| Contents Notes |
Into the heart of toxic America -- "The whole neighborhood was stunned" \ McFarland, Fall 1987 -- Poisonous doubts -- The mothers' crusade -- "Who do you wave your sword at?" \ McFarland, Winter 1988 -- A chemistry lesson for Yellow Creek, Kentucky -- Sally Teets and the small town toxic rebels -- It's like a murder mystery: We've eliminated the butler-but who did it? \ McFarland, Spring 1988 -- The struggle for certainty: Science runs up against its limits in toxic towns -- Love's uncertain chemistry: The tragedy and romance of environmental illness in the West Texas Desert -- "Around here, you're either on one side or the other!" \ McFarland, Summer 1988 -- Who do you trust? The riddles of environmental racism in Emelle, Alabama -- "Tonight feels something like the Fall of Saigon" \ McFarland today -- The virtues of messy Democracy and uncertain science. Each year, 22 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are spewed into our air, water, and soil. Toxic Nation describes the devastating effects of these chemicals on the lives of people in dozens of communities across North America. Written by two seasoned journalists, it brings us into the heart of "toxic America." From Lowell, Massachusetts, to Yukon, Pennsylvania, Yellow Creek, Kentucky, to McFarland, California, Toxic Nation is a personal narrative of the people who have been hardest hit by chemical contamination. People who have managed to fight back, by any means they can, to save their families and their communities. Ultimately, this book is not just about poisoned lives, it deals with how our nation contends with its most fundamental problems. Toxic Nation is about the people who have faced the health effects of hazardous wastes head-on, and the democratic uprising engendered by that confrontation (from book jacket). |
