January 6, 1982--Switzgable's "In Our Water" Released

Today in South Brunswick History...
January 6, 1982--Switzgable's "In Our Water" Released
by Ed Belding South Brunswick Historical Society

The Frank Kaler Family of South Brunswick discovered that their drinking water was being contaminated by a nearby landfill. Frank, a house painter, and his wife, Rita, were getting water from their own well. Their neighbors were getting the same from their wells. However, Frank took the lead in getting the government to acknowledge the problem and fix it. His attempts to reach local agencies and the State Department of Environmental Protection failed. Mr. Kaler ended up going to Washington, D. C., to testify at a Congressional hearing. Meg Switzgable, a documentary film director, heard about Kaler's efforts and decided to produce a film for Foresight Films of Brooklyn, New York, which followed five years of Kaler's struggle to find out what had happened to the groundwater and why it was happening. The release date for the film, "In Our Water," was January 6, 1982. The film was reviewed in the New York Times and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and an Emmy Award. It won a Columbia/DuPont Award for Journalistic Excellence. Kudos to Ms. Switzgable for daring to reveal the truth about a crucial local issue . . . and double kudos to the Kaler family for going that extra mile to serve as the whistle-blowers on this issue.

Frank Kaler with wife, Rita. Looking at pot of polluted water

http://people.com/…/picks-and-pans-review-in-our-water-vol…/

Picks and Pans Review: In Our Water

Just when it seemed as if the docudrama had all but done in the documentary as an art form, Meg…

PEOPLE.COM