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Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA
When you order a meal in a restaurant, you won't find malathion , kelthane or arsenic listed on the menu as an ingredient of your entrée, but these and scores of other pesticides and dangerous chemicals are in the food we eat. They are dumped into the environment where they seep into our water supply and float in the air we breathe. The use of these poisons is approved-or in some cases, simply ignored--by the Environmental Protection Agency. Poison Spring documents, in devastating detail, the EPA's corruption and misuse of science and public trust. In its half-century of existence, the agency has repeatedly reinforced the chemical-industrial complex by endorsing deadly chemicals, botching field investigations, turning a blind eye to toxic disasters, and swallowing the self-serving claims of industry. E. G. Vallianatos, who saw the EPA from the inside for more than two decades with rising dismay, reveals in Poison Spring how the agency has allowed our lands and waters to be poisoned with more toxic chemicals than ever. No one who cares for the natural world, or for the health of future generations, can ignore this powerful exposé.
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 2014
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765 people want to read
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September 20, 2018
Another distressing but well done book by a former EPA employee. It touches upon pollution of water and air, but primarily pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used on farms and in homes, on lawns and in forests.
As if that alone is not enough to scare us, the dealings of the EPA, which has the legal and sacred responsibility of safeguarding our health and the health of the natural world, has failed us all miserably and consistently, using fraudulent science, suppressing the truth and using a cut and paste format to draft official documents. There has also been outright destruction of documents, laboratories, facilities and historical data that had been maintained as the EPA library. Why? if there’s nothing to hide?
Power, money, corruption, greed, fraud, deception, suppression, distortion, collusion, concealment, misconduct, coercion, blackmail, and other heinous descriptors are embedded in a lot of the people and systems working at, with and heading up the EPA. They don’t stand a chance for making an awareness of the truth if the government and big chemical companies have anything to do with it. Those who strive for awareness and truth no matter what, are shut down or downsized, ostracized or deals made to stop them; creating career suicide. It is a slap in the face of researchers and scientists and those many workers of the EPA who passionately believe in their mission and work hard and responsibly to produce truthful results.
Dangerous pesticides are still being sprayed on American crops to this day, while the EPA, as usual, stands by silently. Damaging information is not being publicized or communicated to the general public, as indicated above. It is often discarded or suitably rewritten.
We are all aware of the losses of bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects - the ever necessary pollinators of all our food crops. This has been known for years. There are some farmers who like to use sprayed chemicals on their crops have purposely sprayed bee hives directly with poisons to teach the beekeeper about “whistle blowing.” Beekeepers are treated like second hand citizens and bees are still being destroyed to date. When was the last time you saw a beautiful Monarch butterfly in your backyard? As a kid, we saw them ALL the time in summer, along with the grasshoppers, lightning bugs and other beneficial insects.
There is a lengthy article on DDT which if you don’t know the history, is enlightening, yet quite scary. Our blatant use of this chemical has been called “the most intensive campaign of mass poisoning in human history.” Years after DDT was officially taken off the market, it is still showing up in bodies of birds and animals.
More also on dioxin (wood preservative) and pressurized aerosol can of insect spray (which is highly flammable and explosive). More information on how the use of pesticides actually hasn’t helped, but instead hurt everywhere it has touched; the food, the air, the soil, the water, the animals and most importantly, the people and the children. More on Round Up, genetically modified crops, fracking. More on having healthy small farms (organic) vs the big farms (I, for one, certainly can see the reasoning behind this).
Those who run the big chemical companies and some of those who are engaged in agriculture, blatantly overlook environmental and human health. All they care about is the bottom line and are disinterested in the detrimental effects and fallout on everything and everyone else. But, how ironic, that these chemicals affect them and their families too, as they eat, drink and breathe the same on this earth as the rest of us.
