immune diseases,
should drink bottled water,"

00:21:15.530 --> 00:21:21.130
but the state had extended an idea
to the physicians in Flint

00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:24.180
that perhaps physicians
could write prescriptions

00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:26.200
to people who need bottled water.

00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:29.030
And then with a prescription,
somebody could go

00:21:29.030 --> 00:21:31.860
to one of these pods and
get their bottled water.

00:21:31.860 --> 00:21:35.980
The doctors found it ridiculous
and said, "Absolutely not."

00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:39.650
And at this meeting that I was at,
the representatives of the state

00:21:39.650 --> 00:21:43.650
were so incredibly disappointed
with the physicians

00:21:43.650 --> 00:21:46.999
who weren't willing to work out
an arrangement because, you know,

00:21:46.999 --> 00:21:50.380
there's so many people who are
just taking this bottled water

00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:53.225
and maybe they don't really
actually deserve it.

00:21:53.225 --> 00:21:54.999
- What do we want?
[All] Clean water!

00:21:54.999 --> 00:21:56.921
- When do we want it?
[All] Now!

00:21:56.921 --> 00:21:59.010
- Sometimes it would smell like poop,

00:21:59.010 --> 00:22:01.850
or it would smell super chlorine-y.

00:22:01.850 --> 00:22:03.810
People were taking their water

00:22:03.810 --> 00:22:06.070
down to the city council meetings.

00:22:06.070 --> 00:22:08.840
But the thing is
is those city council meetings,

00:22:08.840 --> 00:22:10.640
nobody had any power.

00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:12.190
So now we pay, like,

00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:15.480
the highest rates
in the country for water.

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:16.590
that now we can't use,

00:22:16.590 --> 00:22:18.560
and it's poisoned people
and it's killed people.

00:22:18.560 --> 00:22:21.683
Some people, like, their water bills
are more than their mortgage.

00:22:22.530 --> 00:22:25.900
They're paying $200 to $300
a month just in the water.

00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:28.890
In Michigan if you don't
have running water

00:22:28.890 --> 00:22:30.660
your home could be condemned.

00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:31.960
The state can remove your children

00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:34.210
and put them in foster care.

00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:35.870
- [Cynthia Canty]
You're listening to Stateside,

00:22:35.870 --> 00:22:37.510
I'm Cynthia Canty.

00:22:37.510 --> 00:22:39.430
It has been nearly two years now

00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:41.310
since the first indictments
were handed down

00:22:41.310 --> 00:22:44.450
in the state's investigation
into the Flint water crisis.

00:22:44.450 --> 00:22:48.890
15 current and former state and
city government officials were charged.

00:22:48.890 --> 00:22:53.250
- And we're on the record with
People versus Nicholas Lyon.

00:22:53.250 --> 00:22:57.830
I find this behavior over this
time period corrupt

00:22:57.830 --> 00:23:00.693
based upon misconduct in office
for probable cause standards.

00:23:01.760 --> 00:23:06.270
Therefore these four charges
will be bound over

00:23:06.270 --> 00:23:08.790
to circuit court for
further proceedings.

00:23:08.790 --> 00:23:11.300
Again, involuntary manslaughter
count one,

00:23:11.300 --> 00:23:13.680
involuntary manslaughter count two,

00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:15.970
misconduct in office count three,

00:23:15.970 --> 00:23:20.183
as well as the willful neglect
of duty of office count four.

00:23:21.333 --> 00:23:24.350
- [Leana] So does this mean Flint
residents will get justice?

00:23:24.350 --> 00:23:27.901
- It's quite challenging
in a situation like this

00:23:27.902 --> 00:23:31.327
to prove cases against higher
and higher-up officials.

00:23:31.327 --> 00:23:34.520
Frankly it's not unlike organized crime.

00:23:34.520 --> 00:23:36.850
In organized crime,
you're typically able

00:23:36.850 --> 00:23:39.910
catch the low-level people red handed.

00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.230
They're the ones who are
doing the dirty work.

00:23:42.230 --> 00:23:44.899
The higher-ups are usually, by design,

00:23:44.899 --> 00:23:48.731
insulated from the illegal actions
that occur on the ground.

00:23:48.731 --> 00:23:51.688
Government and government
decisions often result

00:23:51.688 --> 00:23:56.740
in people being polluted, poisoned,
losing the quality of their life,

00:23:56.740 --> 00:24:01.160
and losing their life itself.
In a very harsh way,

00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:04.780
that's how our environmental
law system works.

00:24:04.780 --> 00:24:05.980
- I've come back to see Janene

00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.270
because she's actually trying to
get uranium banned in this county,

00:24:08.270 --> 00:24:11.510
and she's petitioning
the town hall here.

00:24:11.510 --> 00:24:15.230
I'm pretty excited because she
could really make a difference here.

00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:17.140
- Now we know New Mexico state
is looking to reopen uranium mining

00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:19.340
because they're currently
considering legislation

00:24:19.340 --> 00:24:23.700
to classify nuclear energy
as a renewable energy source.

00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:25.770
And we know that we will
again be ground zero

00:24:25.770 --> 00:24:29.220
for the type of uranium operations
that will be needed

00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:31.540
to support that type of industry.

00:24:31.540 --> 00:24:36.060
We implore you to at least
reconsider the moratorium.

00:24:36.060 --> 00:24:38.653
- I've lived in New Mexico
all of my life.

00:24:38.653 --> 00:24:41.000
I went to school at
Los Alamos High School.

00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.070
I lived down in Alamogordo.

00:24:43.070 --> 00:24:46.703
I used to play volleyball out
at White Sands missile range.

00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:49.500
And I'm full of tumors.

00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:52.280
- We live between two uranium mines

00:24:52.280 --> 00:24:56.120
and just, like, half a mile away
from a uranium mill.

00:24:56.120 --> 00:24:59.021
- Our younger generation,
we're raising them up,

00:24:59.021 --> 00:25:01.990
and what are we teaching them?
To destroy the land?

00:25:01.990 --> 00:25:03.560
To destroy this world?

00:25:03.560 --> 00:25:09.399
- I feel like you were voted in
to represent us and to protect us,

00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:14.060
and if we contaminate the water,

00:25:14.060 --> 00:25:15.343
we're kind of done for.

