The Painted Orchid: Taiwan's Dirty Nuclear Secret

Orchid Island is an irridescent green speck some 100 kilometers from the coast of Taiwan. Its sheer cliffs, dense jungle and rugged coastline draw hundreds of thousands of visitors across the choppy seas every year. But the island is home to more than just surf shacks and bed and breakfasts. For almost fifty years, the island's native Tao people have been fighting to expel a dirty legacy of the authoritarian era. In the 1980s, barrels low level nuclear waste were shipped to the island by the thousand, never to depart. The islanders believe the waste has seeped into the soil, into the ocean, poisoning their land, food, and culture. This episode makes the crossing to Orchid Island to speak with the veterans of a cause which, for those who care about it most, has come to seem almost hopeless.