Farmers pay a very high price for their chemical dependence; they are subject to higher than normal mortality rates for lip cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, lymphatic cancer, leukemia and multiple myeloma. The farmer does not see (or want to see) the ecological tragedies in his soil and surroundings. But it tragically affects him, his family and his farming colleagues.
So, how do we fix this mess? We need to make the EPA independent and uncompromisable by no one, not the Government, most certainly not the chemical companies. That should be 100% off limits. Rebuild the EPA laboratories and libraries and research facilities. Short term employment of staff, so as not to become lazy and corrupted. Honest, distinguished scientists or citizens with a record and passion of wanting to serve and defend public health and environment.
An honest book; an expose of sorts, one which unfortunately makes me feel so very small in my own attempts to change what has been wrong and grievous for so long when it has and continues to be powered by greed, politics and high level
Leadership. I’m certainly not giving up my efforts to make even a small change where or when I can. I only hope for all our sakes, that the EPA can resurrect itself soon to what its original purpose was supposed to be when all the other crap got in the way a long time ago.
As if that alone is not enough to scare us, the dealings of the EPA, which has the legal and sacred responsibility of safeguarding our health and the health of the natural world, has failed us all miserably and consistently, using fraudulent science, suppressing the truth and using a cut and paste format to draft official documents. There has also been outright destruction of documents, laboratories, facilities and historical data that had been maintained as the EPA library. Why? if there’s nothing to hide?
Power, money, corruption, greed, fraud, deception, suppression, distortion, collusion, concealment, misconduct, coercion, blackmail, and other heinous descriptors are embedded in a lot of the people and systems working at, with and heading up the EPA. They don’t stand a chance for making an awareness of the truth if the government and big chemical companies have anything to do with it. Those who strive for awareness and truth no matter what, are shut down or downsized, ostracized or deals made to stop them; creating career suicide. It is a slap in the face of researchers and scientists and those many workers of the EPA who passionately believe in their mission and work hard and responsibly to produce truthful results.
Dangerous pesticides are still being sprayed on American crops to this day, while the EPA, as usual, stands by silently. Damaging information is not being publicized or communicated to the general public, as indicated above. It is often discarded or suitably rewritten.
We are all aware of the losses of bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects - the ever necessary pollinators of all our food crops. This has been known for years. There are some farmers who like to use sprayed chemicals on their crops have purposely sprayed bee hives directly with poisons to teach the beekeeper about “whistle blowing.” Beekeepers are treated like second hand citizens and bees are still being destroyed to date. When was the last time you saw a beautiful Monarch butterfly in your backyard? As a kid, we saw them ALL the time in summer, along with the grasshoppers, lightning bugs and other beneficial insects.
There is a lengthy article on DDT which if you don’t know the history, is enlightening, yet quite scary. Our blatant use of this chemical has been called “the most intensive campaign of mass poisoning in human history.” Years after DDT was officially taken off the market, it is still showing up in bodies of birds and animals.
More also on dioxin (wood preservative) and pressurized aerosol can of insect spray (which is highly flammable and explosive). More information on how the use of pesticides actually hasn’t helped, but instead hurt everywhere it has touched; the food, the air, the soil, the water, the animals and most importantly, the people and the children. More on Round Up, genetically modified crops, fracking. More on having healthy small farms (organic) vs the big farms (I, for one, certainly can see the reasoning behind this).
Those who run the big chemical companies and some of those who are engaged in agriculture, blatantly overlook environmental and human health. All they care about is the bottom line and are disinterested in the detrimental effects and fallout on everything and everyone else. But, how ironic, that these chemicals affect them and their families too, as they eat, drink and breathe the same on this earth as the rest of us.
Farmers pay a very high price for their chemical dependence; they are subject to higher than normal mortality rates for lip cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, lymphatic cancer, leukemia and multiple myeloma. The farmer does not see (or want to see) the ecological tragedies in his soil and surroundings. But it tragically affects him, his family and his farming colleagues.
So, how do we fix this mess? We need to make the EPA independent and uncompromisable by no one, not the Government, most certainly not the chemical companies. That should be 100% off limits. Rebuild the EPA laboratories and libraries and research facilities. Short term employment of staff, so as not to become lazy and corrupted. Honest, distinguished scientists or citizens with a record and passion of wanting to serve and defend public health and environment.
An honest book; an expose of sorts, one which unfortunately makes me feel so very small in my own attempts to change what has been wrong and grievous for so long when it has and continues to be powered by greed, politics and high level
Leadership. I’m certainly not giving up my efforts to make even a small change where or when I can. I only hope for all our sakes, that the EPA can resurrect itself soon to what its original purpose was supposed to be when all the other crap got in the way a long time ago.
March 31, 2014
Who is the EPA really protecting? That terrifying notion is the focus of this book, written in the ongoing tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Vallianatos' Poison Spring brings to light a concerning amount of cases in which the institution created to protect the environment, and the humans that subsist off of it, does the opposite.
I felt the author did a fantastic job setting up the book for those not familiar with exactly what the EPA does or how it works. He also makes a very clear distinction between "chemicals" and "synthetic chemicals", which is an important distinction when discussing the issues around pollution intelligently.
From ground water poisoning to the slow deaths of the farmworkers that often work closest to the intensive synthetics big agriculture relies on, Vallianatos show the spectrum of cover-ups and mishandlings, all of which result in a cost to people. I think the strength of this book is the amount of cases and sources he uses, showing that this has been a continuous issue that has only gotten more severe over time.
This book is a necessary read for any citizen because it make you think about the cleaning supplies you buy, the water in your coffee and what may be lurking on the surface of that apple. As we confront climate change issues we must grasp the fact that the decisions we make can have effects on people miles away, and vise versa.
I felt the author did a fantastic job setting up the book for those not familiar with exactly what the EPA does or how it works. He also makes a very clear distinction between "chemicals" and "synthetic chemicals", which is an important distinction when discussing the issues around pollution intelligently.
From ground water poisoning to the slow deaths of the farmworkers that often work closest to the intensive synthetics big agriculture relies on, Vallianatos show the spectrum of cover-ups and mishandlings, all of which result in a cost to people. I think the strength of this book is the amount of cases and sources he uses, showing that this has been a continuous issue that has only gotten more severe over time.
This book is a necessary read for any citizen because it make you think about the cleaning supplies you buy, the water in your coffee and what may be lurking on the surface of that apple. As we confront climate change issues we must grasp the fact that the decisions we make can have effects on people miles away, and vise versa.
April 2, 2015
how did the epa go from regulator and watch dog to polluters protection agency?
yes, you guessed it, fat cat capitalists and their dogs the pols.
you like that malathion with your salad, hmmmmm?
heartbreaking read.
has interesting, shoot, exhaustive end notes and usable index.
yes, you guessed it, fat cat capitalists and their dogs the pols.
you like that malathion with your salad, hmmmmm?
heartbreaking read.
has interesting, shoot, exhaustive end notes and usable index.
February 21, 2014
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I found this book to be incredibly informative and fascinating.
This book touches on a wide variety of topics all relating to the EPA and the poisons that they allow crops to be sprayed with. The author does a good job of including a varied assortment of materials, ranging from DDT (a commonly talked about toxin) to the effects these poisons have on honeybees (a somewhat uncommon topic). Although each chapter was relating to a different topic, every chapter had the same overlying message which aided in tying the chapters together and transitioning from chapter to chapter. The flow between chapters was seamless and logical, never leaving the reader lost as to what was being talked about and how it related to the main topic.
The author offers a unique perspective on all of the information, having worked within the EPA for many years. Rather than an author who had just done research on the topic but was just a member of the general public, this author had insider knowledge and brought that knowledge to the reader. I thought the authors perspective definitely aided in presenting the information to the reader in a more convincing manner.
I enjoyed the writing in this book. The author definitely understands how to write in a factual and straightforward manner. Although there was a lot of technical information in this book and a lot of scientific data, the author puts in obvious effort to try and make the information accessible to the general reader. Although I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are comfortable reading texts with a lot of scientific information in them, the author does do a nice job of trying to unscramble the information for the general reader.
Overall, I found this book to be glaringly informative and interesting to read. By the end of the book, I felt that I had truly learned a lot about pesticides and the way that the EPA functions. I would recommend reading something like "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson before reading this book, but for those who already have some background knowledge and would like to learn more about the EPA and pesticides, this is the perfect book for you.
I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.
I found this book to be incredibly informative and fascinating.
This book touches on a wide variety of topics all relating to the EPA and the poisons that they allow crops to be sprayed with. The author does a good job of including a varied assortment of materials, ranging from DDT (a commonly talked about toxin) to the effects these poisons have on honeybees (a somewhat uncommon topic). Although each chapter was relating to a different topic, every chapter had the same overlying message which aided in tying the chapters together and transitioning from chapter to chapter. The flow between chapters was seamless and logical, never leaving the reader lost as to what was being talked about and how it related to the main topic.
The author offers a unique perspective on all of the information, having worked within the EPA for many years. Rather than an author who had just done research on the topic but was just a member of the general public, this author had insider knowledge and brought that knowledge to the reader. I thought the authors perspective definitely aided in presenting the information to the reader in a more convincing manner.
I enjoyed the writing in this book. The author definitely understands how to write in a factual and straightforward manner. Although there was a lot of technical information in this book and a lot of scientific data, the author puts in obvious effort to try and make the information accessible to the general reader. Although I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are comfortable reading texts with a lot of scientific information in them, the author does do a nice job of trying to unscramble the information for the general reader.
Overall, I found this book to be glaringly informative and interesting to read. By the end of the book, I felt that I had truly learned a lot about pesticides and the way that the EPA functions. I would recommend reading something like "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson before reading this book, but for those who already have some background knowledge and would like to learn more about the EPA and pesticides, this is the perfect book for you.
I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.
December 24, 2014
Oh boy, after reading this book I am now aware of how many chemicals we all imbibe, and have in our systems. As a result of an EPA that in essence is a toothless tiger. You'd think that the EPA would be on top of things...they ARE NOT. They've been politically bought and sold to the chemical companies who are in it just to make the money.
Small wonder we have so much cancer, and dementia diseases these days. We've been exposed to massive amounts of disease causing chemicals.
Small wonder we have so much cancer, and dementia diseases these days. We've been exposed to massive amounts of disease causing chemicals.
February 21, 2015
It's difficult reading about the cases presented that the EPA has somewhat "ignored"... maybe not the EPA, but the government and US. I'm feeling much more informed and MUCH more encouraged to support only ORGANIC!
March 28, 2023
This one’s a few years old but the story obviously doesn’t ever change. The government hates you and loves to take kick backs from big agriculture the health of the country be damned. If they were serious about cleaning up the environment they would start with industrial farming but the government is so out of control, all they care about is the $$. Anyway; there is a lot of disturbing but not surprising information. As an individual, I’m not sure what you can do but be informed and make wiser food choices. Start local and go from there.
January 2, 2015
Consider for a moment all of the food that you eat, the water that you drink, the air that you breathe, and everything else in between. Typically, people like not dropping dead from a meal, having their pregnancies become miscarriages, or getting cancer due to consuming something that could kill an elephant. Thankfully, we have the Environmental Protection Agency to look out for us, after all, protection's in their name! Now, what if I told you that the EPA was the poster child for regulatory capture, where the special interests that the watchmen are suppose to be looking after instead are the lunatics running the asylum. Makes you consider that second bite of dinner you're eating, huh?
Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA makes a pretty damning and compelling argument that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to do its job of protecting both humans and the wildlife throughout its entire existence. The co-author who worked at the EPA worked there from 1979 through 2004, so I can imagine they can speak from some personal experience on the matter as well. The authors do a good job of laying out some of the history pre-EPA, the creation of the EPA under the Nixon Administration and the events thereafter. They also paint a fairly scary picture, showing the numerous times that scientific data is either completely ignored or even suppressed in order to protect the bottom line of corporations in the chemical industry.
It certainly doesn't help as the authors point out that various heads of the EPA among many of its employees have gone on to work in the industry they were previously regulating. Meanwhile, the EPA was also a victim of the "deregulate all the things!" philosophy that has taken hold in America from the 1980s through even today. Although one has to seriously question the validity of making powerless the government agency that is suppose to be making sure we're not consuming poisons. The authors also manage to cover a number of topics while going over specific cases where the EPA failed its duty including the growing loss of honeybees and fracking.
The book also does a good job of pointing out the failures of both sides of the political aisle to do much about stopping the EPA from being a completely ineffective agency. Although the authors do spend a great deal of time focusing on the Reagan Administration, pointing out how his administration allowed the chemical companies to have free reign and even control the EPA.
Overall, the book is a pretty eye-opening read and will make you consider everything that you put into your body and even the air that you breathe. My only real problem with the book is that I felt it could use a better editor, considering the amount of jumping around between dates in every chapter. There's also the problem that some of the terminology used could also go over some readers heads. Despite this though, the book is definitely worth reading.
Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA makes a pretty damning and compelling argument that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to do its job of protecting both humans and the wildlife throughout its entire existence. The co-author who worked at the EPA worked there from 1979 through 2004, so I can imagine they can speak from some personal experience on the matter as well. The authors do a good job of laying out some of the history pre-EPA, the creation of the EPA under the Nixon Administration and the events thereafter. They also paint a fairly scary picture, showing the numerous times that scientific data is either completely ignored or even suppressed in order to protect the bottom line of corporations in the chemical industry.
It certainly doesn't help as the authors point out that various heads of the EPA among many of its employees have gone on to work in the industry they were previously regulating. Meanwhile, the EPA was also a victim of the "deregulate all the things!" philosophy that has taken hold in America from the 1980s through even today. Although one has to seriously question the validity of making powerless the government agency that is suppose to be making sure we're not consuming poisons. The authors also manage to cover a number of topics while going over specific cases where the EPA failed its duty including the growing loss of honeybees and fracking.
The book also does a good job of pointing out the failures of both sides of the political aisle to do much about stopping the EPA from being a completely ineffective agency. Although the authors do spend a great deal of time focusing on the Reagan Administration, pointing out how his administration allowed the chemical companies to have free reign and even control the EPA.
Overall, the book is a pretty eye-opening read and will make you consider everything that you put into your body and even the air that you breathe. My only real problem with the book is that I felt it could use a better editor, considering the amount of jumping around between dates in every chapter. There's also the problem that some of the terminology used could also go over some readers heads. Despite this though, the book is definitely worth reading.
November 24, 2014
This is a fairly terrifying book by a scientist who worked for the EPA for 25 years and witnessed the described events, eventually becoming a whistle blower. The book is very well documented.
In devastating detail, he recounts the slide of an agency that supposedly protects the environment and people (and animals and plants) that live in it, into basically a rubber stamp for the corporations that produce the pollutants.
Over the many years he worked for the EPA, Vallianatos saw the decreasing influence of the scientists, the demolition of the DPA labs, the decreased funding, the removal of the EPA library. During the same period, he witnessed the ever increasing influence of corporations and their lobbyists and the paid-off legislators. The end result is that the EPA has very little power to regulate anything, to the delight of the polluters and chemical companies. The agency relies on the clearly biased "scientific" results of studies done by the organizations they are supposed to be regulating!