00:25:16.390 --> 00:25:18.263
- I am for the moratorium,

00:25:19.150 --> 00:25:21.150
but we've had people here

00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:25.700
from the state land office
threatening to sue us

00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:27.333
if we passed a moratorium.

00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:31.573
- Unfortunately, our hands are tied.

00:25:33.186 --> 00:25:35.400
- Those were some really
strong testimonies,

00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.230
but I can't believe
that the local officials

00:25:37.230 --> 00:25:39.740
say they don't have any power
to do anything about it--

00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:41.270
just like in Flint.

00:25:41.270 --> 00:25:42.470
I mean, here in the Southwest

00:25:42.470 --> 00:25:44.820
they don't have an emergency
manager to officially

00:25:44.820 --> 00:25:47.070
take away local authority's powers,

00:25:47.070 --> 00:25:50.130
but it seems like business
interests take priority.

00:25:50.130 --> 00:25:50.963
Again.

00:25:52.227 --> 00:25:54.810
(pensive music)

00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:57.260
- One of the things we
recommended was that

00:25:57.260 --> 00:26:00.040
all the people who lived
along the Puerco River

00:26:00.040 --> 00:26:03.140
who may have been exposed
to the tailings spill in '79,

00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:05.230
that there should be a registry set up,

00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:07.623
and so to examine
their health over time.

00:26:08.890 --> 00:26:12.520
We were laughed at, we were ridiculed.

00:26:12.520 --> 00:26:16.800
There was this constant voice

00:26:16.800 --> 00:26:21.350
of industry and government
and elected officials

00:26:21.350 --> 00:26:25.770
and state and federal
government making excuses,

00:26:25.770 --> 00:26:28.440
denying effects and turning the tables

00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:31.440
and accusing anyone who raised concerns

00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.883
of being un-American, commie,

00:26:36.350 --> 00:26:38.363
anti-nuclear zealots, things like that.

00:26:39.550 --> 00:26:42.590
- [Leana] So do people off the
reservation need to be worried

00:26:42.590 --> 00:26:45.570
about all this uranium contamination?

00:26:45.570 --> 00:26:47.770
- [Tommy] I think they should
be worried about that

00:26:47.770 --> 00:26:50.250
and also be worried
about the Colorado River,

00:26:50.250 --> 00:26:51.700
the state of the Colorado River,

00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:57.450
because I know Arizona, Nevada,
California use a lot of that water,

00:26:57.450 --> 00:27:03.623
like San Diego, Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson.

00:27:04.660 --> 00:27:07.480
So yeah, they should
be worried about that.

00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:10.580
With the whole issue of climate change,
less precipitations,

00:27:10.580 --> 00:27:13.143
there will be less rain, less snow.

00:27:14.080 --> 00:27:16.980
And if that happens,
then the Colorado River

00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:19.930
will be reduced a lot.

00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:22.230
And when that happens,
then issue will be

00:27:22.230 --> 00:27:26.950
concentration of uranium in the water.

00:27:26.950 --> 00:27:28.930
They should worry about that.

00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:30.480
- [Leana] In both Sanders and Flint,

00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.970
residents got independent scientists
to test their water.

00:27:33.970 --> 00:27:37.540
And in Flint, that was Mark Edwards
of Virginia Tech University.

00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:40.100
- This first manifested itself

00:27:40.100 --> 00:27:42.999
in the other big water crisis
in US history,

00:27:42.999 --> 00:27:45.080
the Washington, DC
lead in water crisis.

00:27:45.080 --> 00:27:49.550
I proved that the government's
claim that no one got hurt

00:27:49.550 --> 00:27:53.239
from that unprecedented
lead exposure was false.

00:27:53.239 --> 00:27:56.759
In fact, thousands of kids
had been lead poisoned.

00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:58.100
I'd hoped we'd learned
from that mistake,

00:27:58.100 --> 00:28:00.863
so that we wouldn't repeat it,
but that was not to be.

00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:04.650
The lessons learned from
the DC lead crisis were that

00:28:04.650 --> 00:28:08.410
these agencies could really
get away with just about anything.

00:28:08.410 --> 00:28:12.491
And frankly, they just got better
at covering up the problems.

00:28:12.491 --> 00:28:14.000
- You admit here that even after

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.040
the whole world knew that
Flint residents were exposed

00:28:17.040 --> 00:28:19.030
to unimaginable levels of lead,

00:28:19.030 --> 00:28:23.410
you did not declare a state
of emergency until January, 2016.

00:28:23.410 --> 00:28:24.243
Isn't that true?

00:28:24.243 --> 00:28:25.330
- I took immediate action

00:28:25.330 --> 00:28:26.890
as soon as I learned
there was a lead issue,

00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:28.610
we started issuing filters to people,

00:28:28.610 --> 00:28:30.300
doing water testing,
doing blood testing...

00:28:30.300 --> 00:28:31.430
- Governor Snyder.

00:28:31.430 --> 00:28:32.263
- [Snyder] I wish more had been done

00:28:32.263 --> 00:28:36.250
- Plausible deniability only
works when it's plausible.

00:28:36.250 --> 00:28:37.570
And I've had about enough

00:28:37.570 --> 00:28:40.620
of your false contrition
and your phony apologies.

00:28:40.620 --> 00:28:43.430
And there you are dripping with guilt

00:28:43.430 --> 00:28:45.260
but drawing your paycheck,

00:28:45.260 --> 00:28:47.999
hiring lawyers at the expense
of the people,

00:28:47.999 --> 00:28:51.150
and doing your dead level best

00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:54.070
to spread accountability to others.

00:28:54.070 --> 00:28:56.199
And you need to resign,
too, Governor Snyder.

00:28:56.199 --> 00:28:58.110
I yield back.

00:28:59.110 --> 00:29:02.340
- [Leana] Is it not a crime
to have known

00:29:02.340 --> 00:29:06.620
that the water was contaminated

00:29:06.620 --> 00:29:09.520
and that people were losing their hair

00:29:09.520 --> 00:29:12.123
and getting ill,
saying they were getting ill?

00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:16.260
- That's not necessarily a crime, no.

00:29:16.260 --> 00:29:18.750
What we might see come from this case

00:29:18.750 --> 00:29:21.460
are the shortcomings
of the criminal system

00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:25.063
in achieving justice for the
powerless against the powerful.

