A film put together by Franklin D. Roosevelt High School students for their American studies class has found its way to the big screen.
The film, “Most Things Biodegrade Easier,” is being shown at Upstate Films in the Village of Rhinebeck tomorrow, June 18, at 11 a.m.
Eleventh-graders Denis Fitzgerald, Dylan Morphet and seven other students in the class tackled the subject of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified as a probable cancer-causing agent.
The film’s purpose, Morphet said, is to make people aware about MTBE contamination in groundwater from spills and leakage.
“There are so many people who don’t know about MTBE, even those who live in spill areas,” Morphet said at a press conference about the MTBE issue in front of Rhinebeck Town Hall on June 15. “We want something to be done about it.”
According to Fitzgerald, most of the 11 1/2-minute film was filmed in the Hyde Park area, and featured interviews with residents in the Greenbush area of Hyde Park.
Wellwater in the Greenbush area has been contaminated by MTBE that is believed to have seeped into the ground from local gas stations. Greenbush is in the town’s southern section and includes Route 9G from the Town of Poughkeepsie line to the area around St. Peter’s Church, Yates Avenue, Kennedy Road, Pilgrims Terrace, Cedar Street, a portion of West Dorsey Lane, Bircher Avenue, Knolls Road, Greenbush Drive and Pells Court.
The Town of Hyde Park is currently installing a new Greenbush water district to provide potable water to residents.
“We started making the film in January and finished it up today (June 15),” Fitzgerald said.
When explaining the film, Fitzgerald said it is vital to test wells every six years or when properties change hands. Fitzgerald added that he thinks oil companies should be held liable for MTBE contamination of wellwater, which municipalities country-wide are starting to do.
Admission to the showing of “Most Things Biodegrade Easier” is free.