Original subtitles

Hello, I'm calling from the trip.

I'd like to confirm a quote.

How much money was it?

Was it over $1 ,000?

Was it over $10 ,000?

Okay, Lou, you got that new lead that you wanted on the wire rewrite.

Okay.

The lead is kind of silly.

But then the story is also kind of silly. I like the lead.

Good. It's catchy.

Bubbles suddenly appearing in people's backyards.

There's only the one bubble.

How do we know?

And what are bubbles like?

Do they talk to each other? What makes them appear?

Gas under the ground?

Come on, you guys.

Are they moving towards Los Angeles?

I put everything that I got off the wires and by phone in this story.

But I, as a reader, would like to know more.

Want to send somebody out there to take a look at this thing?

Do you know who would be good for this?

Castillo. He's got a knack for it. Some people, they have a head for science and

an ability to put it into terms that anyone can understand.

He's really the only one on the paper who can do it. I know.

That's why he's over at Jet Propulsion Lab today.

Sweeney is also good.

Okay, Billy.

You know how to get this socket?

Do you really think it's worth it? I sure hope so.

I'd hate to see you go all the way out there for nothing.

Right.

Mr. Rysdale?

Huh? Could I ask you a few questions about what's going on here?

Oh, yeah, sure.

Came out this morning, and it was not that high.

So I called the police.

What are they going to do, come out here and shoot it?

It wouldn't come out?

Oh, yeah. Sent an officer out this morning, nice enough. Said keep an eye

and check back.

How about the fire department?

I can't call the fire department. Nothing's burning.

I tried the gas company. They don't have any lines back here.

You know, I do smell something like gas.

That's nothing. We get that all the time from North Pond whenever the breeze is

blowing this way.

Uh -huh.

So you still can't get any help?

I tried the city.

This is private property. They said I'd need a report from my own geologist.

I don't have my own geologist.

So you yourself have no idea what might have caused it?

No, ma 'am.

I put out a lot of vitamins and hormones on the lawn to make it grow last month.

Maybe I OD'd it.

You're taking this very calmly.

And your neighbors, too. Nobody seems to panic. No, no.

It's even kind of funny when you think about it.

Of course, I think it'd be funnier if it just happened to be the guy next door.

and catches on fire.

Ah, that's methane leaking up.

Methane? This section used to be a city dump. Thomas, Peter, get up here!

Could what's happening in the Ragsdale's backyard be related to that?

Do you know about the bubble over at the Ragsdale's?

Ragsdale's.

You live around here, don't you?

I wish I didn't.

Why's that?

Because this whole place is rotten.

Get up here.

Methane leaking up, making this big stink. Kids come home from play, their

all red and burning.

Terrible. Are you going to move?

Oh, I wish I could.

Why can't you?

Boys, tell you to me. I told you once, I've told you a hundred times. We're

going to get home and get you cleaned up. This time you're going a whole week

without no TV.

City, Dad.

Hi, Billy.

Lou, it's weird here.

Okay, you've done enough. You can come on in.

No, no, I want to stay.

What?

Lou, there's more here than meets the eye. Something stinks.

What's going on?

Fail? No, I mean, it really stinks.

Really? Yeah.

Extortion? Bribes?

No, it's rotten. Something really smells.

What are we talking about?

Murder?

Mal, the town is built on an old garbage dump, and there's a sticking methane

gas leaking out.

Methane? Methane is odorless.

Oh.

Well, then it's something else, and they all think it's methane.

And there's a bubble, and there's all sorts of smooth, long things that people

just accept.

Listen, I'm going to need a progress report on the bubble for deadline.

Well, Animal's on his way in with the film.

Let me stay out here with the story.

Okay, what's your next step?

I don't know.

Bye.

Hi, can I have some change, please?

I'm not going to change at 20.

Okay, I'll buy the scum.

Could I have some more quarters?

I'm low on change.

Okay, I'll buy these mints.

Four mints.

And candy bars.

Have a nice day.

Can the federal government investigate to get the complaint from an individual?

It has to be a local official?

Well, if you heard from anyone in Sackett, are you sure that this office

be the one that would have a record of it?

Uh -huh.

Okay.

Yeah, okay, thank you.

Molly's my daughter.

Hello.

Her and her husband broke up soon after the kids were born, so I had her come

and live with me.

And I was in the other house. And a couple of years ago, we moved up to

This used to be a...

Nice place.

Nice town.

Nice neighborhood.

But lately it's all been going downhill past the pig on ice.

Why? Why?

Use your eyes. Use your nose. What do you think this thing is under property

values around here?

People around here just seem to accept it.

Sure. Then they're stuck here.

Follow me.

Who's going to move in?

I'll never get out of this place without a guy in it.

Did you try?

I got an estimate from a real estate lady, and that's what she told me.

Okay.

We'll get here.

What is it? I don't know what it is. I clean it up, and it keeps coming back.

How fast do you think I'm going to sell this place if a buyer looks down in this

basement? Can I take a little bit of it?

You can take all of it. I wish you would.

Um, do you have something that I can...

I'll put it in? Yes.

Here.

Just do. Yeah, thank you.

Genuine goop from second.

that stuff on my desk.

I don't want to be in the same room with it. I don't want to be in the same city

with it. Can we get it analog?

What? What is it? If you don't approve the lab expense, we can find out.

Lab expenses are really hard to sell to a county.

This comes from SAC.

Maybe it has something to do with the bubble.

You know, I don't care that much about the bubble. This story's getting a

bit higher.

The expense is a pull.

Let's get this stuff out of the pool.

Charlie, my friend Dr. Reeson is good at this kind of thing. Oh, yeah?

You think he'll give us a break on the price?

No. Oh.

It's a good thing you came to me.

What did you find? It wasn't easy, Joe. I know. That's why I came here. I mean,

there are billions of compounds. You can't test for every one of them. Right.

So, you have to use kind of a deductive approach.

Larry, please. What if you're fine?

You know, you were always impatient, even in high school.

So, what does it got to do?

I mean, you're doing okay, but you're not exactly editor of the Washington

either. Thanks. Larry, the results, please. Okay? Okay? The jar you gave me

analysis was found to contain DPB, nitrogen, C84, and orange marmalade.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

Okay, Larry, now.

Which of these chemicals are the story?

Well, the one that surprised me was the C -84.

Uh -huh.

What is C -84?

Joe, you have to understand something. The people who work with these chemicals

are pretty bright.

Sure. I mean, a lot of ingenuity and more hard work than you can imagine went

into figuring most of that stuff out.

By just a few years, our insight into the world at the molecular level has

deepened incredibly.

I know. Is he filling me in with thinking all the time?

I want to know that when you write your story, you don't make science itself the

villain.

Most of the people who work in this area are very responsible.

Okay, Larry, I understand.

Okay. Now, can you tell me what C -84 is?

Hexachloromalactamine. Aha!

It's a byproduct of certain chemicals they use in the plastics industry.

You know what a benzene ring is?

No.

Really? Larry!

I'm trying to see how to explain this. All right.

Some chemicals react differently with the body's substances than others. C84

could inhibit the body's immune system, affect its DNA.

What does that mean in terms that I'll understand?

Skin rash, nerve degeneration, birth defects, cancer.

That I understand.

This sample was taken from a basement sack.

You know, without having a bubble in the backyard?

Yeah, weird.

Yeah, it was seeping through the walls of some guy's basement.

So it came from the ground.

Well, I'd have to know more before I could say anything about whether or not

came from the bubble, but anyway, it shouldn't be there.

What do you mean?

Well, the only place they produce C -84 west of the Rockies is at the Dillard

Chemicals Altamira plant.

Which is where?

Over 100 miles from SAC.

Upstream?

Across the high desert.

Lou, the sample contains something called C -84.

It's highly toxic and it shouldn't be there.

Be where?

In Sackett. Hi, Rossi. I'm on the line. Who else is going to get on, Lou? I

don't want to have to say this eight times. Where'd you find Rossi?

C -84.

Very dangerous stuff. It's produced at a chemical plant over a hundred miles

from Sackett. I'd better go up there and talk to them. Hey, it's my story.

I have the background now.

Hey, Rossi. I'm on.

What did we get?

We have a toxic chemical where there's no business being.

Boy, the trouble with these chemical storages, they sound so dry.

This isn't just any chemical. It's hexachloromelactamine.

Yeah, that's what I mean.

This stuff can cause cancer, nerve damage, skin disease, and birth defects.

Charlie, how about going to next step here and see what the chemical company

to say? Fine.

You make C -84 here, right?

No, we don't produce it to sell. It's a byproduct of one of our other processes.

That's pretty toxic stuff, huh?

It's terrible.

It's a poison, you know. We don't let our workers near it without protective

clothing.

Well, what do you do with it?

Well, there's no industrial use for it, unfortunately. We have to get rid of it.

How?

Well, by putting it through a rather costly neutralizing process, as with the

rest of our active chemical waste.

It's over in that green building down there.

Uh -huh.

You don't ship any other way from here, do you?

No, there's a lot of regulation in that area, so we can't. We process it and

we...

with all guidelines.

I see.

Look, I know you need a story, some copy.

You may want to look at our third quarter earnings report that just came

Investors are getting very nervous about the chemical industry lately.

That deal is doing well, but no one seems to know it. That third quarter

is going to turn a few heads.

Well, I'll take a look at it.

So, gee, I'm really glad you came out.

Really good to see you.

Who's a really good liar? Oh, we know.

Not every company tosses out its hazardous wastes. I made some phone

Government investigators say they have no evidence of wrongdoing. But then,

also, they have not investigated.

What do they need to start an investigation?

Evidence of wrongdoing.

It's a new area. The resources are just spread too thin.

Of course, they would be very interested if we could come up with something

solid. What would be solid?

If we could catch Diller Chemical in the act of dumping raw toxic waste

somewhere unauthorized, like in Sackett.

I think we've got to try it.

To do that, we need to know how Diller is going about it, if they are.

And Diller is not going to tell us.

Anybody got a source in Sackett or Altamira?

I could go there and hang out and try to get some of the people who work for

Diller to talk.

Good luck.

Or I could go to work for the company myself, get a look from the inside.

They know you.

They don't know me.

I could try.

That's still misrepresentation. You know how I feel about misrepresentation. I

don't misrepresent. I will use my own pain.

Will you tell them you're a reporter?

Well, not if they don't ask me.

I don't like it.

I'm not crazy about it either, Charlie, but it could be the only way we would

get this story.

Well, maybe there are some stories that we just don't get.

If we don't like the way we have to get them.

I don't know, Charlie. I don't know about that.

Oh, sure.

Take an extreme example.

You wouldn't kill to get a story.

That's different, Charlie.

If Billy went to work for Diller, she wouldn't be committing a crime.

I wouldn't even be hurting anybody. In fact, while I'm there, they'd be getting

a good piece of manpower.

And if they're really dumping hazardous materials on a sly, that's despicable.

Okay, well, try it.

But you're Billy Newman, and your previous employment was the Tribune. And

they check, you will say that I always came to work on time.

Right.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

note here saying that, uh, I hope this back order doesn't cause any

inconvenience. Okay.

Is that right?

Inconvenience A -N -C -E?

It's E -N -C -E.

You sure?

Yeah.

You know, it's really soft, though, having somebody in the office who can

Got a job here for life if you want it.

Hi.

Hi. You're the new invoice guy. Yeah.

Huh. Did they tell you about me?

Uh. No, I don't think so.

Yeah, I figured.

I'm Lois Rung on the totem pole.

My name's Terry.

Not short for Teresa or anything. Like a boy, Terry, only spelled different.

My name's Billy, not short for anything.

Yeah? Yeah.

I work here after school.

You get out of school at lunchtime?

No, not usually. I'm on a work -study program.

I have to get there at 7 .20, which is kind of a drive, but I get out early.

Too bad you have to work.

Well, there's nothing else to do, really.

I'm new here, too, see. My folks just moved here from Cincinnati three months

ago. And Lester is my uncle. That's how I got the job.

Seems like a nice guy.

Yeah, he's smart, too, boy.

He really worked his way up.

Uh, is there anything you want me to fill you in on?

Yeah, um, how about the filing system?

Yeah, that's bizarre, isn't it? You'll get the hang of it in about a thousand

years. Come on over here.

Where did you say you were from? Los Angeles.

No phone in Encino?

No.

What's in Encino?

Oh, that's where Squash lives.

Squash. They're a group.

Oh.

Okay. Do you know what cross -filing is?

Yeah, I think so.

What is it?

It has just come to my attention that Miss Newman is applying for a job in a

chemical plant in this area.

Well, maybe very well have one.

Can you reach her?

Why?

To call her back.

I have to wait for her to call then.

And when will that be?

This evening, I hope. Wait, what's going on here? I don't want to bring her

back. Mr. Grant.

I served last week as a judge on the Press Awards Committee.

There was strong disagreement about one of the nominations, a superior series on

conditions in a juvenile justice center.

You remember that post series?

Sure, really good. The results were good. But to get them, the post had the

reporter pose as a worker at the center.

I persuaded the committee to deny them a prize.

Because of the question of misrepresentation. You really took a

Well, the committee was deeply split.

Until I suggested the press has a profound responsibility to be totally

about the way it gets the story.

If we are to feel in any way justified in decrying dishonesty in government and

in business.

By using deception, we lower ourselves to the ethics of those we object to.

I was eloquent as hell.

Too bad.

I meant every word I said, Mr. Brown.

I realize this is a tough call.

I don't think that all of you are in 100 % agreement on this.

Yes, we are.

We committed to getting the story in this way, and we want to continue it.

But I heard you object to misrepresentation before.

And you will again. I don't like it very much.

But I don't want to get so self -righteous about our methods that we

ourselves and the public important stories.

We have to take it a case at a time.

And in this case?

In this case, there doesn't seem any other way of getting the story.

Billy will do the work she's hired to do.

She won't lie.

And if asked, she'll say where she worked before.

What it comes down to is, would you rather wrestle with your conscience over

tactics in getting a story which really hurt no one, or over our not telling

people that they may be getting cancer from the water they drink?

Because somebody is callously and calculatingly polluting it.

I see. You can be as eloquent as hell, too, Mr. Hill.

Ever since old Ragsdale's bump in the backyard started going down, we haven't

seen too many of you reporters.

I'm from the Tribune. We're the ones who took the sample of the group from your

basement. Oh, yeah.

We thought you might want to know that the sample contained a toxic chemical, C

-84.

That is the last thing I want to know.

We felt we had to tell you.

Damn.

This town's going to pot.

If I wouldn't have to take such a loss on this house, I'd move out tomorrow.

It's pretty dangerous stuff, Mr. Haggerty.

Yeah. Maybe you should move and just take the loss.

Son.

Easy to see you don't understand nothing about real estate.

I ain't about to let him make me take a beating like that.

I got the position we wanted in the shipping office.

Good.

The pay isn't great, but I get a salary review after three months.

Swell. Let's hope this doesn't take that long.

And the last Friday of every month, employees have a square dance or they

movie. Am I going to have trouble luring you back?

You might.

Sounds like everything's going perfectly.

Yeah, like clockwork. Getting in was no problem.

They just believed I was who I said I was, and they just trusted me, you know?

Good.

it's good it's also uh yeah i didn't think about it i didn't expect them to

nice yeah well i'll be in touch check with you tomorrow

yeah

this is uh peters again i got an abandoned vehicle here the engine's cold

there's nobody in sight yeah it stinks too

I'm not getting any closer.

No problem. Well, it's another one of them with Toxic.

All right, thanks, bud. All right, 10 -4.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

Is this a CHP lab report?

Uh -huh. It's very well done. Good.

Is it the same stuff as the Hagerty sample? Yeah. No way.

What is it?

Almost pure C -84.

Larry, you're supposed to have a great deductive mind. What's the answer here?

The goop can only come from Diller, but Diller says it neutralizes the stuff,

and a very reliable source inside the plant confirmed that they have

neutralizing facilities geared up and working overtime.

Somebody's wrong.

I checked out all three places to eat my first week here. This one has the best

colas. Colas?

Yeah.

Just the right amount of syrup and soda water, and they don't ruin it with a lot

of bad tasting ice.

Great.

You know, I have my choice of whether I want to eat at school or not, but it

really creeps me there.

Everyone's into their own little cliques, and they all have their own

eat in and everything.

Yeah, it was the same way when I was in school.

You're supposed to feel really out of it if you don't belong to a clinic. But

all they do is sit around and talk about who's getting on with who, which they

probably aren't anyway.

Probably.

They don't have any poise.

You really have poise.

I do?

Yeah, it's just the way you carry yourself and everything.

I think it comes with growing up.

Can I ask you something? Now, tell me if I'm getting too personal, but I think I

know a secret about you.

You do?

I was trying to figure out why a person like you would leave L .A. and come to

Altamira to work in a chemical plant.

Yeah? Well, this is kind of hard.

Are you running away from a bad affair?

No. Oh.

No, not at all.

Well,

then why did you leave L .A. to come here?

Well, it's not as if I was living in Encino or any place great.

Well, believe me, you really get tired of the smog and the traffic after a

while.

Oh, yeah.

And I know the employment opportunities there aren't so good either.

That's right.

Well, I'm really glad you came.

Me too.

Can I confess something to you? Sure.

I don't just come here for the colons.

There's this really good -looking trucker who comes in here for lunch

Which one is he? Oh, he's not here yet.

When he comes in, though, you'll know why I like him right away.

Of course, he's older, but...

The main problem is he doesn't even know I exist.

Maybe you could tell him.

How?

Well, these are the 1980s.

If he doesn't ask you out, why don't you ask him out?

Well, maybe that's too much, but I always had a rule.

You are allowed one forward move.

Uh -huh.

But what if that doesn't work?

Then there's another rule.

You're allowed two.

Great, Billy, that's neat.

Oh, jeez.

Speak of the devil.

Which one is it?

The little blue shirt.

His name's Kent.

I love the name Kent.

Is he too much?

Couldn't really talk, but you gave me the name of a restaurant halfway between

here and Altamira where you can meet tonight.

Yeah?

John Wong Garcia's Kitchen.

Fish.

A place named John Wong Garcia's in the middle of the desert serves fish?

No, they serve Chinese -Mexican food.

I have to go by Billy's apartment tonight to feed her fish.

Yeah, when times are tough, we do okay.

People got to move, they try and save a buck by doing it themselves.

I want to ask you about people who dispose of toxic waste by themselves.

I'd like to tell you about them. I wish I could find them.

Well, what exactly happened?

CHP found one of your trucks abandoned, loaded.

It was loaded with hazardous materials, right?

Okay, look.

I don't rent out trucks to that kind of home. Okay?

Okay.

Okay. The guy comes in here named Apatow. Except the name's a phony. It

ID.

He's going to haul some white machinery or something.

Apatow.

Next thing I know that we get a call from the CHP.

Truck was abandoned.

Right. So now I got a rig loaded with poison. I got to take a 250 miles to get

it detoxed because one of the drums was leaking.

It's going to cost a lot of time, but I'm not exactly in love with the idea of

being around that stuff.

Is this the first time this has happened to you?

It's the third time it's happened to me. They use other outfits too. I'm telling

you, it's scary.

Hey. I didn't even know what tossy boys were until I started doing this.

Happy birthday, dear Billy.

Happy birthday to you.

How did you know? We always look up people's birthdays in a personnel

file. It's not that we like you or anything like that. We just like to have

parties.

Very nice.

Here, you have to cut.

Oh, okay.

Who's first?

Terry.

Hey, put it here.

Oh, great.

Oh, wow.

Are you sure this is the place?

How many places on the highway that serve sub -gum chicken and taco

plate can there be?

Here she comes.

I'm sorry. I couldn't get away.

They had this kind of party at the end of work.

A party?

Yeah.

Well, it wouldn't have looked right if I had just run out.

Boy, parties.

We're all working here. You're pulling down two paychecks and playing around.

How's it going?