00:29:25.970 --> 00:29:28.420
The amount of pollution
that is allowed under

00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:31.360
the environmental laws is determined

00:29:31.360 --> 00:29:36.360
through methodology that
begins fundamentally

00:29:36.760 --> 00:29:40.000
with valuing a human life in dollars.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.290
And if doing that math,
the result is that the cost

00:29:44.290 --> 00:29:46.970
of preventing the pollution is more

00:29:46.970 --> 00:29:49.591
than the system values the human life,

00:29:49.591 --> 00:29:51.480
then the pollution is permitted.

00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:54.070
That's why the Safe Drinking Water Act

00:29:54.070 --> 00:29:57.544
allows municipalities to serve
its residents water

00:29:57.544 --> 00:30:00.137
at 15 parts per billion lead--

00:30:00.137 --> 00:30:03.340
a level that no doctor
would say is safe--

00:30:03.340 --> 00:30:05.770
and it does nothing to
protect the most vulnerable.

00:30:05.770 --> 00:30:07.800
Rather, it sacrifices them.

00:30:07.800 --> 00:30:11.140
Children are undervalued

00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:13.740
because the child's life that's
going to be lost in 20 years

00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:17.273
is worth far less than a life today.

00:30:19.040 --> 00:30:21.916
- [Leana] What are you hoping
for from this meeting?

00:30:21.916 --> 00:30:24.680
- Apparently they're supposedly

00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:28.720
supposed to tell us what they're
going to do with the money,

00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:33.720
money that's supposedly
supposed to go to

00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:36.047
the infrastructure and
replacing the pipes.

00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:40.680
- You can see that there's been a huge--

00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:42.600
from the upper hundreds,

00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:47.400
peak lead values were
significantly less than that.

00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:51.250
- Not enough!
Not enough man, not enough.

00:30:51.250 --> 00:30:53.653
Shame on you guys!
Shame on you.

00:30:54.688 --> 00:30:56.400
You're wasting our time,
and we're dying.

00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.240
People have died from this damn water,

00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:01.120
and all you guys can sit up there

00:31:01.120 --> 00:31:03.600
and just pretend like it's no big deal.

00:31:03.600 --> 00:31:05.770
You should be ashamed of yourself.

00:31:05.770 --> 00:31:07.830
This is what you're showing our kids.

00:31:07.830 --> 00:31:10.250
You guys can just say
what you want to say,

00:31:10.250 --> 00:31:11.460
and everybody's just supposed
to believe your crap.

00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:14.580
- They get paid for doing nothing!
Nothing!

00:31:14.580 --> 00:31:19.210
- Yeah, exactly, I lost my job
to provide a way for my kids.

00:31:19.210 --> 00:31:22.542
(crowd yelling and clapping)

00:31:22.542 --> 00:31:25.947
(crowd chanting)

00:31:25.947 --> 00:31:28.114
(indistinct chatter)

00:31:29.512 --> 00:31:31.500
- [Leana] While Flint
residents demand justice,

00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:35.780
an unprecedented movement
for water has ignited in North Dakota.

00:31:35.780 --> 00:31:38.320
The Dakota Access oil
pipeline is being built

00:31:38.320 --> 00:31:41.773
under Lake Oahe, America's
fourth largest reservoir.

00:31:42.670 --> 00:31:45.150
But this is more than
just another protest.

00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:47.080
Many people believe it's the
fruition of a prophecy

00:31:47.080 --> 00:31:50.400
held by indigenous people
around the world,

00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:53.433
that a time will come when
humanity is at a crossroads.

00:31:54.730 --> 00:31:57.890
One way is the path
well-trodden of materialism

00:31:57.890 --> 00:32:00.230
and the destruction of civilization.

00:32:00.230 --> 00:32:03.999
The other is protecting the earth,
ushering in an age of unity.

00:32:03.999 --> 00:32:06.380
With the urgency of climate change,

00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:08.760
some 10,000 people from
across the country,

00:32:08.760 --> 00:32:10.170
and indeed the world,

00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:14.033
have set up a ceremonial camp
directly in the path of the pipeline.

00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:18.010
If they succeed, it will
be a huge inspiration

00:32:18.010 --> 00:32:19.940
for other environmental movements,

00:32:19.940 --> 00:32:21.903
which really worries those in power.

00:32:22.917 --> 00:32:25.020
(dogs barking)

00:32:25.020 --> 00:32:29.884
- We are on our way to
Standing Rock Reservation

00:32:29.884 --> 00:32:33.850
to join the stand for
the protection of water

00:32:33.850 --> 00:32:35.683
against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

00:32:36.903 --> 00:32:38.280
- [Philmore] Beauty before us,
beauty behind us,

00:32:38.280 --> 00:32:41.340
beauty above us, beauty below us,
beauty surrounding us.

00:32:41.340 --> 00:32:44.030
With that, we speak to the universe.

00:32:44.030 --> 00:32:46.090
- [Janene] Standing Rock
is a call to everyone

00:32:46.090 --> 00:32:47.600
pulled in a spiritual way

00:32:47.600 --> 00:32:49.840
to this fight for water,
and this understanding

00:32:49.840 --> 00:32:52.203
of its significance to us
and to all life.

00:32:54.231 --> 00:32:55.990
- We're on a new threshold

00:32:55.990 --> 00:32:59.480
for the longest river
in America that provides

00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:03.460
for 17 million who
drink the water from it.

00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:06.610
The new threshold is humanity,

00:33:07.780 --> 00:33:10.303
and we are in the vanguard.

00:33:11.490 --> 00:33:12.790
We are the Buffalo Nation.

00:33:13.760 --> 00:33:16.213
We are the ones who ride into the storm.

00:33:18.740 --> 00:33:21.490
(singing in Anishinawbe language)

00:33:26.590 --> 00:33:28.130
- We are water.

00:33:28.130 --> 00:33:31.750
If we deplete the water system,

00:33:31.750 --> 00:33:34.370
if we contaminate the water system,

00:33:34.370 --> 00:33:36.773
if we ignore what's
happening to the water,

00:33:38.040 --> 00:33:39.900
we sign our own death sentence.

00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:43.010
Whatever they take to purify the waters,

00:33:43.010 --> 00:33:45.370
to purify the water,
to purify the waters,

00:33:45.370 --> 00:33:49.690
all you're drinking is chemical
upon chemical upon chemical.

00:33:49.690 --> 00:33:53.340
This awakening of the eighth
fire and what was written

00:33:53.340 --> 00:33:55.510
in the birch bark scrolls

00:33:55.510 --> 00:34:00.077
and of all the prophecies
throughout, it is surfacing.

