The true story of John Todd's ingenious plan to clean toxic waste from a Tennessee creek describes the 150 years of pollution buildup that prompted his decision and his construction of the Living Machine. Children's BOMC Feat.
I think this would be pretty dense reading for smaller children, and might even have trouble engaging older ones, but I like the focus on invention. There are plenty of books that tell about pollution and how bad it is, but this one sparks thinking about how it could be cleaned up, what the challenges are, what has been tried, etc.