“BOMBS IN OUR BACKYARD” at DC Environmental Film Festival

What happens when the citizens of an affluent community awaken to the news that chemical weapons are buried beneath their feet?
 
Join Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ginny Durrin and a panel of experts for a work-in-progress screening of “Bombs in Our Backyard.” This feature-length documentary film chronicles the sixteen years of uncertainty following the discovery of a forgotten World War I-era Manhattan Project in Spring Valley, a neighborhood in Washington, DC. No one goes scot-free in this tale of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
 
The Film
From 1917 to 1918, the army leased land from American University to develop toxic chemicals, and then tested them in what was at the time the surrounding countryside. In 1993, munitions were accidentally unearthed and, following an extensive army clean-up, arsenic—a toxic heavy metal—was found in tests done on American University’s campus and nearby residential property. For nearly two decades, government officials have grappled with the ongoing problem of hidden burials and ground contamination. And those who call Spring Valley home still have unanswered questions: Am I safe? Are my children safe? How will I ever know for sure?
 
Durrin, who is a resident of Spring Valley, has documented the events as they have unfolded. The result is a story that is personal, but universal in the telling. Spring Valley is hardly unique; it is but one example of thousands of Formerly Used Defense Sites across the country. Durrin’s film has the power to mobilize activists, environmentalists, and thoughtful, engaged citizens to search for truth and fight for justice—right in their own backyards.
 
The Panel
Joining Durrin on the panel will be Dr. Paul F. Walker, director of the Security & Sustainability program at Global Green USA; Mark Baker, US Army Corps of Engineers Spring Valley historian; investigative reporter Charlie Bermpohl; and Thomas M. Smith, ANC Commissioner 3D02 for Spring Valley, American University and Westover Place.
 
Date and Times
Screenings will take place at the DC Environmental Film Festival on Thursday, March 19 at 7 and 8 p.m. in the Wechsler Theatre, on the third floor of the Mary Graydon Center on the American University campus. Panel discussions will follow the screenings. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a reception in between the screenings.
 
Directions
American University is located at 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Parking is available across the street from the campus in the lot adjacent to the Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church on Nebraska Avenue, NW. American University is also accessible by public transportation. Tenleytown-AU is the nearest metro station. A free shuttle bus runs between the metro station and the main campus every 10 to 15 minutes.
 
Click here for more information about the DC Environmental Film Festival