00:34:00.077 --> 00:34:03.420
And the bottom line to it
is enough is enough.

00:34:03.420 --> 00:34:04.982
It's water.

00:34:04.982 --> 00:34:06.999
- [Protestor] Mni Waconi!

00:34:06.999 --> 00:34:08.776
- [Crowd] Water is life!

00:34:08.776 --> 00:34:10.504
- [Protestor] Mni Waconi!

00:34:10.504 --> 00:34:12.837
- [Crowd] Water is life!

00:34:14.158 --> 00:34:17.400
- We see the convergence of different
nations dealing with these issues

00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:20.470
and we're-- we're uniting.

00:34:20.470 --> 00:34:22.580
And that's their worst nightmare.

00:34:22.580 --> 00:34:25.460
- Just hearing about, like,
your story really early,

00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:29.670
I was like, I need the come here,
just to put my body here,

00:34:29.670 --> 00:34:32.350
to be in solidarity with all of you.

00:34:32.350 --> 00:34:35.993
People are coming all over the country
to come here to Standing Rock.

00:34:35.993 --> 00:34:39.890
Like, I came here from Flint,
because transnational corporations

00:34:39.890 --> 00:34:43.420
are consolidating power and resources,

00:34:43.420 --> 00:34:46.010
and Black, Brown, and
Indigenous communities

00:34:46.010 --> 00:34:49.460
have always been the frontlines
and have always had, like,

00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:54.090
this undue burden
for resource extraction.

00:34:54.090 --> 00:34:56.620
- And people need to
wake up and recognize

00:34:56.620 --> 00:35:00.950
that every single community
is becoming a frontline

00:35:00.950 --> 00:35:02.380
against these industries

00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:05.900
as we're facing these stresses
from climate change,

00:35:05.900 --> 00:35:09.190
as we are dealing with
the legacy of all types

00:35:09.190 --> 00:35:12.933
of fossil fuel extraction
and water and soil pollution.

00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:16.113
- This is the new wardrobe for America.

00:35:17.060 --> 00:35:19.573
This is what freedom
looks like in America.

00:35:20.630 --> 00:35:23.710
This is what protecting water
looks like in America.

00:35:23.710 --> 00:35:26.810
As a nurse,
this is a public health issue

00:35:26.810 --> 00:35:28.877
and we need to stop this now.

00:35:28.877 --> 00:35:31.970
We let corporations
become our government,

00:35:31.970 --> 00:35:34.170
and we let it happen,

00:35:34.170 --> 00:35:37.640
but we're waking up now
and we're coming together

00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:41.200
and we're putting down
our divisive differences

00:35:41.200 --> 00:35:43.140
and coming together under the cause

00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:45.790
of protecting water
and leaving clean water

00:35:45.790 --> 00:35:49.260
to generations of children
from now on.

00:35:50.973 --> 00:35:53.140
(protestors yelling)

00:36:02.179 --> 00:36:03.670
- So this is a rubber bullet.

00:36:03.670 --> 00:36:05.360
This is what they're
shooting at the crowd.

00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:07.470
Luckily I didn't get hit with it,
but it landed at my feet.

00:36:07.470 --> 00:36:11.730
It is completely hollow on
the inside for extra pressure.

00:36:11.730 --> 00:36:14.150
- [Jeff] We do have to
face rubber bullets,

00:36:14.150 --> 00:36:17.130
tear gas, sound cannon, water cannon.

00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:19.957
- [Man] There's a lot of
talk about concussion grenades...

00:36:19.957 --> 00:36:23.510
- [Jeff] Those are really injurious
to the tympanic membrane,

00:36:23.510 --> 00:36:27.690
which is your eardrum, can also
cause internal organ damage.

00:36:27.690 --> 00:36:29.720
They say they're
less-than-lethal rounds.

00:36:29.720 --> 00:36:32.833
Well, those are barely non-lethal.

00:36:33.730 --> 00:36:37.370
I myself was a combat medic
with the United States Army

00:36:37.370 --> 00:36:40.840
for three years, from 1987 to 1990.

00:36:41.703 --> 00:36:45.710
- This is you shooting at us!
We're doing nothing!

00:36:45.710 --> 00:36:48.063
(explosive gunshot)

00:36:48.063 --> 00:36:49.842
- [Marcus] They just started
shooting people,

00:36:49.842 --> 00:36:53.583
pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

00:36:53.583 --> 00:36:58.583
- I was shot by a bean bag-type round.

00:36:59.040 --> 00:37:02.220
It's a sack, and what it contains
are metal bb's,

00:37:02.220 --> 00:37:09.360
and they put it in shotguns and shoot
it at innocent, non-violent protestors.

00:37:11.070 --> 00:37:13.070
- I was shot in the
back that Thursday also,

00:37:13.070 --> 00:37:14.870
point blank with a rubber bullet.

00:37:14.870 --> 00:37:17.520
On Sunday they added
a new element to it,

00:37:17.520 --> 00:37:19.490
which was the water cannon,

00:37:19.490 --> 00:37:22.420
and due to the freezing
temperatures up there

00:37:22.420 --> 00:37:24.520
we had well over a hundred
mild to moderate hypothermia cases

00:37:24.520 --> 00:37:27.810
that we had to take care of.

00:37:27.810 --> 00:37:29.560
There was no call for that.

00:37:29.560 --> 00:37:33.840
They tried to lie and say
that we started fires.

00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:35.550
The only fires we started
was to stay warm,

00:37:35.550 --> 00:37:38.480
and those were shielded and controlled.

00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:41.991
The only one that was not
under control was due to them

00:37:41.991 --> 00:37:46.160
throwing out a CS canister
and starting a grass fire.

00:37:46.160 --> 00:37:49.660
And it was our people that
actually put that out.

00:37:49.660 --> 00:37:52.680
The Sheriff's department,
the Governor and everybody

00:37:52.680 --> 00:37:57.660
in between is being paid
by Big Oil to do this.

00:37:59.230 --> 00:38:02.668
I mean it all comes down to greed,
it's a very simple thing.

00:38:02.668 --> 00:38:05.527
And we are here to fight even for them.

00:38:05.527 --> 00:38:08.590
For their drinking water,
for their kids' drinking.

00:38:08.590 --> 00:38:11.553
And it's very hard,
a lot of the people here

00:38:11.553 --> 00:38:14.600
want to make it a race thing,
want to make it a tribal thing,

00:38:14.600 --> 00:38:16.690
want to make it something,
a political thing.

00:38:16.690 --> 00:38:20.870
It's not, this is a human thing.

00:38:20.870 --> 00:38:21.930
- We just got to go balls to the wall,

00:38:21.930 --> 00:38:24.338
like, with all the stuff that we do,

00:38:24.338 --> 00:38:29.014
and not have any fear
and, like, escalate

00:38:29.014 --> 00:38:35.170
and really build, like,
a global movement on water rights.

00:38:35.170 --> 00:38:39.050
- Update, the Governor issued
an executive order to have

00:38:39.050 --> 00:38:43.840
everyone removed slash evicted
effective immediately.

00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:47.000
- This is with respect
to the construction

00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:50.633
of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

00:38:52.330 --> 00:38:53.623
Dakota Access Pipeline.

00:38:55.610 --> 00:38:58.423
- 39 people were arrested
and there wasn't any violence.

00:38:59.290 --> 00:39:00.193
That's a victory.

00:39:01.220 --> 00:39:03.525
- What are you worried about
with this camp?

00:39:03.525 --> 00:39:04.358
- Oh, I'm worried about all the camps.

00:39:04.358 --> 00:39:06.999
Basically there's a war
against all the camps,

00:39:06.999 --> 00:39:13.560
excessive use of force and an
increased militarization of the police.

00:39:13.930 --> 00:39:18.770
They're protecting private
property rights over US citizens

00:39:18.770 --> 00:39:22.680
and the indigenous people of
this territory that should have

00:39:22.680 --> 00:39:25.560
protections under the
Constitution, Bill of Rights, et cetera.

00:39:25.560 --> 00:39:29.640
But it's private property rights,
it's corporation.

00:39:29.640 --> 00:39:33.550
And the history of the
pipeline is that originally

00:39:33.550 --> 00:39:35.770
they was supposed to
go through Bismark,

00:39:35.770 --> 00:39:38.050
but the white community said no,
and they came here.

00:39:38.050 --> 00:39:41.531
And they didn't care
that the people here said no,

00:39:41.531 --> 00:39:43.370
and that it was going to
contaminate their drinking water

00:39:43.370 --> 00:39:45.990
and their sacred sites and burial sites.

00:39:49.040 --> 00:39:50.820
It's called civil disobedience,

00:39:50.820 --> 00:39:52.080
but they're standing in prayer,

00:39:52.080 --> 00:39:54.380
they're singing and they're drumming.

00:39:56.133 --> 00:40:00.300
(singing and vocalizing
in Indigenous language)

00:40:03.060 --> 00:40:08.030
- Came out with your dignity.
That's who we are.

00:40:08.030 --> 00:40:10.950
- What this says about the future

00:40:10.950 --> 00:40:14.773
of the right to public assembly,
the right to free speech,

00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:20.840
the right to stand up for your beliefs,
is frightening.

00:40:21.160 --> 00:40:25.090
- [Sheriff] The camps were illegal
and trespassing on private property.

00:40:25.090 --> 00:40:27.630
- [Leana] Human rights groups
have called your policing methods

00:40:27.630 --> 00:40:30.206
excessive and indiscriminate.

00:40:30.206 --> 00:40:31.963
- None of that is true.

00:40:33.750 --> 00:40:35.988
- [Leana] Would you care to elaborate?

00:40:35.988 --> 00:40:38.940
They were talking about
the use of, for example,

00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:41.850
let's take the use of water cannon
in subzero temperatures

00:40:41.850 --> 00:40:44.930
on people on November 20th,
causing a number

00:40:44.930 --> 00:40:47.510
of hypothermia cases,
which is potentially lethal.

00:40:47.510 --> 00:40:51.030
- We don't, for one thing,
we don't have a water cannon.

00:40:51.030 --> 00:40:53.480
It's just a regular old fire hose.

00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:58.060
And the water was down there
to put out fires

00:40:58.060 --> 00:41:01.999
that were started by the protesters--

00:41:01.999 --> 00:41:05.870
fires on the side
and vehicle fires, that type of thing.

00:41:05.870 --> 00:41:09.520
And then the water basically was there

00:41:09.520 --> 00:41:11.760
for the protection of
the officers because of logs--

00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:15.410
burning logs being
thrown at the officers.

00:41:15.410 --> 00:41:19.840
So it was another tool at that point

00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:25.713
that was put in use
for another purpose.

00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:30.450
But in the end, water
was sprayed in that area

00:41:30.450 --> 00:41:32.550
for the protection of the officers.

00:41:32.550 --> 00:41:34.636
They were warned to leave the area

00:41:34.636 --> 00:41:37.860
and it would have been over,
but some chose not to do that.

00:41:39.814 --> 00:41:42.913
- We Diné need new leadership.

00:41:42.913 --> 00:41:45.938
I represent a new generation
of leadership that looks at things

00:41:45.938 --> 00:41:48.430
from not only a cultural perspective.

00:41:48.430 --> 00:41:52.070
- Janene's running
for PRC district four.

00:41:52.070 --> 00:41:53.007
Come meet Janene.

00:41:54.140 --> 00:41:56.870
- I decided to run for the
Public Regulation Commission

00:41:56.870 --> 00:41:58.020
because they're a body
that regulates all the

00:41:58.020 --> 00:42:00.450
energy corporations in the state.

00:42:00.450 --> 00:42:04.790
I mean, we made the most out
of our grassroots campaign

00:42:04.790 --> 00:42:06.990
and having just wonderful volunteers

00:42:06.991 --> 00:42:09.390
from all over the place,
like, make their own signs,

00:42:09.391 --> 00:42:11.970
organize themselves, get the word out.

00:42:11.970 --> 00:42:15.580
And then two weeks before
the election $440,000

00:42:15.581 --> 00:42:17.320
comes from one of the
largest utilities in New Mexico,

00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:22.000
that is regulated by the PRC,
to influence the race.

00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:24.296
You know, how can we fight against that?

00:42:24.296 --> 00:42:28.240
(waves crashing)

00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:32.260
This is my first trip to
the Great Lakes region,

00:42:32.260 --> 00:42:36.900
and it was important to come here and
meet firsthand people who are fighting

00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:40.038
for the safety of their water.

00:42:40.038 --> 00:42:41.898
(all chanting) What do we want?
Clean water!

00:42:41.899 --> 00:42:43.799
When do we want it?
Now!

00:42:52.438 --> 00:42:53.271
- The key in and all of this
has been making sure

00:42:53.271 --> 00:42:55.700
that the water is meeting
all quality standards,

00:42:55.700 --> 00:42:57.990
which the latest results
have been very good.

00:42:58.990 --> 00:43:01.573
(crowd booing)

00:43:03.684 --> 00:43:07.350
And that's, that's been,
that's been, our focus.

00:43:07.350 --> 00:43:10.370
So filters are recommended
because of the lead service lines

00:43:10.370 --> 00:43:11.640
and the pipes that are being replaced.

00:43:11.640 --> 00:43:13.170
We've seen that across the
country when they do that...

00:43:13.170 --> 00:43:15.999
- I have a question,
I want to know, like,

00:43:15.999 --> 00:43:18.980
why did they end
the partial bill subsidies?

00:43:18.980 --> 00:43:23.520
Because we still are paying
for water that we cannot use.

00:43:23.520 --> 00:43:26.776
- The water is safe for all
populations, with filters.

00:43:26.776 --> 00:43:29.776
(crowd shouting angrily)

00:43:31.445 --> 00:43:35.778
- My lead in my house is 4000,
so what you gonna do?

00:43:37.310 --> 00:43:38.810
You gonna kill me?

00:43:38.810 --> 00:43:41.293
Is Snyder gonna kill me,
and my husband?

00:43:43.542 --> 00:43:47.190
(indistinct chatter)

00:43:47.190 --> 00:43:48.750
- I've heard a lot about you.

00:43:48.750 --> 00:43:50.910
- [Janene] I know, me too.

00:43:50.910 --> 00:43:52.070
- So you're hanging in there?

00:43:52.070 --> 00:43:54.763
- Yeah, as much as we can, right?

00:43:55.230 --> 00:43:56.610
That's all we can do.

00:43:57.610 --> 00:43:59.913
- You wanna come on in
and show them all the stuff?

00:44:02.686 --> 00:44:03.519
- When I was at home working

00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:07.070
on uranium water quality
testing project with a group,

00:44:07.070 --> 00:44:11.333
that's when we heard about
what was happening here in Flint.

00:44:15.060 --> 00:44:19.420
And, like, it was so difficult
to read the stories

00:44:19.420 --> 00:44:22.970
about how, about how
they lied to you guys

00:44:22.970 --> 00:44:25.500
and how they poisoned you,

00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:29.440
and how already your
babies were seeing effects.

00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:33.600
It almost like a, like a
double blow, you know?

00:44:33.600 --> 00:44:35.800
Like, here we are,
we're fighting for so long

00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:37.920
and thinking that,
oh, it's because we're Native,

00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:39.060
because we live in, like,

00:44:39.060 --> 00:44:40.830
we're isolated, we're rural,

00:44:40.830 --> 00:44:42.070
all these reasons why our stories

00:44:42.070 --> 00:44:44.030
aren't getting out and that
we have to overcome.

00:44:44.030 --> 00:44:45.280
and that's why
we're not getting justice.

00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:47.440
But then to see it
happening in a city affecting

00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:51.510
Black and white Americans
who are doing everything

00:44:51.510 --> 00:44:54.720
that they're supposed to be doing
according to this American dream

00:44:54.720 --> 00:44:56.810
and living in this society
and propping it up,

00:44:56.810 --> 00:45:01.810
and they still did the same
exact shit without caring.

00:45:02.200 --> 00:45:04.860
And it was devastating.

00:45:04.860 --> 00:45:09.860
- I'm really sorry that more
people haven't woke up before.

00:45:11.300 --> 00:45:17.973
You know, now it happens to--
I feel like Flint's getting a lot of...

00:45:20.658 --> 00:45:21.491
I don't even want to say it,

00:45:21.491 --> 00:45:23.030
but I feel like Flint gets a lot
of headlines

00:45:23.030 --> 00:45:24.390
because there's a lot
of white people speaking up.

00:45:24.390 --> 00:45:28.440
And I don't think that's right,

00:45:28.440 --> 00:45:31.383
but at least there is
something happening.

00:45:32.928 --> 00:45:35.283
And I just didn't know

00:45:35.283 --> 00:45:39.420
that this was going on
underneath everything.

00:45:39.420 --> 00:45:44.420
And I just apologize for
our lack of knowledge.

00:45:46.825 --> 00:45:48.620
And I'm grateful.

00:45:48.620 --> 00:45:50.910
I don't want anything
to happen to my kids,

00:45:50.910 --> 00:45:54.460
but even though this happened
to us I'm kind of grateful it did

00:45:54.460 --> 00:45:59.460
because it brought
the situation to light.

00:46:00.890 --> 00:46:04.570
This was Declan's blood
the day he was born.

00:46:04.570 --> 00:46:08.670
My husband demanded that they
test the cord blood for lead

00:46:08.670 --> 00:46:10.430
so that way when we got home

00:46:10.430 --> 00:46:12.930
they couldn't say that it
was because of our house.

00:46:12.930 --> 00:46:17.112
His lead level went
from a two to a three

00:46:17.112 --> 00:46:19.490
even though he didn't touch the water

00:46:19.490 --> 00:46:21.520
and I just breastfed him.

00:46:21.520 --> 00:46:26.100
So I'm imagining that

00:46:26.100 --> 00:46:27.610
there's no safe way for a mother

00:46:27.610 --> 00:46:32.400
to take care of her child
in the city of Flint.

00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:35.360
I've literally been poisoning my own son

00:46:35.360 --> 00:46:36.820
for the last year and a half,

00:46:36.820 --> 00:46:38.120
and I just found that out.

00:46:38.120 --> 00:46:39.803
And then right when I found that out,

00:46:39.803 --> 00:46:41.383
I weaned him immediately.

00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:45.210
- All of the issues
that we're dealing with,

00:46:45.210 --> 00:46:48.160
they're bringing the problems
of the Global South here.

00:46:48.160 --> 00:46:50.680
It's making us, in a way, one family,

00:46:50.680 --> 00:46:53.160
and building a water justice
movement becomes more powerful

00:46:53.160 --> 00:46:56.030
when you understand
that it's not just over there.

