What do you think?
Rate this book
AN Air That Kills
Two award-winning journalists reveal how the decades-long poisoning of the small Montana town of Libby led to an exposé of the long-term implications of asbestos exposure, how government and industry repeatedly ignored or covered up the dangers, and the determined efforts of a few individuals to uncover the truth. 35,000 first printing.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
11 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 15, 2017
In mid-1999 Andrew Schneider of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer tripped across the tragedy that was unfolding in Libby, Montana, where scores of people were dying of lung diseases. Later that year EPA official Paul Peronard arrived in the town . . . and so began a long saga in which the journalist, the government employee and their allies did battle against corporate interests, corrupt politicians and even Peronard's bosses in the EPA, first to gain recognition that the people of Libby were being killed by asbestos from the vermiculite mine beside the town and then to ensure the survivors got some just compensation for their suffering.
But, as they discovered, the story was so much more -- so very much more -- than that. For decades officers of not just the EPA but other supposed safety organizations like OSHA and MSHA had been in effect conniving with the asbestos industry in the pretense that asbestos presented no health hazard. The EPS actually had in its files decades-old reports of the damage the mineral could do, yet these had gone deliberately ignored. The technology used by government scientists to detect asbestos was woefully outmoded . . . and quite likely intentionally so, for it recorded far lower levels than were actually present -- especially of tremolite, the tiny-fibered form that was causing such havoc in Libby.
As a result of government complacency, asbestos -- which most people thought had been banned from commercial use years ago (it was, briefly, but then some helpful New York judges lifted the ban) -- was widespread at dangerous levels in all sorts of products throughout the nation, not just in fireproofing and insulation but in brake linings and even children's crayons. And, when Peronard and the others tried to get something done about this, they were met with angry obstruction, smears and threats -- from the very people entrusted with assuring public safety.
And then came 9/11 and the covering of downtown Manhattan with a carpet of dust and ash, much of it consisting of asbestos from the fireproofing of the World Trade Center. Despite the unquestioned scientific evidence that this asbestos presented a lethal health hazard, the EPA's administrator, Christine Todd Whitman, and other politicians, under specific instructions from George W. Bush's White House, insisted to the public that the dust and the air were safe. Hundreds of people, notably the rescue and clean-up workers but also members of the general public, have already died because of this lie, and who knows how many thousands of others will die because of it.
One of the review quotes on the cover of the edition of this book I read (Berkley paperback) said that it would make the reader's blood boil. I took this with a pinch of salt, as one usually does, but by God it was absolutely accurate: by the end of reading the book I was in a state of unrestrained and I think entirely justified fury -- at the corporate executives at W.R. Grace and R.T. Vanderbilt who corrupted politicians and government employees, including government scientists, to assure their company profits no matter the cost in human suffering and death; at those politicians and government employees themselves; and most especially at the scientists who, in the manner of those involved in the tobacco-does-no-harm and climate-change-is-a-fiction frauds, took the corporate schilling and used their "scientist" status to promote bogus information to the public.
Another of the cover quotes describes all of these individuals (not the first noun I used) who participated in the cover-up as "villains every bit as evil as any dressed up in fairy tales," and that quote, too, is absolutely correct. A joy of the book is that Schneider and McCumber name them.
Two depressing thoughts. First, this was how the EPA and other relevant government agencies behaved before Donald Trump appointed Scott Pruitt to eviscerate the EPA "for da good of bidness" and institute a policy of boneheaded science denial there, bugger the death toll of so doing. And, second, the expanded and updated version of this book, An Air that Still Kills: How a Montana Town's Asbestos Tragedy is Spreading Nationwide (which alas I haven't read, having only just learned of it), was published in 2016 not by a major NYC house like Putnam or Berkley, who might have given it a high profile, but by Schneider's own small media company, Cold Truth LLC, and for Kindle only.
There are some journalese aspects of this book that I found mildly irritating, but to complain about them would be like criticizing a play because the theater was a bit drafty. This is an important book, and you should read it -- or, better, get your hands on An Air that Still Kills: How a Montana Town's Asbestos Tragedy is Spreading Nationwide .
But, as they discovered, the story was so much more -- so very much more -- than that. For decades officers of not just the EPA but other supposed safety organizations like OSHA and MSHA had been in effect conniving with the asbestos industry in the pretense that asbestos presented no health hazard. The EPS actually had in its files decades-old reports of the damage the mineral could do, yet these had gone deliberately ignored. The technology used by government scientists to detect asbestos was woefully outmoded . . . and quite likely intentionally so, for it recorded far lower levels than were actually present -- especially of tremolite, the tiny-fibered form that was causing such havoc in Libby.
As a result of government complacency, asbestos -- which most people thought had been banned from commercial use years ago (it was, briefly, but then some helpful New York judges lifted the ban) -- was widespread at dangerous levels in all sorts of products throughout the nation, not just in fireproofing and insulation but in brake linings and even children's crayons. And, when Peronard and the others tried to get something done about this, they were met with angry obstruction, smears and threats -- from the very people entrusted with assuring public safety.
And then came 9/11 and the covering of downtown Manhattan with a carpet of dust and ash, much of it consisting of asbestos from the fireproofing of the World Trade Center. Despite the unquestioned scientific evidence that this asbestos presented a lethal health hazard, the EPA's administrator, Christine Todd Whitman, and other politicians, under specific instructions from George W. Bush's White House, insisted to the public that the dust and the air were safe. Hundreds of people, notably the rescue and clean-up workers but also members of the general public, have already died because of this lie, and who knows how many thousands of others will die because of it.
One of the review quotes on the cover of the edition of this book I read (Berkley paperback) said that it would make the reader's blood boil. I took this with a pinch of salt, as one usually does, but by God it was absolutely accurate: by the end of reading the book I was in a state of unrestrained and I think entirely justified fury -- at the corporate executives at W.R. Grace and R.T. Vanderbilt who corrupted politicians and government employees, including government scientists, to assure their company profits no matter the cost in human suffering and death; at those politicians and government employees themselves; and most especially at the scientists who, in the manner of those involved in the tobacco-does-no-harm and climate-change-is-a-fiction frauds, took the corporate schilling and used their "scientist" status to promote bogus information to the public.
Another of the cover quotes describes all of these individuals (not the first noun I used) who participated in the cover-up as "villains every bit as evil as any dressed up in fairy tales," and that quote, too, is absolutely correct. A joy of the book is that Schneider and McCumber name them.
Two depressing thoughts. First, this was how the EPA and other relevant government agencies behaved before Donald Trump appointed Scott Pruitt to eviscerate the EPA "for da good of bidness" and institute a policy of boneheaded science denial there, bugger the death toll of so doing. And, second, the expanded and updated version of this book, An Air that Still Kills: How a Montana Town's Asbestos Tragedy is Spreading Nationwide (which alas I haven't read, having only just learned of it), was published in 2016 not by a major NYC house like Putnam or Berkley, who might have given it a high profile, but by Schneider's own small media company, Cold Truth LLC, and for Kindle only.
There are some journalese aspects of this book that I found mildly irritating, but to complain about them would be like criticizing a play because the theater was a bit drafty. This is an important book, and you should read it -- or, better, get your hands on An Air that Still Kills: How a Montana Town's Asbestos Tragedy is Spreading Nationwide .
June 30, 2019
Terribly frightening story of how our government covered up the dangers of asbestos and still is to this day! It's all political and at the expense of innocent people, people just doing a job and trying to support their families who were lied to by the companies they worked for and the agencies who were supposed to protect them. We are still seeing the effects today with the 911 responders who are dying due to the products containing asbestos that are still sold to this very day! I am mindblown to find this out....I never knew...I like so many others thought asbestos was banned but guess again...it is NOT! Brake pads still contain it and even more frightening is that the very crayons our children and grandchildren use are contaminated by asbestos and our government does not care! it's shameful and I am angry. EVERYONE should read this book and research the facts...you will be as angry and sad as I am! this is a large book but I couldn't put it down, I read it in a day.
June 24, 2010
This book is about the small town of Libby Montana and the ordeal of the people living there endured (and still do today) due to a vermiculite mine owned by W.R. Grace & Co, and the Zonolite Company before it. The mining of vermiculite, used in products ranging from insulation to potting soil, led to exposure to asbestos that caused and is causing the deaths of hundreds of Libby residents. Grace knew of the dangers, but didn’t tell the workers or their families of the deadly dangers associated with living in an environment where more than two and a half tons of asbestos were released into the town’s air every day. Sadly, the mentality of many large corporations. Disturbing. Remember the book, A Civil Action? W. R. Grace-again (band Beatrice Foods) had been dumping a cancer-causing industrial solvent into the water table of Woburn, Massachusetts for years. Books show that even with the families' dedicated lawyers and the evidence on their side--justice is elusive, particularly when it involves wrongdoing by huge corporations
November 17, 2020
If you can locate a copy of this book I highly recommend it. It is a tragedy that continues to be repeated in hundreds of different ways in this country and we blithely go about our lives, not actually realizing how broken our system is.