It's going good.

Excellent.

I had Adam go over that information together.

If they're dumping, I can't tell how they're doing it. I really need more.

Like what?

Diller is dumping. They're doing it to save money.

It's still costing them, son.

Money always leaves a trail.

There's got to be a record of those payments somewhere.

Like where?

Maybe they have a slush fund.

What department?

shipping, I think.

But it could be tagged to repairs or to bonuses for the truck drivers.

See if you can find a record of any checks made to truck drivers for any

other than specific runs.

Okay.

Do you have any problems with that?

No. No, that's fine.

What's wrong?

Sneaking around the filing cabinets, getting to you?

No, no, I don't mind that.

It's just that the day in day out pretending to be somebody that I'm not

starting to get to me a little bit Well done It is a lot easier

to do it for an hour or two than day after day You want out?

No, of course not.

I'll be okay We've all put it at this state so

we can knock off I think I'll just stay and finish these left invoices.

Okay, but you can lock up. Just make sure that no one unauthorized gets in.

night. Good night, Terry.

Good night, Lester.

Terry, you can knock off, too. I'm just going to finish this last stack.

Oh, no, that's okay. I have these things to do. I just can't keep you company.

I did what you said.

What did I say?

I asked Ken if he wanted to go out tonight.

Oh.

And? He said he was busy.

Well, naturally, a guy like Ken is going to be busy at this late notice.

I made a giant jerk out of myself.

Did he give you that impression?

No.

Well, did he say he didn't want to go out with you?

No, he said maybe another time, but...

Well, I don't know if he meant it or if he was just being nice.

There's only one way you're going to find out.

Rule two.

Yeah.

You think there's a chance he doesn't think I'm a turkey?

It's possible.

Yeah.

Good night.

Good night.

I'm really glad I can talk to you about this kind of stuff.

You're the only person I can trust.

Got the Fresno.

Dumb.

Night again.

Night.

Blue Grant will continue in a moment here on B &B.

Hi. I'll show you this.

I'm glad I caught you.

What's up?

Dylan's been making payments to truckers for night runs.

The purpose and the destination are unknown or left off on purpose.

Okay.

That's good.

Yeah, it gets better.

I found a requisition. There's going to be a run tonight.

Real good, bro.

We drove 130 miles from Dilla.

Whatever that tells us.

We'll have to take a nap in the morning.

When will this water go to L .A.? My guess is it's local.

Think any of those will come out?

I see film to the limit. Wide open. Shutter speed. Okay, okay.

Pictures will help, but we're going to need a sample of this water. Fine.

So, one of us has to go get it. I've got to take pictures here.

Great. So, they just dumped the stuff in somebody's stream in the middle of the

night? That's right.

What was it?

We took a sample of it to the lab. It's an old French C -84.

If anyone doubts it, he's going to get a large dose of poison.

Or any livestock or wild animals who drink it. Or the plants it feeds. So it

gets in our food chain.

Why, Rossi, why would a major company like Diller take the risk of dumping its

waste like this?

It's just economics.

To pay a guy to make a midnight run like this is one -tenth the cost of

disposing of the stock according to guidelines.

Where did he get the guy?

We don't need someone with special training. Just someone who can drive a

and keep his mouth shut.

Okay. The story is starting to happen.

It's starting to happen. We've got pictures.

We've got lab tests. We've got eyewitness reports. What else do we

to ask Diller about it again, now that we know what they're up to.

I think you're in the wrong office.

Which way is that? It's the next building down the same path.

Not even a thank you.

Typical reporter.

What do you mean? Maybe he's just not a polite guy.

No, reporters are the lowest. My dad told me everybody knows it. They're all

pushy and grubby.

All they care about is getting their story.

So, Joe, you draw me again?

I see.

Did you read the third quarter report? Yes, I did.

Interesting, huh?

Fascinating. Well, I told you.

I had a couple of questions.

Okay, that's what I'm here for.

Yeah. The petrochemical parts of it look fairly strong.

I'm getting stronger.

I checked around, and according to what I'm told, the amount of C -84 produced

by the petrochemicals would make the disposal figures a lot higher than

reported.