00:46:56.030 --> 00:46:57.550
No, it's right here.

00:46:57.550 --> 00:47:03.390
And as the planet's water sources
deplete and are polluted, you know,

00:47:03.390 --> 00:47:06.150
we're going to segregate
off into who can buy it

00:47:06.150 --> 00:47:08.530
and who can afford it and who
can make decisions around it,

00:47:08.530 --> 00:47:10.630
and who is a victim.

00:47:10.630 --> 00:47:13.240
The United Nations says
that within 15 years

00:47:13.240 --> 00:47:17.340
the demand for water will
outstrip supply by about 40%,

00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:20.713
so we just simply will not
have the water for everyone.

00:47:23.500 --> 00:47:25.500
- [Leana] As we're in the
Great Lakes area, we're visiting

00:47:25.500 --> 00:47:28.160
a new oil pipeline protest in Wisconsin

00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:29.910
inspired by Standing Rock.

00:47:29.910 --> 00:47:30.840
The pipeline is being built by Enbridge,

00:47:30.840 --> 00:47:35.200
who are also investors
in the Dakota Access Pipeline.

00:47:35.200 --> 00:47:37.560
When it's finished,
it will carry tar sands oil

00:47:37.560 --> 00:47:40.330
from Canada and connect
to an older pipeline

00:47:40.330 --> 00:47:42.260
on the bottom of the Mackinaw Straits,

00:47:42.260 --> 00:47:46.340
which is a volatile waterway
that connects two of the Great Lakes.

00:47:46.340 --> 00:47:49.900
Now the Great Lakes are a fifth
of the world's fresh surface water,

00:47:49.900 --> 00:47:54.250
so it seems insane to have
an aging oil pipeline sitting

00:47:54.250 --> 00:47:57.343
on the lake bed of such
an important water source.

00:47:59.950 --> 00:48:01.210
- Frontlines are everywhere.

00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:04.360
Like, if you look deeply enough,
the water system near you

00:48:04.360 --> 00:48:08.230
is probably threatened
by a similar dynamic

00:48:08.230 --> 00:48:11.863
between state and corporate entities,
or it's already been impacted.

00:48:13.160 --> 00:48:16.600
When Christina broke down,

00:48:16.600 --> 00:48:18.750
let me know how much she's been learning

00:48:18.750 --> 00:48:22.613
about what we as indigenous
peoples have been going through,

00:48:23.510 --> 00:48:25.170
that was really important

00:48:25.170 --> 00:48:29.060
and powerful for my own spirit,

00:48:31.046 --> 00:48:32.680
because I saw a sister.

00:48:33.950 --> 00:48:37.800
And I want to fight just
as hard for her babies,

00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:40.483
and I know she'll fight
just as hard for mine.

00:48:41.750 --> 00:48:43.800
That's the community we need to develop.

00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:45.950
That's the community
we need to let thrive.

00:48:47.430 --> 00:48:49.410
That's going to be our revolution.

00:48:51.610 --> 00:48:53.821
- Excuse me, do you have to?

00:48:53.821 --> 00:48:54.910
- [Leana] I've been trying to get
an interview with Enbridge,

00:48:54.910 --> 00:48:58.580
like, a number of times,
and I never got any response.

00:48:58.580 --> 00:49:01.650
It'd be great to have
your business card

00:49:01.650 --> 00:49:06.110
and maybe try and get a
proper interview when you're prepared.

00:49:06.110 --> 00:49:07.880
- Well you know, I didn't
bring a business card,

00:49:07.880 --> 00:49:10.130
but I can give you the same number.

00:49:10.130 --> 00:49:12.867
I'm not sure the guy's name
there in the camo jacket.

00:49:14.690 --> 00:49:16.253
- Tow trucks.
You heard me.

00:49:17.129 --> 00:49:17.962
- Yeah, I know, but...

00:49:17.962 --> 00:49:18.990
- I ain't arguing!
10 minutes!

00:49:18.990 --> 00:49:20.380
- I'm not arguing either.

00:49:20.380 --> 00:49:21.213
- Shut up.
10 minutes.

00:49:21.213 --> 00:49:22.307
- No, I'm not going to shut up.

00:49:22.307 --> 00:49:23.140
- 10 minutes, gone.

00:49:23.140 --> 00:49:23.973
- No, I'm not going to shut up.

00:49:23.973 --> 00:49:25.548
You'll never shut me up.

00:49:25.548 --> 00:49:26.381
- [Sheriff]
Somebody start a clock.

00:49:26.381 --> 00:49:28.569
- You got the wrong one today.

00:49:28.569 --> 00:49:30.569
- [Woman] Hey. Hey. Hey.

00:49:33.406 --> 00:49:35.910
- [Protestor] They said
10 minutes to move the cars.

00:49:35.910 --> 00:49:38.410
(tense music)

00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:56.660
- [Deputy Sheriff]
Alright, you're under arrest too.

00:50:00.750 --> 00:50:02.370
- [Leana] This is my mugshot.

00:50:02.370 --> 00:50:05.290
I look like I'm about to cry,
but it's really the look

00:50:05.290 --> 00:50:08.350
of shock and disbelief
that I had been arrested,

00:50:08.350 --> 00:50:11.930
strip searched and jailed
before making bail the next day,

00:50:11.930 --> 00:50:14.600
all for doing my job as a journalist.

00:50:14.600 --> 00:50:16.840
I never did get that
interview with Enbridge.

00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:19.200
In fact, they pressed
charges against me,

00:50:19.200 --> 00:50:22.820
and demanded $85,000 in restitution.

00:50:22.820 --> 00:50:26.880
Luckily, I had a good lawyer,
and after six stressful months,

00:50:26.880 --> 00:50:29.810
the charges were finally dropped.

00:50:29.810 --> 00:50:32.950
Standing Rock was an
inspiration, but it's still

00:50:32.950 --> 00:50:36.410
an uphill struggle for
activists and scientists

00:50:36.410 --> 00:50:39.240
to bring change and
make people realize

00:50:39.240 --> 00:50:41.550
that our very survival is at stake.

00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:51.539
- Creator, and who we are as a spirit,
had this original agreement

00:50:51.539 --> 00:50:54.803
that we would treasure
the four elements.

