Paradise falls : the true story of an environmental catastrophe / Keith O'Brien.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Brien, Keith, 1973- author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)--History.

Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.).

Chemical plants--Waste disposal--Environmental aspects--New York (State)--Niagara Falls.

Chemical plants.

Hazardous waste sites--New York (State)--Niagara Falls.

Hazardous waste sites.

Pollution--Physiological effect--New York (State)--Niagara Falls.

Pollution.

Hazardous waste site remediation--New York (State)--Niagara Falls--Citizen participation.

Hazardous waste site remediation.

Chemical plants--Waste disposal--Environmental aspects.

Hazardous waste site remediation--Citizen participation.

Pollution--Physiological effect.

New York (State)--Niagara Falls.

New York (State)--Niagara Falls--Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill.

Genre:

History.

HISTORY / United States / 20th CenturyĤISTORY / Women̂BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists.

Physical Description:

xi, 455 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2022]

Summary:

"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

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I DECEMBER 1976

DECEMBER 1977

1. Lois

2. Luella

3. Energetic, Effective, Experienced

LaFalce!

4. A Model City

5. We Should at Least Visit the Place

6. Kids Should Be Warned

pt. II JANUARY-OCTOBER 1978

7. Containers of Dubious Condition

8. A Sea of Red Tape

9. Certain Definitive Action

10. This Is Our Answer

11. A Full and Frank Discussion

12. The Boy at the Concert

13. Plan C

14. Presumed Nephrotic Syndrome

15. The True Believer

16. Whitewash

17. The Witches' End of Fairyland

18. If Anyone Should Complain

19. A Long, Strange Dream

20. Many Abusive Phone Calls

21. Mommy's Going to Stay

22. Give My Regards to Broadway

23. Let Our People Speak

24. The Boy in Bed 11

25. Two Sides of the Square

26. Can I Go Home Soon?

27. Marked Houses

28. God Only Knows

pt. III OCTOBER 1978

DECEMBER 1979

29. We've Done Everything We Can

30. Useless Housewife Data

31. Clusters

32. White Mice

33. Uncomfortable Feelings

34. The Paigen Problem

35. Relocation by Impregnation

36. Now and Forevermore

37. Listen to the People Who Know

38. No Job Is Worth Your Life

39. The Bird in Black Creek

40. All-Out Opposition

41. Not Many Whistleblowers Survive

42. Still Here, Chemically Treated

43. Looks Like You've Become the Enemy

44. Very Best Wishes for the New Year

pt. IV JANUARY-MAY 1980

45. Pray for the Dead

46. A Kangaroo Court

47. A Significant Political Problem

48. Emotional Fires

49. Tell Us How You Feel

50. That Crowd Will Rip You Apart

51. Today We Have to Be Meek

52. We're from Niagara Falls.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-423) and index

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: O'Brien, Keith, 1973- Paradise falls.

ISBN:

9780593318430

0593318439

OCLC:

1281790899