WASHINGTON — New legislation is needed to strengthen the US Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to control water pollution and to protect smaller waterways such as local rivers, streams and wetlands, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is quoted as saying at an April 8 event featuring the upcoming documentary Poisoned Waters.

The event, which featured a preview showing of the documentary, was held at the National Press Club, located in Washington.

According to an April 8 press release from documentary co-producer Hedrick Smith Productions, Jackson said court decisions have left “murkiness” about the EPA’s authority to enforce some mandates of the Clean Water Act, and the EPA will pursue new legislation to “clarify” its authority to take action on smaller waterways.

The Clean Water Act, the federal law governing surface water quality protection, influences the quality of some drinking water sources.

In researching the two-hour documentary, Hedrick Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and Emmy Award-winning producer, spent 18 months reporting on water pollution issues. His coverage includes iconic American waterways like the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. He also interviews US Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, who report finding genetically mutated marine life in the Potomac River near Washington, DC. The river is a drinking water source for 2 million people who receive water from the Washington Aqueduct.

According to a PBS press release, Smith interviews scientists, environmental activists, corporate executives and average citizens impacted by the burgeoning pollution problem. His research reveals “startling new evidence that today’s growing environmental threat comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.”

Smith is quoted as saying in the release, “Pollution is a ticking time bomb. It’s a chronic cancer that is slowly eating away the natural resources that are vital to our very lives.”

The program is scheduled to be aired April 21 on PBS at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings).

To read the full April 8 press release, click here.

To read the full PBS FRONTLINE release, click here.

For related information, click here.