Paradise falls : the true story of an environmental catastrophe / Keith O'Brien.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Pantheon Books, [2022]Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First editionDescription: xi, 455 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593318430
- 0593318439
- Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) -- History
- Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
- Hazardous waste sites -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
- Pollution -- Physiological effect -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
- Hazardous waste site remediation -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls -- Citizen participation
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
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Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 363.7384 O13 | Available | 33111010652499 | ||||
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Adult Book
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Main Library | NonFiction | 363.7384 O13 | Available | 33111010821375 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal--exposing one of America's most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
"Propulsive...A mighty work of historical journalism...A glorious quotidian thriller about people forced to find and use their inner strength." -- The Boston Globe
Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn't take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals.
In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O'Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal--Love Canal, it was called--that Hooker Chemical, the city's largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick.
O'Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical's deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn't; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America's imagination.
Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who--years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle-- fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-423) and index.
Maps -- Author's note -- Introduction : May 14, 1972 -- Part I : December 1976-December 1977 -- Part II : January-October 1978 -- Part III : October 1978-December 1979 -- Part IV : January-May 1980.
"From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America's most devastating environmental disasters. Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny and Barbara Quimby thought they had found a slice of the American dream when they and their families moved onto the quiet streets of Love Canal, a picturesque middle-class hamlet by Niagara Falls in the winter of 1977, the town had record snowfalls, and in the spring, rains filled the earth with water like a sponge and the basements of the neighborhood's homes with a pungent odor. It was the sweet, synthetic smell of chemicals. Then, one by one, the children of the more than 800 families that made Love Canal their home started getting very sick. In this propulsive work of narrative reportage, Keith O'Brien uncovers how Lois, Luella, Barbara and other local mothers uncovered the poisonous secret of Love Canal: that they were living on the site where industrial employer Hooker Chemical had been dumping toxic waste for years, and covering it up. O'Brien braids together the previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical's deception, the local newspapermen and scientists who tried to help, the city officials who didn't, and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference, and-ultimately-triumphed. O'Brien paints a vividly how their dauntless efforts would capture the American imagination at the time and form the foundation of the modern environmental movement"-- Provided by publisher.