This is a searing expose. While taking money from the polluters, the agency has turned a blind eye to complaints of real and dangerous pollution events.The only winners are the companies, particularly the producers of agri-chemicals. The massive and increasing use of pesticides and herbicides is damaging waterways, the soil, aquifers and consumers alike. The companies develop chemicals that are toxic to every growing thing, then produce seeds that are developed to be resistant to the chemical sprays. Farmers (especially large farming operations) depend totally on the chemical giants to keep developing new chemicals and new seeds on which they have come to depend. The costs of this are huge and include, among other things, development of resistance (requiring more and more toxic herbicides), damage to insects that we depend on for pollination, especially bees, birds butterflies and others, poisoning of farm workers, and even consumers.
The chemicals described include, carcinogens, mutagens- including agent orange. (We thought the toxicity of that agent only occurred in Viet Nam!)
Even substances labelled "inert" ingredients are poisons in themselves.
It is a sad commentary that a half century after Rachel Carson brought these issues to the consciousness of the public, we are still ruining the environment for the profit of giant chemical corporations whose only interest is in their bottom line!
A must read for anyone interested in the environment!!!!!
In devastating detail, he recounts the slide of an agency that supposedly protects the environment and people (and animals and plants) that live in it, into basically a rubber stamp for the corporations that produce the pollutants.
Over the many years he worked for the EPA, Vallianatos saw the decreasing influence of the scientists, the demolition of the DPA labs, the decreased funding, the removal of the EPA library. During the same period, he witnessed the ever increasing influence of corporations and their lobbyists and the paid-off legislators. The end result is that the EPA has very little power to regulate anything, to the delight of the polluters and chemical companies. The agency relies on the clearly biased "scientific" results of studies done by the organizations they are supposed to be regulating!
This is a searing expose. While taking money from the polluters, the agency has turned a blind eye to complaints of real and dangerous pollution events.The only winners are the companies, particularly the producers of agri-chemicals. The massive and increasing use of pesticides and herbicides is damaging waterways, the soil, aquifers and consumers alike. The companies develop chemicals that are toxic to every growing thing, then produce seeds that are developed to be resistant to the chemical sprays. Farmers (especially large farming operations) depend totally on the chemical giants to keep developing new chemicals and new seeds on which they have come to depend. The costs of this are huge and include, among other things, development of resistance (requiring more and more toxic herbicides), damage to insects that we depend on for pollination, especially bees, birds butterflies and others, poisoning of farm workers, and even consumers.
The chemicals described include, carcinogens, mutagens- including agent orange. (We thought the toxicity of that agent only occurred in Viet Nam!)
Even substances labelled "inert" ingredients are poisons in themselves.
It is a sad commentary that a half century after Rachel Carson brought these issues to the consciousness of the public, we are still ruining the environment for the profit of giant chemical corporations whose only interest is in their bottom line!
A must read for anyone interested in the environment!!!!!
July 27, 2014
Possibly too depressing to actually read, Poison Spring details how thoroughly neutered our EPA by the triple combination of regulatory capture, underfunding, and the vast funding provided in opposition by chemical producing corporate lobbyists.
The result is a deluge of untested, barely tested, company only tested, tested-and-proven-dangerous-but-oh-well chemicals into our environment which have real and measurable detrimental effects on individual lives. While there are a small number of victories in which the EPA has been able to effectively mitigate or ban entirely, it seems to be just enough to give the general populace the false impression that EPA regulations are able to keep us safe.
Time and time again, corporations of any type have proven that where costs can be reduced or profits made by imposing negative externalities on others, they will do so. In few cases are the results more damaging and widespread than in the chemical production industry. This book argues for an effective, funded, and neutral EPA to hold industry accountable for the costs they incur on others.
The result is a deluge of untested, barely tested, company only tested, tested-and-proven-dangerous-but-oh-well chemicals into our environment which have real and measurable detrimental effects on individual lives. While there are a small number of victories in which the EPA has been able to effectively mitigate or ban entirely, it seems to be just enough to give the general populace the false impression that EPA regulations are able to keep us safe.
Time and time again, corporations of any type have proven that where costs can be reduced or profits made by imposing negative externalities on others, they will do so. In few cases are the results more damaging and widespread than in the chemical production industry. This book argues for an effective, funded, and neutral EPA to hold industry accountable for the costs they incur on others.
May 11, 2014
After reading this, will never use pest control beyond vinegar inside the house, and think long and hard before ever using weed killer again...the alliance of toothless government and greedy chemical companies no doubt is behind today's weird health problems, even as the food industry is destroying the world's metabolism
May 11, 2014
The author is an ex-EPA employee who reveals how the agency serves its masters in the chemical industry and Congress to imperil America's health and environment. Informative but very technical discussion of toxic chemicals that do not meet safety standards.
December 16, 2014
Deprimente pero informativo, todos estamos contaminados y estamos matando el mundo con la complicidad de las empresas y los gobiernos que viven en una burbuja de dinero que les hace pensar que viven en otro planeta :(
May 6, 2014
Yikes, don't read this if you're having trouble falling asleep. Consumer ignorance is toxic bliss. I'm going to stick with fiction for a while.
April 20, 2023
I definitely have my reservations about this book and would do more leg work if I really wanted to vet everything. A big example of this is the whole DDT issue. I've heard a convincing case from the other side that DDT, while not healthy for you, was credited with far too much damage and unacknowledged for the many lives it saved because of its effectiveness. But all in all, that's not why I really liked this book. I'm ok with disputed facts on various products. What interested me was getting a look into how bureaucracy and conspiracy function.
This book does a fantastic job of giving very specific methods for perpetuating injustice, as well as cases where such things happened - and you can look up most of these things. The discussion of revolving doors (government oversight to business consultant) and the recommendations for how to help resolve the issue was helpful too.
This book does a fantastic job of giving very specific methods for perpetuating injustice, as well as cases where such things happened - and you can look up most of these things. The discussion of revolving doors (government oversight to business consultant) and the recommendations for how to help resolve the issue was helpful too.
Read
August 31, 2019I read the first 1/3 of this and got sidetracked by books more relevant to my work, but it is a pretty damning expose of a 1984-type administration whose purpose has been undermined by corruption by industry lobbyists and cozy cronyism.
December 19, 2019
doomed
August 18, 2022
Subject matter was really interesting but the way it was written made it a slog.
December 6, 2022
informative and depressing!
May 2, 2023
A book which could have been an article.
April 11, 2022
Authors assume too much prior knowledge of pesticides and chemical compounds for this to be counted as a popular science text. To their credit, they go deep on a few of them (like atrazine) and you’re left with an icky “Chernobyl but just lightly misted over everything” vibe.
I was hoping for a stronger narrative thread but this book is a series of case studies detailing instances of regulatory capture of EPA. Worth the read but not what I was hoping for.
I was hoping for a stronger narrative thread but this book is a series of case studies detailing instances of regulatory capture of EPA. Worth the read but not what I was hoping for.
July 17, 2015
_____This book is a must-read for anyone who is concerned about the environment, biodiversity, sustainable farming practices, pollution, the safety of pesticides and the nature of corruption in our government. The book is sometimes infuriating and has changed the way I look at the EPA, the FDA, and Mosanto, to name only a few. Also, I now try to buy organic as much as possible.
_____Our government has been bought and sold by corporations who seek only profit at the expense of consumer safety. Allergies, autism, ADD, and even SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) are all mentioned in the book and pesticides are implicated. These are not tenuous links, they are cover-ups!
_____I have tried to spread the word about this book and get the information out there, but I think many people feel helpless in the face of these powerful organizations. To consumers I would say, you are not helpless. You can hurt them with your wallet. Buy organic as much as you can (I know it's expensive). Buy local. There is a lot of information out now about the pesticide exposure of non-organic foods. This article is a good place to start:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/he...
_____The author makes a good case that SIDS is caused by a particular pesticide (encapsulated parathion) commonly found in honey in the 1980's. If this is true, then the makers of that pesticide and the government oversight organizations who failed in their duty are collectively responsible for the deaths of thousands of babies. Could they also be responsible for autism? At some time this ugly, ugly bubble will burst and the truth will come out. This novel is just the first step.
_____Our government has been bought and sold by corporations who seek only profit at the expense of consumer safety. Allergies, autism, ADD, and even SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) are all mentioned in the book and pesticides are implicated. These are not tenuous links, they are cover-ups!
_____I have tried to spread the word about this book and get the information out there, but I think many people feel helpless in the face of these powerful organizations. To consumers I would say, you are not helpless. You can hurt them with your wallet. Buy organic as much as you can (I know it's expensive). Buy local. There is a lot of information out now about the pesticide exposure of non-organic foods. This article is a good place to start:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/he...
_____The author makes a good case that SIDS is caused by a particular pesticide (encapsulated parathion) commonly found in honey in the 1980's. If this is true, then the makers of that pesticide and the government oversight organizations who failed in their duty are collectively responsible for the deaths of thousands of babies. Could they also be responsible for autism? At some time this ugly, ugly bubble will burst and the truth will come out. This novel is just the first step.
April 8, 2014
"E.G. Vallianatos' complaints about the heavy influence that large corporations wield over the U.S. government and environmental policy won't be news to anyone who follows the debates over genetically modified crops or the ingredients in popular cosmetics. What is surprising and depressing in "Poison Spring," however, is when that influence began, especially over the regulation of pesticides. ..."
Read more of my review of "Poison Spring" for The Associated Press here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/poison...
Read more of my review of "Poison Spring" for The Associated Press here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/poison...
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February 22, 201615a07 ##&&++$ LeidStoires_No chg at Education; A Lead-Poisoned River Runs Through It- Water Woes in Flint, MI .50 How credit refusal is used to bankrupt poor cities.mp3
"Half a century after after Rachel Carson's Silent Spring awakened us to the dangers of pesticides, we are poisoning our lands and waters with more toxic chemicals than ever."
16210 ##+%+% bbriefing Political Insurgency on the Left & Right; An EPA Whistleblower on the Flint Cover-Up; SCOTUS Sides With the Polluters.mp3
"Half a century after after Rachel Carson's Silent Spring awakened us to the dangers of pesticides, we are poisoning our lands and waters with more toxic chemicals than ever."
16210 ##+%+% bbriefing Political Insurgency on the Left & Right; An EPA Whistleblower on the Flint Cover-Up; SCOTUS Sides With the Polluters.mp3
December 2, 2021
Toxic payoffs, agent orange, pesticides, endocrine disruptors, questions about, and possible violations of ethics. Major corporations involved in shady cover ups, their influence in the E.P.A. and how they try to own it. Miscarriages and birth defects, not very encouraging and downright depressing. But the truth and the 'dirt' are documented. Time to move on.
October 26, 2016
Truly terrifying. So sad to see the destruction of our natural world in the name of corporate greed, whilst corrupt and toothless governments do nothing to protect the health and safety of their citizens.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2014
Excellent unknown information and how the public knew over the past 70 years they continually want to kill off insects
May 10, 2015
Everyone needs to read this book. Whatever happened to serving the people ?
June 10, 2014
Heavy on the science and the numbers, but overall a terrifying and important book.
April 17, 2017
This is a tale of our woefully ineffective EPA as told by someone who worked their for 30 years. Although it focuses on pesticides and their mishandling by the agency, it touches on many other issues the EPA is concerned with. The EPA was created to protect the American people, animals, plants and land but instead has become a protector of agribusiness and the chemical companies it is supposed to regulate. Real science is continually sacrificed for the protection of profits. All Americans lives are put in jeopardy so that chemical companies can continue to make a buck. All while politicians do their best to serve the special interests and ignore the safety of their constituents. This storyline is repeated over and over throughout the years, while our people and environment continue to suffer.
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