You asked about C -84 last time, didn't you? Yes, I did.

About so.

Well, it could be explained a couple of ways.

Could be that the costs are going to be carried over in the next report.

I'll get an answer for you.

Anything else?

Yeah. What is Dillard's response to the charge that you're dumping C -84?

Dumping? How do you mean?

I mean by backing trucks up to streams and letting the stuff out into the

By renting trucks under phony names, filling them with toxics, and then

abandoning them on the highway.

That's pretty wild.

I need an official response.

You're not going to print a... Charged like that, are you?

With or without your response.

It's up to you.

Okay, now, um... This is just the kind of harassment that our industry doesn't

need.

Is that your response?

You listen to me for a minute.

The people of this country have made a choice.

They... They want the...

Luxuries and the comforts.

And all the good things that come from petrochemicals.

And the other phases of this industry.

The public isn't behind you on this one.

You and your newspaper try to harass us out of existence. There's going to be

hell to pay.

Thank you.

I can hold it.

The mayor of Sackett has found that a cleanup would cost between $1 and $5

million. The city budget now has a surplus of $24 .42.

Where are they going to get the money?

Maybe nowhere. If the federal government can prove Diller was dumping, then he

might be able to sue Diller for relief. If the Justice Department will sue for

him.

All right, all right.

Give me those figures again.

City cleanup, $1 to $5 million.

Budget, 24 hours, 42 cents.

Okay, thanks.

You're going to want to use this.

People in town are holding a meeting at the high school right now. They're angry

and they're scared.

Billy, I just got through talking to a county public health official. They're

sending a team in to start taking blood samples and sack it next week. Oh, good,

good. I can just stand here. Who did you talk to?

Oh, I wrote it.

At the... Chasm?

Yeah, with a C, one word, last name Brown, conventional spelling. Now,

something else.

List of chemical companies at that good mark. following disposal guidelines.

I'm going to put that higher up in the story.

You know, the only way of redeeming the misrepresentation is to admit to it in

the story.

Change the focus of the story. That's right.

Sensationalizes it. If a reporter goes undercover to get story, that becomes

story. Our readers still have the right to know the quality of their

information. First -hand observation is very good information.

What? I'm not sure we've got.

We could lose the point.

I can live with Billy and the story, but it's not our league.

How much second does their guard run?

All of it, Sergeant.

As long as it's there.

Okay. Okay.

Morning, Lou.

Check out the city council, then, will you?

Lou, I've got to go back up to Diller.

Why? To pick up your severance pay?

No, there's somebody I've got to talk to. I kind of make friends with this

in the office, and she didn't know who I really was, and I feel I've just got to

tell her.

She's going to be impressed.

Maybe.

I'll be back, Stephanie.

I can't believe you did this.

I thought we were friends.

We are.

No, we're not.

Friends stick together, but now that you've gotten what you want, you're

out of here.

And friends are straight with each other.

Carrie, if you've read the story, you know why I couldn't tell you what I was

doing here. I had to keep quiet about that part.

It's not just that part.

The whole thing was a lie.

I liked a person that I thought you were, but you were somebody else.

And I thought that you liked me just because you liked me.

But that wasn't it at all. I did like you. I do like you.

And I hated pretending to anybody, but especially to you.

I just felt that what... Diller is doing, pouring chemicals into the world

are going to make people very sick.

And cancer and birth defects.

It's so dangerous and so vicious that I had to get that story out.

I don't know about that.

All I know is that Kent is in trouble.

And my uncle is in hot water because he's head of shipping.

Diller has to cut back. He'll probably be out of a job.

It really should be the people who are responsible who are punished.

I just wish you'd try to understand why I did what I did.

I think what you did stinks.

Was that the only way that you could get your lousy story?

I thought it was, or I wouldn't have done it. Well, I think it stinks.

Don't forgive me, but... Why don't you just get out of here?

It really hurts you, haven't I?

This is my table.

Do you mind?

His message gave hope to a nation in turmoil.

A &E celebrates the life of Martin Luther King.

Tonight on All New Biography. And now, Police Story is next on A &E.