KCET Airs Special Lineup of EAR FOCUS Beginning May 4

New Episode about the Health Risks of Coal Ash Also Premieres on Link TV

BURBANK, Calif. - May 8, 2014 - KCET, the nations largest independent television station serving Southern and Central California, presents a special lineup of the EARTH FOCUS series beginning on Wednesday, May 14 at 8:30 p.m. The environmental news magazine and longest-running environmental series on American television, features investigative reports about how changes to the Earths resources and climate are affecting our planet.

The premiere episode, Americas Dirty Secret: Coal Ash, takes a penetrating look at the health issues raised by residents in communities close to coal ash dumps in Georgia and Pennsylvania. It also casts a light on ordinary Americans who say their health and lives have been ruined due to the reckless dumping of coal ash by inadequately regulated coal plants. The episode airs Wednesday, May 14 at 8:30 p.m. PT on KCET (Southern California); it will also debut on Link TV (DirecTV 375, DISH Network 9410) on Thursday, May 22 at 9 p.m. PT.

EARTH FOCUS is an original broadcast and web series that reports on urgent environmental issues in the U.S. and around the world. In production for eight years, the series includes investigative reports, interviews and material from independent documentary filmmakers. EARTH FOCUS is funded by the Wallace Genetic Foundation, Marisla Foundation, Park Foundation, Farvue Foundation, Shared Earth Foundation, Cornell Douglas Foundation, Rachels Network, National Science Foundation, and individual donors.

EARTH FOCUS airs every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Link TV. Episodes are also available to watch online at kcet.org/earthfocus or linktv.org/earthfocus.

EARTH FOCUS Episode Descriptions

Wednesday, May 14 on KCET & Thursday, May 22 on Link TV

Americas Dirty Secret: Coal Ash

American power plants generate more than 100 million tons of coal ash every year, the nations largest industrial pollutant, after municipal waste. People in three adjacent Pennsylvania communities suffer from a rare blood cancer. In Juliette, Georgia, where radioactive water flows from the tap, people are also getting sick. What else do these communities have in common? Coal ash. It contains toxins like lead, arsenic and mercury and it gets into ground water from unlined ponds and pit storage sites. The federal government says its non-hazardous and regulation is left to state governments where the coal industry has great influence. And its always people who suffer the consequences.

Wednesday, May 21

Exposed: Killing Dolphins - Dying for Lobsters

Thousands of dolphins are killed solely for shark bait each year off the coast of Peru. An upsurge in shark meat consumption in Peru and the rise in the cost of fish bait has helped drive the hunt to as many as 10,000 dolphins killed each year according to some estimates. Jim Wickens documents this illegal practice in an original undercover investigation for EARTH FOCUS. Brad Allgood and Josh Wolff document the epidemic of decompression disease or bends suffered by Miskito Indians involved in commercial lobster diving off Nicaraguas coast in their film My Village My Lobster. Commercial lobster diving in Nicaragua brings in over $20 million a year annually and 90% of the lobsters caught are sold to premium US restaurants and supermarkets. The casualties among the divers continue to mount but the problem remains ignored by the Nicaraguan government and the international community.

Wednesday, May 28

Asian Elephants in Peril

Asian elephants, already endangered in Indonesia and Thailand, are threatened further by human encroachment and illegal trade. In Indonesia, just 2,500 Sumatran elephants remain. As their last great forest habitat is being logged to make way for palm oil plantations, elephants are pushed into conflict with local people. In Thailand and Myanmar, an illegal and brutal trade in wild baby elephants is contributing to declining elephant populations. On the Thai-Myanmar border, at least 50-100 elephant calves and young females are removed from their forest homes every year and are traded illegally to supply tourist camps. Countless elephants die in the process, threatening the remaining populations of this endangered species.

Wednesday, June 4

Toxic Futures: Untold Stories of Chemical Pollution

Exposure to toxic chemicals affects people in both the industrialized and developing world. In a program based on the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning book by Dan Fagin, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, EARTH FOCUS travels to Toms River New Jersey to document how this small town - once site of a recognized childrens cancer cluster - waged a battle to save its drinking water from toxic waste dumping by dye manufacturer Ciba Geigy and by Union Carbide. Illegal gold mining in Peru extracts a high and tragic cost on health and the environment. A look at the film Amazon Gold.

Wednesday, June 11

Shades of Gray: Living with Wolves

Gray wolves once ranged across North America. But by the 1930s, they were nearly extinct - trapped, poisoned and hunted by ranchers, farmers, and government agents. With protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act, the wolf population rebounded. But wolves lost federal protection in 2011. Now, with hunting permitted in many Western states, the future of this once endangered species may again be in question. Can we live with wolves? EARTH FOCUS travels to Montana and Wyoming to find out.

Wednesday, June 18

UNSAFE: The Truth Behind Everyday Chemicals

There are tens of thousands of chemicals in our air, water, and in the everyday products we use. They are largely unregulated and few are adequately tested for safety. They contribute to disease and are linked to conditions such as asthma, autism, ADHD, diabetes, cancers, infertility, cognitive disorders, obesity, reproductive disorders and birth def

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