00:50:55.770 --> 00:50:57.560
- [Leana] Mary Lyons, the Ojibwe elder

00:50:57.560 --> 00:50:59.670
who gave water ceremonies
in Standing Rock,

00:50:59.670 --> 00:51:02.333
has invited me to a
gathering of shamans.

00:51:03.940 --> 00:51:07.580
- When you ignore these four
elements, you ignore yourself

00:51:09.300 --> 00:51:13.350
and you ignore all your
ancestors that rest in you.

00:51:13.350 --> 00:51:14.960
- [Leana] Watching the ice sheet melt

00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:17.530
and hearing the sudden rumbles
of huge shelves of ice

00:51:17.530 --> 00:51:21.650
crash into the ever-growing river
is sobering.

00:51:21.650 --> 00:51:25.980
Vanishing ice means less water
for people and crops in the future,

00:51:25.980 --> 00:51:28.330
as well as the flooding
of many coastal cities.

00:51:29.420 --> 00:51:33.210
- You and I, we have
failed to be caretaker

00:51:33.210 --> 00:51:36.190
and custodian of Mother Earth.

00:51:36.190 --> 00:51:39.350
We believe those fossil fuel people,

00:51:39.350 --> 00:51:42.523
but you and I, we don't
become rich, we become poor.

00:51:43.840 --> 00:51:48.840
We make them really rich,
and they are very, very rich.

00:51:50.030 --> 00:51:53.733
If we could stop using them,
they would change their policy.

00:51:57.210 --> 00:51:59.350
Now the people are ready to hear

00:52:00.610 --> 00:52:05.550
that they have a
responsibility to change.

00:52:05.550 --> 00:52:09.300
Without hope, people will
run out of water,

00:52:10.139 --> 00:52:12.933
because they do not know
how to use the water.

00:52:14.150 --> 00:52:17.209
- [Leana] What is the hope
for the world then?

00:52:17.209 --> 00:52:20.630
- All shamans, they are the guide

00:52:21.620 --> 00:52:24.793
for you to find the path
which you are meant to walk.

00:52:26.220 --> 00:52:28.420
You have to walk your
path all the way out,

00:52:28.420 --> 00:52:30.590
and at the end you personally

00:52:30.590 --> 00:52:35.093
will come home to yourself
and realize your own beauty.

00:52:36.969 --> 00:52:39.515
- [Leana] So you're saying that is
the answer to our problems?

00:52:39.515 --> 00:52:41.765
(clapping)

00:52:44.975 --> 00:52:46.808
- Yes.

00:52:48.460 --> 00:52:51.249
- [Leana] A spiritual revolution?

00:52:51.249 --> 00:52:53.874
(clapping)

00:52:53.874 --> 00:52:55.280
Aho.

00:52:56.280 --> 00:52:59.240
[Leana] I think what the shaman
means is that living in the rhythm

00:52:59.240 --> 00:53:03.900
of money and self-interest
has hollowed out our humanity,

00:53:03.900 --> 00:53:06.723
leading us to destroy
everything around us.

00:53:10.210 --> 00:53:12.760
- I think anybody that
hears a politician say

00:53:12.760 --> 00:53:15.160
that they want to run
government like a business

00:53:15.160 --> 00:53:17.230
should look at Flint.

00:53:17.230 --> 00:53:22.160
Government is not there to
make sure that shareholders

00:53:22.160 --> 00:53:26.040
get a maximum profit.
Government is there to make sure

00:53:26.040 --> 00:53:27.843
that people's lives are protected.

00:53:29.330 --> 00:53:33.250
- We shouldn't be telling people
their water is safe when it's not.

00:53:33.250 --> 00:53:34.981
That was the tragedy in Flint.

00:53:34.981 --> 00:53:37.430
That's the tragedy that's
occurring too frequently

00:53:37.430 --> 00:53:38.880
all across the United States.

00:53:40.002 --> 00:53:43.873
Without water there is no
civilization as we know it.

00:53:45.740 --> 00:53:50.740
- I want my children to tell me,
"Thank you, Grandpa.

00:53:51.560 --> 00:53:55.493
"Thank you for standing up and
telling them this is enough."

00:53:57.030 --> 00:53:58.520
Water is everything.

00:53:58.520 --> 00:53:59.883
Water is life.

00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:05.060
- All living things are born in water.

00:54:05.060 --> 00:54:08.110
So it's our responsibility to step up,

00:54:08.110 --> 00:54:14.999
and practice and exude
our power to create

00:54:14.999 --> 00:54:18.183
the balance that needs
to be put back in place.

00:54:20.845 --> 00:54:23.147
- And in the Seven Generation prophecy

00:54:23.147 --> 00:54:25.220
it talks about in the
time of the seventh fire

00:54:25.220 --> 00:54:28.460
there's going to be a people
that are going to rise up.

00:54:28.460 --> 00:54:30.690
Once people are awoken,

00:54:30.690 --> 00:54:33.913
they can't go back to sleep.
It's the eighth fire.

00:54:36.830 --> 00:54:38.590
- [Leana] When I started this journey,
I wanted to find out

00:54:38.590 --> 00:54:41.480
more about water contamination
on the Navajo Nation,

00:54:41.480 --> 00:54:44.180
but what I found is that it's
happening in many more places

00:54:44.180 --> 00:54:46.370
and is similarly being covered up.

00:54:46.370 --> 00:54:49.270
If this is happening in one of
the world's richest democracies,

00:54:49.270 --> 00:54:51.690
imagine what's happening
in other places.

00:54:51.690 --> 00:54:55.420
Access to clean drinking water
is a looming global crisis,

00:54:55.420 --> 00:54:57.370
and none of us are immune.

00:54:57.370 --> 00:55:00.020
But what I found that gave
me hope are communities

00:55:00.020 --> 00:55:02.600
coming together and helping one another.

00:55:02.600 --> 00:55:06.060
And what I realized is that the journey
that we all have to take

00:55:06.060 --> 00:55:09.710
is one inside ourselves to decide,
what kind of future do we want?

00:55:09.710 --> 00:55:12.230
Is it one of pollution and greed,

00:55:12.230 --> 00:55:15.434
or is it one where we
have clean drinking water

00:55:15.434 --> 00:55:18.190
and a clean environment for
all our future generations?

00:55:18.190 --> 00:55:20.673
The answers lie with all of us.

00:55:24.488 --> 00:55:27.244
(water flowing)

00:55:27.244 --> 00:55:33.411
(singing in Indigenous language)