Case in point, the authors discuss an EPA Administrator who served from 1981 to 1983 and nearly destroyed the still young agency from within. Intentionally, as she was hired to do. Sound familiar to anything going on now? Oh, and that director? Anne McGIll Gorsuch Burford, yes the mother of the current Supreme Court Justice, Neil Gorsuch.
You will be horrified by what occurred in Libby, Montana and elsewhere in this country and what is still being allowed to happen. Read this book and weep.
Case in point, the authors discuss an EPA Administrator who served from 1981 to 1983 and nearly destroyed the still young agency from within. Intentionally, as she was hired to do. Sound familiar to anything going on now? Oh, and that director? Anne McGIll Gorsuch Burford, yes the mother of the current Supreme Court Justice, Neil Gorsuch.
You will be horrified by what occurred in Libby, Montana and elsewhere in this country and what is still being allowed to happen. Read this book and weep.
May 19, 2022
Great and informative read! I’ve seen my share of nasty plaques on autopsies. And my dads told stories of the air being so clouded from the junk at his job in electrical assembly at allis chalmers in Wisconsin. Then there’s the numerous lawyer billboard ads around Chicago.
It’s a Well done book, seems a bit dated, what’s the current verdict on asbestos. I’m mean, if it’s in every house and tons of products…why isn’t it killing everyone.
It’s a Well done book, seems a bit dated, what’s the current verdict on asbestos. I’m mean, if it’s in every house and tons of products…why isn’t it killing everyone.
August 27, 2023
This is an amazing story and an important read for anyone who wants to think that any industry has employee or public best interest in mind.
The added material gets a little dry and repetitive, but it’s nice that they followed up and collected the various outcomes.
The added material gets a little dry and repetitive, but it’s nice that they followed up and collected the various outcomes.
January 25, 2008
A topic I know all too much about ... human health effects of environmental exposure to asbestos.
This is the really well-researched and candid saga of Libby, Montana. A city in mountains with naturally-ocurring "veins" of asbestos running through the vermiculite that also makes up much of the mountains. Flash forward to the 2003-2004 timeframe and me working on a site in Michigan, while I was employed by the state health department, investigating a site that used to process large quantities of vermiculite ore from the mine in Libby, leaving many of the workers there (at least) exposed the asbestos within.
Andrew Schneider is one of the only good investigative journalists left in this country when it comes to these types of investigations. He basically spring this story at the Seattle Post Intelligencer and this book is the sum total of his investigation to date. You may be surprised how negligent federal agencies (and certain recent Preseindts) can truly be... and remain.
This is the really well-researched and candid saga of Libby, Montana. A city in mountains with naturally-ocurring "veins" of asbestos running through the vermiculite that also makes up much of the mountains. Flash forward to the 2003-2004 timeframe and me working on a site in Michigan, while I was employed by the state health department, investigating a site that used to process large quantities of vermiculite ore from the mine in Libby, leaving many of the workers there (at least) exposed the asbestos within.
Andrew Schneider is one of the only good investigative journalists left in this country when it comes to these types of investigations. He basically spring this story at the Seattle Post Intelligencer and this book is the sum total of his investigation to date. You may be surprised how negligent federal agencies (and certain recent Preseindts) can truly be... and remain.
March 18, 2011
The WR Grace Corporation knowingly allowed its workers and their families to be exposed to asbestos from a vermiculite mine for over 40 years. Additionally, the EPA and other govt. agencies knew of the exposure for 20 years and did nothing due to pressure from business interests. This book covers the story of how a Seattle newspaper uncovered the story, of how an EPA team attacked the problem, and of how a few members from the small town of Libby, MT spoke up and fought back while literally losing their lives to asbestosis. Comprehensive book with a real human connection. Shockingly, asbestos is still in use today. I myself have handled vermiculite in a farming context and breathed the dust.
April 26, 2008
Really, really interesting and incredibly sad, but totally worth a read if you need to get 'fired up' about something.
Read
September 12, 2008One of the best 'real stories' ever told.
September 14, 2008
Very good book. While reading it, I became angry at governmental inaction and sad about the lives that were decimated in Libby.
June 6, 2011
Veeeery eye opening account of one of the worst public health disasters (and corporate cover-ups) in US history.
December 12, 2011
Easy to read summary of a complicated issue.
August 25, 2012
The information was really interesting, but the book was poorly organized. The author repeated himself many times by the end and didn't have a consistent narrative running through the book.
February 19, 2009
A really good read. See the related news story I posted to facebook/blog on Feb 19, 2009.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews