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Parts per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School
A journalist's unsettling and timely investigation into the ties between Beverly Hills, its oil wells, and a local cancer cluster
Beverly Hills High School is the crown jewel of a storied community that has long symbolized wealth and privilege. No one, including the author (class of 1971), thought twice about the oil pumps behind the school's athletic fields; the derricks were just a part of the landscape, bringing in a sizable amount of royalty money to the community. But in 2003, after a group of young graduates developed cancer and the loudmouthed and sensationalistic Erin Brockovich caused a stir claiming the drilling was the cause, Beverly Hills was dragged into a landmark tort case that has split the town in two and will cause a media stir when it goes to trial later this year.
In Parts per Million, Joy Horowitz tells the story behind the headlines, interviewing cancer specialists, lawyers, epidemiologists, city officials, residents, and Brockovich herself. She crafts a riveting picture of PTA moms fighting for the truth, parents in denial, cancer-ridden youth, a school board terrified of having failed in its obligation to keep kids safe, and the complex game of toxic tort litigation that stands to strike a huge financial blow to the powerful oil companies and the iconic community. A Civil Action meets An Inconvenient Truth, Parts per Million couches medical and scientific inquiry in a compelling legal drama. Horowitz examines our tangled relationship with oil, money, and the environment, and bravely questions how many more will have to die before government regulators put economics aside and heed the warnings of science.
Beverly Hills High School is the crown jewel of a storied community that has long symbolized wealth and privilege. No one, including the author (class of 1971), thought twice about the oil pumps behind the school's athletic fields; the derricks were just a part of the landscape, bringing in a sizable amount of royalty money to the community. But in 2003, after a group of young graduates developed cancer and the loudmouthed and sensationalistic Erin Brockovich caused a stir claiming the drilling was the cause, Beverly Hills was dragged into a landmark tort case that has split the town in two and will cause a media stir when it goes to trial later this year.
In Parts per Million, Joy Horowitz tells the story behind the headlines, interviewing cancer specialists, lawyers, epidemiologists, city officials, residents, and Brockovich herself. She crafts a riveting picture of PTA moms fighting for the truth, parents in denial, cancer-ridden youth, a school board terrified of having failed in its obligation to keep kids safe, and the complex game of toxic tort litigation that stands to strike a huge financial blow to the powerful oil companies and the iconic community. A Civil Action meets An Inconvenient Truth, Parts per Million couches medical and scientific inquiry in a compelling legal drama. Horowitz examines our tangled relationship with oil, money, and the environment, and bravely questions how many more will have to die before government regulators put economics aside and heed the warnings of science.
- GenresNonfictionEnvironment
464 pages, Hardcover
First published July 19, 2007
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66 people want to read
About the author
Joy Horowitz
7 books53 followersJoy Horowitz is a writer living in Cambridge, MA and a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books. She currently is a senior lecturer in Yale's Residential College Seminar Program.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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August 4, 2011I tried, but can't get past the 2nd chapter. On to more interesting, entertaining books...
December 7, 2019
My two older cousins attended Beverly Hills high school. They're luckily healthy.
I had the chance to transfer in 9th grade and I passed. I've never regretted this decision.
I actually worked at one of the big law firms that represented Chevron in this case and got the chance to read through a lot of the documents so I wanted to read this book as follow up on that.
I wanted to like this book, but it just dragged on and on emphasizing the same points. Few in Beverly Hills really cared. Testing was inconsistent with no follow-up. There was more concern about money than anyone's health. Teachers were getting sick. Many died of cancer. Alumni were getting sick and dying too. These points were mentioned so many times that it felt like I was being hit over the head with it. This book could easily have been edited down without so much repetition. There were also so many people she wrote snippets about with no follow-up whatsoever. The imperative information was cleary hidden.
I did learn about the oil wells in Los Angeles which I had no clue about so that was a good takeaway.
I was particularly annoyed when I read about a mother with two sons who attended Beverly. One was named Johnathan, and the other, Brandon. But then a few sentences later, I read," But Justin wasn't accepted." I scanned the previous pages to see if I missed something about Justin. No Justin mentioned. Who the hell is Justin? Did she mean Johnathan?!!! This was so utterly annoying and occurred at the point where I had already pushed myself to continue reading past the redundancy and boredom. It was the final draw. This lack of editing along with the repetition of the same damn points made me lose trust in the author. I did a Google search on the author and was surprised to see she's a USC professor.
I made it to page 181 and have to call it quits. I'll flip to the last pages and scan to see if the writing gets any better and see how she wraps it up. But as this book reminds me, life is short- you never know what's going to happen! So value your time! And there are so many more interesting books out there to spend my time reading!
I had the chance to transfer in 9th grade and I passed. I've never regretted this decision.
I actually worked at one of the big law firms that represented Chevron in this case and got the chance to read through a lot of the documents so I wanted to read this book as follow up on that.
I wanted to like this book, but it just dragged on and on emphasizing the same points. Few in Beverly Hills really cared. Testing was inconsistent with no follow-up. There was more concern about money than anyone's health. Teachers were getting sick. Many died of cancer. Alumni were getting sick and dying too. These points were mentioned so many times that it felt like I was being hit over the head with it. This book could easily have been edited down without so much repetition. There were also so many people she wrote snippets about with no follow-up whatsoever. The imperative information was cleary hidden.
I did learn about the oil wells in Los Angeles which I had no clue about so that was a good takeaway.
I was particularly annoyed when I read about a mother with two sons who attended Beverly. One was named Johnathan, and the other, Brandon. But then a few sentences later, I read," But Justin wasn't accepted." I scanned the previous pages to see if I missed something about Justin. No Justin mentioned. Who the hell is Justin? Did she mean Johnathan?!!! This was so utterly annoying and occurred at the point where I had already pushed myself to continue reading past the redundancy and boredom. It was the final draw. This lack of editing along with the repetition of the same damn points made me lose trust in the author. I did a Google search on the author and was surprised to see she's a USC professor.
I made it to page 181 and have to call it quits. I'll flip to the last pages and scan to see if the writing gets any better and see how she wraps it up. But as this book reminds me, life is short- you never know what's going to happen! So value your time! And there are so many more interesting books out there to spend my time reading!
February 22, 2026
Its a good story about what happened but felt like it was about 100 pages too long- I think this took me 3 years to read...
September 16, 2008
This is a true story of education politics of the environmental kind that could become the basis for a movie; over 1,000 alumni and teachers from Beverly Hills High School file a toxic tort claim that their illnesses were linked to oil wells that have operated on campus for decades. It is a drama starring Erin Brockovich, legal clerk turned environmental researcher, famous for her role in a $333 million toxic tort settlement and an Academy Award-winning portrayal by Julia Roberts. In this story, the school board and local government rush to deny the danger, as do the state’s air quality agency and oil interests. Both sides present evidence; each side calls the other’s proof “junk science” and questions the other’s ethics. The choice of Brockovich as spokesperson does not help the plaintiff’s cause; their claims get passed off as a plea for a big payday.
The best parts are the teacher’s stories, the history of Beverly Hills and it’s ties to the oil industry. Beverly Hills High School opened in 1927, on a site where oil drilling had started in 1906. The worst were the environmental science presentations entered into legal testimony in the tort case, which took place in 2003. But I’m a non-scientist; I found the similar sections in A Civil Action equally dry. Saddest were the denials from the local government and school board; they were on the side of greed—oil royalties—from day one and never wavered.
Four stars; this is a great read past the science.
The best parts are the teacher’s stories, the history of Beverly Hills and it’s ties to the oil industry. Beverly Hills High School opened in 1927, on a site where oil drilling had started in 1906. The worst were the environmental science presentations entered into legal testimony in the tort case, which took place in 2003. But I’m a non-scientist; I found the similar sections in A Civil Action equally dry. Saddest were the denials from the local government and school board; they were on the side of greed—oil royalties—from day one and never wavered.
Four stars; this is a great read past the science.
August 28, 2007
Well, it just goes to show that environmentally hazardous situations can happen anywhere ...
This book follows the debate and civil trial of Beverly Hills High school and it's possible relation to environmental toxins.
As it happens, the high school has over 18 oil wells on its campus. Also, there is a steam power plant right next door. Basically the book is about the debate as to whether or not these factors contributed to an increased cancer and disease rate among the students, faculty, and other surrounding inhabitants of the area.
While it may seem common sense to most people, there are members of the community who really don't believe there is a link between the environmental toxins being released around the school and the disease rates. The oil wells bring in revenue for the school and the community. Plus, any litigation claiming to prove an environmentally unsafe situation has existed at the school would be effect property values in the area.
It is very compelling to read about how the community split down the middle because of this. I also learned a lot about the way toxic tort cases are litigated.
Very interesting.
This book follows the debate and civil trial of Beverly Hills High school and it's possible relation to environmental toxins.
As it happens, the high school has over 18 oil wells on its campus. Also, there is a steam power plant right next door. Basically the book is about the debate as to whether or not these factors contributed to an increased cancer and disease rate among the students, faculty, and other surrounding inhabitants of the area.
While it may seem common sense to most people, there are members of the community who really don't believe there is a link between the environmental toxins being released around the school and the disease rates. The oil wells bring in revenue for the school and the community. Plus, any litigation claiming to prove an environmentally unsafe situation has existed at the school would be effect property values in the area.
It is very compelling to read about how the community split down the middle because of this. I also learned a lot about the way toxic tort cases are litigated.
Very interesting.
April 14, 2013
It's a very scary book. This was a trek for me to read. I felt like I would never finish it. Not that it was bad, not at all it was very informative. It was just a lot of information and that information was pretty much that your health, your children's health really don't matter. You really can't do much of anything to really protect yourself if there's money to be made. We already knew that didn't we?
April 22, 2009
Interesting stuff. A documentary esque type book about the apparent poisoning of Beverly Hills High. Erin Brocovich makes a surprise appearance in a case that was more intriguing than anything that happened in Hinkley.
November 28, 2012
I found this book fascinating. Beverly Hills will always be that cliche high school in LA, but for those who grew up in the town, we always view that place as a bomb. All that oil comes at a price. It is so symbolic of what LA is...beautiful and so desirable from afar.
August 24, 2007
An incredible read. Managing to tell an amazingly powerful and relevant personal story while making the science comprehensible.
February 26, 2008
Really interesting read, and a page-turner despite the subject matter. Especially interesting for anyone living in LA and interested in environmental law or science.
August 18, 2012
This book should be required reading for everyone~"it's no longer parts per million that matter-it's parts per trillion."
January 9, 2013
I highly recommend this book. It was a stunning read.
December 4, 2021
Amazing story.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews