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Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe
The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal—exposing one of America’s most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn’t take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals.
In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O’Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal—Love Canal, it was called—that Hooker Chemical, the city’s largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick.
O’Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical’s deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn’t; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America’s imagination.
Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who—years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle— fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn’t take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals.
In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O’Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal—Love Canal, it was called—that Hooker Chemical, the city’s largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick.
O’Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical’s deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn’t; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America’s imagination.
Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who—years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle— fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
707 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 2022
170 people are currently reading
5679 people want to read
About the author
Keith O'Brien
4 books81 followersKeith O'Brien has written for The New York Times, Politico, and The Boston Globe. A longtime contributor to National Public Radio, he has appeared on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life, among other programs. He lives in New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews
February 28, 2022
Super interesting, infuriating, and inspiring. These women knew something was wrong. They trusted their instincts and fought to uncover the horrific truth that was hidden in their town. Unbelievable but absolutely believable at the same time which is so sad. Mamas vs chemical company. It should never happen, but it has over and over.
April 21, 2022
Eye-opening and frustrating, the story of Love Canal is one I hope everyone takes the time to explore. Keith O'Brien's new book, Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe, offers the perfect way to do this.
We have all the players you'd expect here: politicians more interested in their next election polls than in listening to their poisoned constituents, greedy corporations denying any chemical waste wrongdoing (or even that anyone is being harmed by the hazardous dumping), desperate homeowners and parents seeking help to escape the dangerous area from anyone who'll listen. It's a horrifying mess of chromosomal damage and lifelong illness, even death.
Sadly, it really happened.
And it's still happening, apparently.
A quick Google shows that just next month, in May 2022, people are going back to court in WNY to find out what can be done because it's still not cleaned up: https://www.wbfo.org/environment/2022...
According to Lois Gibbs, who championed the cause back in 1978 and is still watching closely today: “They did not clean up Love Canal. At best, they put a trench around it. There’s still 20,000 tons of chemicals in the center of that site.”
We're talking dioxins, benzene, toluene, literally 20k tons of oozing barrels of stuff that is proven toxic to humans in even miniscule amounts. Hooker Chemical sold this dumping ground to a school system for $1, with no warnings, and then walked away knowing an elementary school would be built to cover their deadly mess. Shameful.
We can do better. We should do better. Is there a chance someone in power will finally make it right? This Buffalo girl is now 100% invested in finding out.
We have all the players you'd expect here: politicians more interested in their next election polls than in listening to their poisoned constituents, greedy corporations denying any chemical waste wrongdoing (or even that anyone is being harmed by the hazardous dumping), desperate homeowners and parents seeking help to escape the dangerous area from anyone who'll listen. It's a horrifying mess of chromosomal damage and lifelong illness, even death.
Sadly, it really happened.
And it's still happening, apparently.
A quick Google shows that just next month, in May 2022, people are going back to court in WNY to find out what can be done because it's still not cleaned up: https://www.wbfo.org/environment/2022...
According to Lois Gibbs, who championed the cause back in 1978 and is still watching closely today: “They did not clean up Love Canal. At best, they put a trench around it. There’s still 20,000 tons of chemicals in the center of that site.”
We're talking dioxins, benzene, toluene, literally 20k tons of oozing barrels of stuff that is proven toxic to humans in even miniscule amounts. Hooker Chemical sold this dumping ground to a school system for $1, with no warnings, and then walked away knowing an elementary school would be built to cover their deadly mess. Shameful.
We can do better. We should do better. Is there a chance someone in power will finally make it right? This Buffalo girl is now 100% invested in finding out.
March 5, 2022
Paradise Falls was an amazing read. What happened to the families living on a toxic dump site made me ill, and the courage and determination of the mothers of Love Canal inspired me.
I grew up on the Niagara River. We swam at a beach on Grand Island and boated and fished on the river. I remember catching sunfish and bluegill with dad. On a clear day, you could see the mist of Niagara Falls.
We moved in 1963 and on car trips back to Tonawanda we knew we were home by the smell of the methane burning in the gasoline storage tanks along the river.
Western New York has a long history of industry. The power source of Niagara Falls and the salt deposits were perfect for chemical industries.
Just down the road from my childhood home, the home where Dad grew up, was a plant that processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project. They dumped radioactive waste into the local creeks and sanitary system and the town dump where dad went to shot rats as a teen.
In those days, there was no oversight for industry and its byproducts. No Superfund. No Clean Air or Clean Water laws. People who grew up in my neighborhood recount the many family members who had cancer. My parents both died of cancer as well. But in the 1950s and 1960s no one knew that harmful toxins were in the environment. Mom had three miscarriages between me and my brother. Now I wonder if their cause was environmental. She f grew up in a wartime housing project near one of the contaminated creeks.
Not far to the north of my hometown is Love Canal.
Imagine learning that your home was riddled with toxins. Imagine that your children were perpetually ill with rare diseases. Imagine that your home had no resale value and you couldn’t afford to just leave and move away. Imagine that no one would take responsibility or help you. What would you do?
In 1972, Lois Gibbs and the women of Love Canal were in this situation. They saw the orange creek water and black sludge in the park. Irritating fumes rose from their basements. They watched their children with chemical burns, rashes, breathing problems, and seizures. They watched a child die.
Lois got mad and she educated herself and championed their cause. She stood up to power. She went to the governor. She went to Washington D.C. She learned how to use the media and public opinion. She ‘kidnapped’ EPA agents. She lost her marriage but found a calling and a new partner.
She was just a housewife, like most of the women of Love Canal. But because of their activism, President Carter signed the Superfund Act before leaving the White House. An imperfect law that has been hobbled, but has also remediated about 2000 toxic sites.
Keith O’Brien has written a powerful narrative nonfiction book about this story. O’Brien draws deeply from the inside stories of the women, stories that had me shaken and in tears. His research incorporates shocking insights into Hooker Chemicals and details the action and inaction of state and local officials.
I was not as familiar with Luella Kenny’s story. Her standing up to Armand Hammer, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, their annual meeting is amazing and riveting. The death of Kenny’s son is one of the great tragedies of the story.
Later in life we lived in Montague, Michigan, situated along Lake Michigan, and where another Hooker Chemical toxic site is located. It was a reminder that toxins can lurk anywhere I go.
Reading this story I was often reminded of the Flint Michigan Water Crisis, how citizens had to fight for justice, how local and state officials ignored their concerns. Women and children and working class citizens have too often been sidelined because of the fiscal power of business and industry. But when the people rise up, they can achieve amazing things.
I received a free ARC from the publisher through Goodreads. My review is fair and unbiased.
I grew up on the Niagara River. We swam at a beach on Grand Island and boated and fished on the river. I remember catching sunfish and bluegill with dad. On a clear day, you could see the mist of Niagara Falls.
We moved in 1963 and on car trips back to Tonawanda we knew we were home by the smell of the methane burning in the gasoline storage tanks along the river.
Western New York has a long history of industry. The power source of Niagara Falls and the salt deposits were perfect for chemical industries.
Just down the road from my childhood home, the home where Dad grew up, was a plant that processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project. They dumped radioactive waste into the local creeks and sanitary system and the town dump where dad went to shot rats as a teen.
In those days, there was no oversight for industry and its byproducts. No Superfund. No Clean Air or Clean Water laws. People who grew up in my neighborhood recount the many family members who had cancer. My parents both died of cancer as well. But in the 1950s and 1960s no one knew that harmful toxins were in the environment. Mom had three miscarriages between me and my brother. Now I wonder if their cause was environmental. She f grew up in a wartime housing project near one of the contaminated creeks.
Not far to the north of my hometown is Love Canal.
Imagine learning that your home was riddled with toxins. Imagine that your children were perpetually ill with rare diseases. Imagine that your home had no resale value and you couldn’t afford to just leave and move away. Imagine that no one would take responsibility or help you. What would you do?
In 1972, Lois Gibbs and the women of Love Canal were in this situation. They saw the orange creek water and black sludge in the park. Irritating fumes rose from their basements. They watched their children with chemical burns, rashes, breathing problems, and seizures. They watched a child die.
Lois got mad and she educated herself and championed their cause. She stood up to power. She went to the governor. She went to Washington D.C. She learned how to use the media and public opinion. She ‘kidnapped’ EPA agents. She lost her marriage but found a calling and a new partner.
She was just a housewife, like most of the women of Love Canal. But because of their activism, President Carter signed the Superfund Act before leaving the White House. An imperfect law that has been hobbled, but has also remediated about 2000 toxic sites.
Keith O’Brien has written a powerful narrative nonfiction book about this story. O’Brien draws deeply from the inside stories of the women, stories that had me shaken and in tears. His research incorporates shocking insights into Hooker Chemicals and details the action and inaction of state and local officials.
I was not as familiar with Luella Kenny’s story. Her standing up to Armand Hammer, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, their annual meeting is amazing and riveting. The death of Kenny’s son is one of the great tragedies of the story.
Later in life we lived in Montague, Michigan, situated along Lake Michigan, and where another Hooker Chemical toxic site is located. It was a reminder that toxins can lurk anywhere I go.
Reading this story I was often reminded of the Flint Michigan Water Crisis, how citizens had to fight for justice, how local and state officials ignored their concerns. Women and children and working class citizens have too often been sidelined because of the fiscal power of business and industry. But when the people rise up, they can achieve amazing things.
I received a free ARC from the publisher through Goodreads. My review is fair and unbiased.
July 7, 2022
During the early 1990s I was an attorney working for General Motors, and my job was to argue for the corporation against municipalities, states, countries, and Native nations who were looking for GM to clean up the messes made. I was on the wrong side. It was an emotional gut punch on the daily, as I toured places that had recently been named Superfund sites, and then arguing with a straight face that no remediation was needed.
When the publisher sent me a beautiful finished copy of Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien I moved it to the top of my pile. I knew that this would be powerful, moving, anger-inducing, and shocking. I also knew there would be people I admired and some that infuriated me. What I didn't know, was that it would bring up a lot of my residual anger at GM for the horrific job.
This is the story of Love Canal, which was in the news during my teen years. But, I lived in Colorado, and I don't think I ever realized the brilliance and tenacity of these housewives who fought relentlessly for their families. Lois Gibbs learned that her neighborhood was riddled with toxins. She watched as the children of her community were born with inordinate numbers of birth defects, and rare diseases. She watched as the numbers of miscarriages skyrocketed. And then saw the impossibility of leaving when the homes plummeted in value. When nobody stood up on their behalf and took responsibility, she did.
She educated herself and organized the women of the community. She spoke to politicians, used the media, and forced people to listen. Along the way, her marriage crumbled, but she became the force behind the Superfund Act which was signed into law by President Carter. This is a woman we should all aspire to be.
The book is emotional and brought me to tears more than once. I followed it by watching several news videos on youtube. I highly recommend those as well.
When the publisher sent me a beautiful finished copy of Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien I moved it to the top of my pile. I knew that this would be powerful, moving, anger-inducing, and shocking. I also knew there would be people I admired and some that infuriated me. What I didn't know, was that it would bring up a lot of my residual anger at GM for the horrific job.
This is the story of Love Canal, which was in the news during my teen years. But, I lived in Colorado, and I don't think I ever realized the brilliance and tenacity of these housewives who fought relentlessly for their families. Lois Gibbs learned that her neighborhood was riddled with toxins. She watched as the children of her community were born with inordinate numbers of birth defects, and rare diseases. She watched as the numbers of miscarriages skyrocketed. And then saw the impossibility of leaving when the homes plummeted in value. When nobody stood up on their behalf and took responsibility, she did.
She educated herself and organized the women of the community. She spoke to politicians, used the media, and forced people to listen. Along the way, her marriage crumbled, but she became the force behind the Superfund Act which was signed into law by President Carter. This is a woman we should all aspire to be.
The book is emotional and brought me to tears more than once. I followed it by watching several news videos on youtube. I highly recommend those as well.
January 21, 2024
Oh, Love Canal. One of the funniest town names in America and also the site of one the worst environmental disasters, too. If you have ever heard the term "Superfund Site" and were thoroughly confused, then Paradise Falls by Keith O'Brien is the perfect book for you. It's also the perfect book for you if you love great writing, working class people taking on amoral corporations, and politicians being politicians.
O'Brien tells the story masterfully and deliberately. This is not a book which is constantly throwing curve balls at you to ratchet up the drama. Instead, O'Brien just tells the story. This can be a recipe for disaster if the author focuses on the wrong things but O'Brien has no issues in that respect. His prose is simply compelling without being over-dramatic and he lets his subjects shine. Just as importantly, he doesn't lionize anyone, either. Lois Gibbs, for instance, does some heroic things in this book. However, O'Brien doesn't shy away from pointing out that there were numerous detractors as well. It's this attention to detail without slowing the narrative that kept me hooked and literally made me lose sleep. Not because I live near a Superfund Site but because I wanted to keep reading.
The book is fantastic and anyone will enjoy it.
O'Brien tells the story masterfully and deliberately. This is not a book which is constantly throwing curve balls at you to ratchet up the drama. Instead, O'Brien just tells the story. This can be a recipe for disaster if the author focuses on the wrong things but O'Brien has no issues in that respect. His prose is simply compelling without being over-dramatic and he lets his subjects shine. Just as importantly, he doesn't lionize anyone, either. Lois Gibbs, for instance, does some heroic things in this book. However, O'Brien doesn't shy away from pointing out that there were numerous detractors as well. It's this attention to detail without slowing the narrative that kept me hooked and literally made me lose sleep. Not because I live near a Superfund Site but because I wanted to keep reading.
The book is fantastic and anyone will enjoy it.
April 20, 2022
I was nine years old when the old Love Canal in Niagara Falls first popped into the news. By the time it was a full-blown story, I was 11, watching the news every night with my grandparent's and wondering just how something like that could happen and how people could be treated like that community was treated. 40+ years later, after reading this book, my questions are still the same as they were when I was 11.
I will admit that this book both angered me and frustrated me. It took me a long time to read because I could only get through a few chapters at a time because I was just SO angry at what was being done to the people of the Love Canal area [IF I had had a print book, this book would have gotten thrown I am sure of it - not since Columbine by David Cullen have I been so angry while reading a book]. About mid-way through the book, I was looking up who David Axelrod was [I won't even say what I think of this person and his treatment of everyone involved] and found a link talking about the current state of Love Canal and got really angry all over again; 44 years later, it is still uninhabitable and the air is still unstable and they are STILL unsure just how much is is affecting the areas where people still live. This knowledge didn't make finishing this book any easier - knowing that they never get the answers they need [or want] and that people are STILL dealing with this issue...well, you would understand the anger anyone would be feeling.
My admiration for the women that fought the politicians and the chemical companies and fought hard FOR their families is beyond words and in reading all they did for the author at the end of the book just made that admiration grow. This is a story that needed to be told and now that it has been, needs to be read by everyone. Because truly, this could have been any one of us, or our families. We must never forget that.
Thank you to NetGalley, Keith O'Brien, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Pantheon for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I will admit that this book both angered me and frustrated me. It took me a long time to read because I could only get through a few chapters at a time because I was just SO angry at what was being done to the people of the Love Canal area [IF I had had a print book, this book would have gotten thrown I am sure of it - not since Columbine by David Cullen have I been so angry while reading a book]. About mid-way through the book, I was looking up who David Axelrod was [I won't even say what I think of this person and his treatment of everyone involved] and found a link talking about the current state of Love Canal and got really angry all over again; 44 years later, it is still uninhabitable and the air is still unstable and they are STILL unsure just how much is is affecting the areas where people still live. This knowledge didn't make finishing this book any easier - knowing that they never get the answers they need [or want] and that people are STILL dealing with this issue...well, you would understand the anger anyone would be feeling.
My admiration for the women that fought the politicians and the chemical companies and fought hard FOR their families is beyond words and in reading all they did for the author at the end of the book just made that admiration grow. This is a story that needed to be told and now that it has been, needs to be read by everyone. Because truly, this could have been any one of us, or our families. We must never forget that.
Thank you to NetGalley, Keith O'Brien, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Pantheon for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 18, 2023
Forty-five years ago, I was graduating from high school as the story of Love Canal started breaking. The epic nature of the wreckless corporate behavior, political collusion and corruption, and the governmental changes that came about that would supposedly prevent this from every happening again is brought home in O'Brien's book in a riveting narrative about how the residents took such a powerful role in fighting–literally–for their lives. But what strikes me so bleakly is that in those ensuing forty-five years, has anything substantive really changed? Corporate America still values profits at all costs, even more than in the 40s and 50s, still covers up their transgressions rather than taking responsibility for them, still buys their way out of every situation with an army of attorneys as well as bought-and-paid-for politicians, and the average person gets hosed at every turn. Every chapter in this great book just boils me. We never learn, as witnessed by the Republican party systematically dismantling every environmental regulation in the way of their corporate overlord's profits, gutting the one good thing to come out of Love Canal: the growth of the EPA and the Superfund legislation used to make polluters pay for their messes. Well done, Republicans; you continue to value profits over people, greed over human lives, companies over social justice. Makes one hate everything about our systems.
August 10, 2022
Okay, I need to write this now while the white-hot flame of indignation burns within me...
I am not a history buff, but I was a child of the seventies, and I find it hard to resist learning with adult eyes the things I vaguely remember hearing about as a kid. And folks, the 70's was a crazy decade. Keith O'Brien's Paradise Falls is the latest such exploration, and believe you me, I will not be soon forgetting it! This is a story so over-the-top David vs. Goliath, good vs. evil, that I can hardly take it in. The wrong that was done to the people in this Niagara Falls community by corporate polluters, as well as the state and federal government is staggering. This is a meticulously researched non-fiction work of journalism, but it reads like a horror novel.
And, honestly, I'm NOT exaggerating. At one point, reading this book, I literally got chills. That's literal in the dictionary sense of the word, not the common misuse. And I feel the need to give a trigger warning. One of the individuals featured in the narrative is a very sick six-year-old boy. Now, I don't even like kids, but reading of this innocent child's suffering was almost more than I could bear. And you would not be human if you didn't empathize with the pain of his parents.
If I have not been explicit enough yet, this book is about the chemical contamination of a neighborhood that came to be known as Love Canal. It is about the residents who fought for their rights, their health, their finances, and to protect their children. Imagine being a person of modest means who has sunk every cent you've ever earned--and many you haven't--into your house, only to discover it's polluted beyond redemption. You know that every day you spend there, you and your loved ones are being poisoned, but you've got nowhere else to go. And the people who did this refuse to take any responsibility. And the people who are supposed to police and protect the citizens say you're just housewives and that you're too stupid to understand these matters. Are you seeing red yet? I finished reading the book half an hour ago, and I think I'm still hyperventilating. This all happened 40-some years ago, but it's just so WRONG that I can hardly wrap my head around it.
And I know it sounds like a bummer to read a book like this, and in some way it is, but it's so important. The other day I was speaking to a young co-worker and made an Erin Brockovich reference. Another (old) co-worker looked at me and said, "She doesn't know who you're talking about." And she didn't. And didn't care enough to ask me who Brockovich was. But it is the Erin Brockovichs and the residents of Love Canal who fought the vital battles to protect us all. And you better believe they deserve our gratitude.
And aside from all of the above, this is just a damn good story. It's a classic underdog tale, full of memorable characters and drama. At one point there's a completely insane hostage standoff. This is some kind of story! Even if I had been an adult watching the news back in the 70's, I wouldn't have gotten a fraction of the big picture that Keith O'Brien so skillfully lays out. This book should be required reading for citizens and public servants alike. People, it's time to learn from our painful lessons!
I am not a history buff, but I was a child of the seventies, and I find it hard to resist learning with adult eyes the things I vaguely remember hearing about as a kid. And folks, the 70's was a crazy decade. Keith O'Brien's Paradise Falls is the latest such exploration, and believe you me, I will not be soon forgetting it! This is a story so over-the-top David vs. Goliath, good vs. evil, that I can hardly take it in. The wrong that was done to the people in this Niagara Falls community by corporate polluters, as well as the state and federal government is staggering. This is a meticulously researched non-fiction work of journalism, but it reads like a horror novel.
And, honestly, I'm NOT exaggerating. At one point, reading this book, I literally got chills. That's literal in the dictionary sense of the word, not the common misuse. And I feel the need to give a trigger warning. One of the individuals featured in the narrative is a very sick six-year-old boy. Now, I don't even like kids, but reading of this innocent child's suffering was almost more than I could bear. And you would not be human if you didn't empathize with the pain of his parents.
If I have not been explicit enough yet, this book is about the chemical contamination of a neighborhood that came to be known as Love Canal. It is about the residents who fought for their rights, their health, their finances, and to protect their children. Imagine being a person of modest means who has sunk every cent you've ever earned--and many you haven't--into your house, only to discover it's polluted beyond redemption. You know that every day you spend there, you and your loved ones are being poisoned, but you've got nowhere else to go. And the people who did this refuse to take any responsibility. And the people who are supposed to police and protect the citizens say you're just housewives and that you're too stupid to understand these matters. Are you seeing red yet? I finished reading the book half an hour ago, and I think I'm still hyperventilating. This all happened 40-some years ago, but it's just so WRONG that I can hardly wrap my head around it.
And I know it sounds like a bummer to read a book like this, and in some way it is, but it's so important. The other day I was speaking to a young co-worker and made an Erin Brockovich reference. Another (old) co-worker looked at me and said, "She doesn't know who you're talking about." And she didn't. And didn't care enough to ask me who Brockovich was. But it is the Erin Brockovichs and the residents of Love Canal who fought the vital battles to protect us all. And you better believe they deserve our gratitude.
And aside from all of the above, this is just a damn good story. It's a classic underdog tale, full of memorable characters and drama. At one point there's a completely insane hostage standoff. This is some kind of story! Even if I had been an adult watching the news back in the 70's, I wouldn't have gotten a fraction of the big picture that Keith O'Brien so skillfully lays out. This book should be required reading for citizens and public servants alike. People, it's time to learn from our painful lessons!
August 16, 2022
OUTSTANDING BOOK! Highly recommend!
A true story about badass women as foot soldiers in the fight for their families and neighborhood in Love Canal, near Niagara Falls. Love Canal was used as a dumping site of toxic waste by Hooker Chemicals. Over 20,000 tons of toxic waste comprised of 250 different types of chemicals were dumped in the community.
Hooker Chemicals sold the property to the school district for $1 with a clause that Hooker Chemicals could not be held liable for any future claims regarding the property. A school and playground were built on top of the toxic dump site.
Birth defects, miscarriages, illnesses and death occurred at incredibly high rates in the community. Several mothers, including Lois Gibbs and Luella Kenny, banned together and said "Enough" and began strategizing how to make a difference.
There are many prominent people in this story including Governor John Kerry, President Jimmy Carter, Jane Fonda and her husband Tom Hayden, Al Gore, Daniel Moynihan, David Axelrod, Gary Hart, and others.
Later, Hooker Chemicals was acquired by Occidental Petroleum.
One critical turning point was a nun, Joan Malone, who joined the fight. Near her desk was a quote, "Pray for the dead. Work like hell for the living." Her strategy was to speak at the upcoming shareholder meeting for Occidental Petroleum. She met with Luella Kelly whose young son had died due to the toxins in the community.
Joan Malone and Luella Kenny attended the Occidental Petroleum shareholder meeting led by CEO Armand Hammer and shared their proposed resolution----the description of this shareholder meeting is incredibly frustrating and demeaning. The day before the shareholder meeting, Lois Gibbs held two EPA employees hostage because they weren't doing anything for the Love Canal community.
Because of these incredible women, President Jimmy Carter, with bipartisan support, created the Superfund in 1980 to provide federal assistance at hazardous waste sites.
I listened to Paradise Falls on audiobook. At the same time, I am reading How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue. It is a novel about a fictional African village, Kosawa, that has toxic drinking water due to an American oil company in their community. Thula, a young woman, becomes a revolutionary leader in the fight for her family and neighbors.
Keith O'Brien does an amazing job weaving the narrative tale that represents the power of people standing up for what they believe in.
Highly, highly recommend!
A true story about badass women as foot soldiers in the fight for their families and neighborhood in Love Canal, near Niagara Falls. Love Canal was used as a dumping site of toxic waste by Hooker Chemicals. Over 20,000 tons of toxic waste comprised of 250 different types of chemicals were dumped in the community.
Hooker Chemicals sold the property to the school district for $1 with a clause that Hooker Chemicals could not be held liable for any future claims regarding the property. A school and playground were built on top of the toxic dump site.
Birth defects, miscarriages, illnesses and death occurred at incredibly high rates in the community. Several mothers, including Lois Gibbs and Luella Kenny, banned together and said "Enough" and began strategizing how to make a difference.
There are many prominent people in this story including Governor John Kerry, President Jimmy Carter, Jane Fonda and her husband Tom Hayden, Al Gore, Daniel Moynihan, David Axelrod, Gary Hart, and others.
Later, Hooker Chemicals was acquired by Occidental Petroleum.
One critical turning point was a nun, Joan Malone, who joined the fight. Near her desk was a quote, "Pray for the dead. Work like hell for the living." Her strategy was to speak at the upcoming shareholder meeting for Occidental Petroleum. She met with Luella Kelly whose young son had died due to the toxins in the community.
Joan Malone and Luella Kenny attended the Occidental Petroleum shareholder meeting led by CEO Armand Hammer and shared their proposed resolution----the description of this shareholder meeting is incredibly frustrating and demeaning. The day before the shareholder meeting, Lois Gibbs held two EPA employees hostage because they weren't doing anything for the Love Canal community.
Because of these incredible women, President Jimmy Carter, with bipartisan support, created the Superfund in 1980 to provide federal assistance at hazardous waste sites.
I listened to Paradise Falls on audiobook. At the same time, I am reading How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue. It is a novel about a fictional African village, Kosawa, that has toxic drinking water due to an American oil company in their community. Thula, a young woman, becomes a revolutionary leader in the fight for her family and neighbors.
Keith O'Brien does an amazing job weaving the narrative tale that represents the power of people standing up for what they believe in.
Highly, highly recommend!
October 1, 2022
A thorough, journalistic look at the Love Canal crisis from the 1970s. At times it felt too long and dry for my taste. Generally, the more I read, the more I recognize how powerful stories like this can come across in memoir style (for example, Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains). It takes a really special author to be able to convey the information but to not lose the reader in the weeds, especially with such an unwieldy story like this that affects residents, town authorities, state authorities, federal authorities, doctors, scientists, businesspeople, etc. The strongest part for me was learning about Jon Allen Kenny's health struggles and his mother's fight to make people aware of her family's problems. I also liked learning about the scientist Beverly Pagan standing up to expose what she believed were unethical & dangerous practices, apparently things that make bosses decide to track you...
April 1, 2023
Read for the Booktube Prize 2023.
December 1, 2023
Read for the BTP
October 9, 2023
This was a tough round of the Booktube Prize for me because I spent the two months interviewing, prepping for, and then starting a new job. Time to make solid progress? The brain power needed for nonfiction? Ha!
All of which makes me glad Paradise Falls is such a riveting book. O'Brien shows us what happened at Love Canal after a chemical company filled it in with barrels upon barrels of toxic waste, and then a school was built on top. Kids reported weird "rocks", neighborhood basements leached noxious fumes, and many, many people became sick.
O'Brien's storytelling is masterful, relating how women - neighborhood mothers, scientists, activists - fought against a chemical company that denied their reality at every turn, and government officials who were convinced it wasn't their problem. The research is deep, as evidenced by the lengthy and thoughtful acknowledgements, and it's obvious much care went into the text and details.
Once my new job started the only time I was only able to carve out reading time on my evening commute, and I looked forward to picking up this book every dang day. Once I finished I realized I wouldn't change a thing - five stars.
All of which makes me glad Paradise Falls is such a riveting book. O'Brien shows us what happened at Love Canal after a chemical company filled it in with barrels upon barrels of toxic waste, and then a school was built on top. Kids reported weird "rocks", neighborhood basements leached noxious fumes, and many, many people became sick.
O'Brien's storytelling is masterful, relating how women - neighborhood mothers, scientists, activists - fought against a chemical company that denied their reality at every turn, and government officials who were convinced it wasn't their problem. The research is deep, as evidenced by the lengthy and thoughtful acknowledgements, and it's obvious much care went into the text and details.
Once my new job started the only time I was only able to carve out reading time on my evening commute, and I looked forward to picking up this book every dang day. Once I finished I realized I wouldn't change a thing - five stars.
April 13, 2022
Love Canal construction began in 1894. William Love, a railroad entrepreneur, scouted out a tract of land in Niagara Falls, New York, with the idea that he would build an idyllic community of grid streets and preplanned houses and buildings. Love Canal was meant to be a shipping lane, as well as provide hydroelectric power for the town that Love envisioned. Unfortunately, construction was halted due to economic crisis, as well as the lobbying of preservationists to save the waterway of Niagara Falls proper. One construction stopped, the City of Niagara began dumping household and business garbage in the canal.
In the 1940's, Hooker Chemical Company was granted access to dump waste in the canal by the Niagara Power and Development Company. They turned the 16 acres around the canal into a chemical waste dump. They buried 55 gallon drums full of all manner of chemicals, which totaled an estimated 22, 000 tons. The city bought back the site in the 1950's and built a school atop the former chemical dump. As the years went by, residents began to complain about horrible smells, puddles of weird colored water in their yards and basements, and black fluid coming from the canal. People were developing rashes, breathing problems, reproductive issues and birth defects, and cancers. (Hooker Chemical Company was bought by the OXY company.)
This book is well researched about the history of the site, the legal issues, the clean up, etc. I learned a lot of information about this previously unknown to me location and disaster. The author included a lot of personal information about key residents and officials that were involved in the clean up. I googled to see what the town looked like, as I bought the Audible version of this book, and ran across an article that says people that living around this supposedly cleaned up and contained area are experiencing the same exact issues the residents in this book did. Clearly, they did not clean up as well as they thought they did, though I cannot begin to imagine how much of the chemicals have seeped into the surrounding water table and ground. Slapping some new siding on contaminated houses isn't really a clean up. I cannot believe I have never heard of this until now. This was a really good book. I listened to it the entire day while I was doing things around the house. If I had a physical copy, I would say that I couldn't put it down. This has inspired me to look into other SUPERFUND sites to see if there are any other books about them out there.
In the 1940's, Hooker Chemical Company was granted access to dump waste in the canal by the Niagara Power and Development Company. They turned the 16 acres around the canal into a chemical waste dump. They buried 55 gallon drums full of all manner of chemicals, which totaled an estimated 22, 000 tons. The city bought back the site in the 1950's and built a school atop the former chemical dump. As the years went by, residents began to complain about horrible smells, puddles of weird colored water in their yards and basements, and black fluid coming from the canal. People were developing rashes, breathing problems, reproductive issues and birth defects, and cancers. (Hooker Chemical Company was bought by the OXY company.)
This book is well researched about the history of the site, the legal issues, the clean up, etc. I learned a lot of information about this previously unknown to me location and disaster. The author included a lot of personal information about key residents and officials that were involved in the clean up. I googled to see what the town looked like, as I bought the Audible version of this book, and ran across an article that says people that living around this supposedly cleaned up and contained area are experiencing the same exact issues the residents in this book did. Clearly, they did not clean up as well as they thought they did, though I cannot begin to imagine how much of the chemicals have seeped into the surrounding water table and ground. Slapping some new siding on contaminated houses isn't really a clean up. I cannot believe I have never heard of this until now. This was a really good book. I listened to it the entire day while I was doing things around the house. If I had a physical copy, I would say that I couldn't put it down. This has inspired me to look into other SUPERFUND sites to see if there are any other books about them out there.
Read
January 22, 2025Great book that reaffirms the fact that companies and the government do not care about you!!!! The ladies of love canal were not having it and neither am I!!
July 10, 2022
If you were born in the 1970s you have probably heard of Love Canal but don't really know what happened except it was a toxic waste site. Born in the last 30 years? You may never even have HEARD of Love Canal. Pick up this book. It's likely the most definitive book on Love Canal, impeccably researched, with tons of new documents uncovered that have been sitting in people's basements and attics since the 1980s. It also includes interviews from some of the top players. And it's written by a journalist, so it has an unputdownable narrative storytelling writing style.
The author chose to tell this story of Love Canal from the perspective of three women: two moms who lived in Love Canal and a scientist who lived nearby who began investigating the situation. This perspective is riveting and respectful, telling how it was these women who moved mountains.
The story is, on the one hand, shocking in how many chemicals were just dumped and covered up without anyone seeming to care pre-Love Canal. Environmental devastation and toxic chemicals were commonplace back then: smog was terrible, everyone smoked cigarettes, people poured toxins onto their lawns and gardens, and major companies poisoned everything. It feels like a million years ago. On the other hand, you'll realize how some things just haven't changed; we are still destroying our environment and companies still hold a lot of power and face little consequences (even when they're fined, it's way cheaper for them to pay for lawsuits and fines than to shut down certain operations).
1970s disasters are having a moment right now. There's a fantastic Netflix documentary about Three Mile Island called "Meltdown" that I also recommend. I suppose we are fascinated because these are stories that most adults who are younger than Baby Boomers don't remember. And if you do remember them, today you're getting the true, detailed story for the first time, in the context of what we know now about the environment. This book is a fascinating look at our history, and I wish it would serve as a warning to more people.
The author chose to tell this story of Love Canal from the perspective of three women: two moms who lived in Love Canal and a scientist who lived nearby who began investigating the situation. This perspective is riveting and respectful, telling how it was these women who moved mountains.
The story is, on the one hand, shocking in how many chemicals were just dumped and covered up without anyone seeming to care pre-Love Canal. Environmental devastation and toxic chemicals were commonplace back then: smog was terrible, everyone smoked cigarettes, people poured toxins onto their lawns and gardens, and major companies poisoned everything. It feels like a million years ago. On the other hand, you'll realize how some things just haven't changed; we are still destroying our environment and companies still hold a lot of power and face little consequences (even when they're fined, it's way cheaper for them to pay for lawsuits and fines than to shut down certain operations).
1970s disasters are having a moment right now. There's a fantastic Netflix documentary about Three Mile Island called "Meltdown" that I also recommend. I suppose we are fascinated because these are stories that most adults who are younger than Baby Boomers don't remember. And if you do remember them, today you're getting the true, detailed story for the first time, in the context of what we know now about the environment. This book is a fascinating look at our history, and I wish it would serve as a warning to more people.
June 9, 2023
Read for the Booktube prize, now selected for the Semifinals.
My Ranking: #1 out of 6 books (top of the list)
Rating: 5 stars
Net Promoter Score: 9 (Promoter)
My favorite book in the list, this is an investigative journalistic endeavor into the pollution caused by Hooker Chemical in the area around Niagara Falls during the 1970s.
When kids start falling sick, it is upto their mothers, most of them homemakers, to gather up people and protest against the big corporation and the government who is slacking on any action.
Brilliant read, very well paced and thoroughly investigated.
Recommended for sure.
My Ranking: #1 out of 6 books (top of the list)
Rating: 5 stars
Net Promoter Score: 9 (Promoter)
My favorite book in the list, this is an investigative journalistic endeavor into the pollution caused by Hooker Chemical in the area around Niagara Falls during the 1970s.
When kids start falling sick, it is upto their mothers, most of them homemakers, to gather up people and protest against the big corporation and the government who is slacking on any action.
Brilliant read, very well paced and thoroughly investigated.
Recommended for sure.
November 18, 2022
Love Canal, located on the east end of the city of Niagara Falls, New York, was originally part of a grandiose dream. It was supposed to connect the Niagara River with the famous falls, traveling through a new, middle class subdivision. The dream was abandoned. Eventually the neighboring Hooker chemical company saw the old canal as a cheap way to get rid of waste products. They filled in the canal, then carelessly buried thousands of leaky barrels of toxic chemicals. You know the rest of the story. A community grew there, including a school. Black, foul smelling puddles accumulated in back yards every time it rained. Rocks seemed to catch fire. Community residents suffered from mysterious ailments. No one would take the blame or offer a remedy; not Hooker, not the school district, not the city, not the state of New York, and eventually not even the Environmental Protection Agency. It took years of determined action by working class residents to capture the nation's attention. The story seemed to have a satisfying ending when Congress created the Superfund to clean dangerously polluted sites. But the old combination of money in politics has prevailed. New Love Canals, threatening the health of human and animal populations are still being created.
In November 2022 the Daily Progress, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, reported the worst contamination ever of a public water supply in the Roanoke Valley. Hexafluouropropylene, also known as GenX, a forever chemical has been detected in the water supply used by 69,000 people. The source has been discovered. A water treatment company that washes equipment of a firm that manufactures various consumer products has been flushing residue into the Roanoke River. Since 2014. The EPA is studying its long term effects. Incidentally, an EPA health advisory is NOT enforceable.
In November 2022 the Daily Progress, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, reported the worst contamination ever of a public water supply in the Roanoke Valley. Hexafluouropropylene, also known as GenX, a forever chemical has been detected in the water supply used by 69,000 people. The source has been discovered. A water treatment company that washes equipment of a firm that manufactures various consumer products has been flushing residue into the Roanoke River. Since 2014. The EPA is studying its long term effects. Incidentally, an EPA health advisory is NOT enforceable.
April 5, 2022
A wild, true story about a neighborhood contaminated near Niagara Falls and all the resulting health problems, especially among children. In the late 70s, people started to notice that more and more children were getting sick in a town near Niagara Falls. It turns out that decades before, there had been a canal where chemical waste was dumped. Now this waste was contaminating the air, the soil, the water, etc. And the population most affected were the children. After some near-deaths and some actual fatalities, the people of this city, especially some mothers whose children had been affected, start fighting the government and the big corporation responsible to fix the problem.
This was a fascinating story! I had never heard of this environmental catastrophe before, and it is so tragic. The author's writing style though is great, and this story was very captivating.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fascinating story! I had never heard of this environmental catastrophe before, and it is so tragic. The author's writing style though is great, and this story was very captivating.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 16, 2022
Terrific read. Paradise Falls reads like a great novel, even if you know the story well. The characters in this tale include local moms, “public servants,” the press, celebrities, and the residents of Love Canal’
June 22, 2022
Good nonfiction account of Love Canal catastrophe. Spurred an environmental movement and cleaning up old dump sites.
December 4, 2023
Booktube Prize Finals 2023. Rating to come later.
April 15, 2023
Wonderfully researched and ridiculously infuriating.
I knew nothing about Love Canal until I read a book about Flint's water crisis. It was briefly mentioned there, and I continued down the rabbit hole.
Get some pissed off mothers and scientists and activists and even Jane Fonda on the same side, and progress will still take too long. But it doesn't stop. It'll break your heart and inspire you, and if you're a fan of narrative nonfiction, you'll be happy with this one.
I google mapped it today - barren. Sad. And telling a story that should stick.
I knew nothing about Love Canal until I read a book about Flint's water crisis. It was briefly mentioned there, and I continued down the rabbit hole.
Get some pissed off mothers and scientists and activists and even Jane Fonda on the same side, and progress will still take too long. But it doesn't stop. It'll break your heart and inspire you, and if you're a fan of narrative nonfiction, you'll be happy with this one.
I google mapped it today - barren. Sad. And telling a story that should stick.
July 12, 2023
This was a factual book about the Love Canal cris in the 70's and 80s. Very interesting, but very upsetting at the same time. I am happy that those folks finally got justice. It makes one wonder how many other big companies literally get away with murder.
February 24, 2024
5 stars.
Engrossing, upsetting, eye-opening.
Engrossing, upsetting, eye-opening.
June 3, 2022
Reading this true story about a long ignored environmental catastrophe, and the people who suffered the consequences because of it, had me enraged, bewildered, and inspired.
Starting in the 1940s, Hooker Chemical began dumping a hazardous cocktail of chemicals into an old canal. Disgustingly, after coming to the realization that the Love Canal property was quickly becoming a liability, Hooker sold the plot to the board of education for $1. Later, it became the site of an elementary school, playground and a residential neighborhood.
It wasn't until the mid-late 1970s that this toxic scourge was recognized and addressed thanks to concerned mothers like Lois Gibbs, Elene Thornton & Luella Kenny, microbiologist Joseph McDougall, congressional aide Bonnie Casper, scientist Beverly Paigen, Niagara Gazette reporter Michael Brown & others.
It was so interesting getting to hear from the different players involved in this situation. In O'Brien's book you see both the best and the worst of humanity. You behold the kinds of horrible secrets & harm that can be kept and hidden, and the sort of remarkable change that can be accomplished with gumption and relentlessness.
I was heartbroken reading about women and their babies suffering from birth defects, family pets dying premature deaths, and noxious chemicals invading resident's homes, lives & well-being. Most excruciating of all was the downward spiral of 7 year old Jon Allen Kenny who developed a host of medical issues & ultimately died.
While the overarching action of this book took place nearly 50 years ago, the warnings that require heeding and the lessons that need learning ring as true now as they did then.
I give Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I highly recommend this book to those who "enjoyed":
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women by Kate Moore
Thank you NetGalley & Pantheon/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC. Paradise Falls is out NOW!
Starting in the 1940s, Hooker Chemical began dumping a hazardous cocktail of chemicals into an old canal. Disgustingly, after coming to the realization that the Love Canal property was quickly becoming a liability, Hooker sold the plot to the board of education for $1. Later, it became the site of an elementary school, playground and a residential neighborhood.
It wasn't until the mid-late 1970s that this toxic scourge was recognized and addressed thanks to concerned mothers like Lois Gibbs, Elene Thornton & Luella Kenny, microbiologist Joseph McDougall, congressional aide Bonnie Casper, scientist Beverly Paigen, Niagara Gazette reporter Michael Brown & others.
It was so interesting getting to hear from the different players involved in this situation. In O'Brien's book you see both the best and the worst of humanity. You behold the kinds of horrible secrets & harm that can be kept and hidden, and the sort of remarkable change that can be accomplished with gumption and relentlessness.
I was heartbroken reading about women and their babies suffering from birth defects, family pets dying premature deaths, and noxious chemicals invading resident's homes, lives & well-being. Most excruciating of all was the downward spiral of 7 year old Jon Allen Kenny who developed a host of medical issues & ultimately died.
While the overarching action of this book took place nearly 50 years ago, the warnings that require heeding and the lessons that need learning ring as true now as they did then.
I give Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O'Brien 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I highly recommend this book to those who "enjoyed":
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women by Kate Moore
Thank you NetGalley & Pantheon/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC. Paradise Falls is out NOW!
January 31, 2022
Thank you to the publisher who gave me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
An important story that needs to be told and recorded for the future, and good for Mr. O'Brien for doing it before the "housewives" who led this populist movement against corporate and government malfeasance were dead of old age. It was a long book, or it felt long. Very well researched, it looks like.
In my mind, I couldn't help but compare it to Dr Mona's book about the Flint Water Crisis, What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City This book is pure journalism, the other is memoir. This book is facts, that other book is fact plus passion. Each type of book has its own place, of course, but for me, this book was a little dry and hard to get through while Dr Mona ripped my heart out and gave me hope.
So this book, coming out officially in April of this year, is good. It's better than okay. But it didn't move me at all, and I suppose I want even non-fiction books to move me somehow. Clearly, that's about me, not about the book.
An important story that needs to be told and recorded for the future, and good for Mr. O'Brien for doing it before the "housewives" who led this populist movement against corporate and government malfeasance were dead of old age. It was a long book, or it felt long. Very well researched, it looks like.
In my mind, I couldn't help but compare it to Dr Mona's book about the Flint Water Crisis, What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City This book is pure journalism, the other is memoir. This book is facts, that other book is fact plus passion. Each type of book has its own place, of course, but for me, this book was a little dry and hard to get through while Dr Mona ripped my heart out and gave me hope.
So this book, coming out officially in April of this year, is good. It's better than okay. But it didn't move me at all, and I suppose I want even non-fiction books to move me somehow. Clearly, that's about me, not about the book.
April 3, 2023
In cartoons, you come into contact with some toxic goo and become a ninja turtle, in reality, it's much more tragic. This book, Paradise Falls, follows the sad story of Love Canal. In 1979, adults, and especially children, started showing signs not typical in such quantities - cancer, miscarriages, birth defects, and much more. When it became obvious the big company leaking the toxic material couldn't care less, nor did the government, or pretty much anyone else, women (primarily mothers) started fighting the hard fight. And wowza, is it an amazing story.
I had heard of Love Canal in passing but didn't know the details. Luckily, this book doesn't skimp on the gritty and rough subject. It was such a roller coaster of tragedy. So fantastically researched and written. I couldn't put the book down. I had to know what would happen next. It was enjoyable (in the sense of its writing, not in the sense of toxic waste being enjoyable). Unfortunately, situations like this are still happening frequently today. If you like learning about man-made disasters and/or women who kick ass, this nonfiction book may be worth picking up!
I had heard of Love Canal in passing but didn't know the details. Luckily, this book doesn't skimp on the gritty and rough subject. It was such a roller coaster of tragedy. So fantastically researched and written. I couldn't put the book down. I had to know what would happen next. It was enjoyable (in the sense of its writing, not in the sense of toxic waste being enjoyable). Unfortunately, situations like this are still happening frequently today. If you like learning about man-made disasters and/or women who kick ass, this nonfiction book may be worth picking up!
August 25, 2022
A little higher than 4 stars rounded down. Having recently retired after a 45 year career in the chemical industry, I obviously knew a bit about Love Canal prior to reading the book. Unfortunately, much of the content relative to the chemical industry’s management of hazardous waste was not shocking. Neither was the incompetence and inaction of local and federal government. Frustrating to be sure. Maddening without a doubt. But unfortunately not shocking.
That said, I did learn a lot that I hadn’t known before picking up the book. Some of the background historical details were interesting. I learned a lot more about the central characters involved in the situation, both on the community & NY State levels. All that said, what struck me the hardest were the incredible personal stories of the residents of Love Canal. Their courage, persistence & patience in the face of unspeakable personal tragedy is something no person should ever have to endure.
I recommend reading this book.
That said, I did learn a lot that I hadn’t known before picking up the book. Some of the background historical details were interesting. I learned a lot more about the central characters involved in the situation, both on the community & NY State levels. All that said, what struck me the hardest were the incredible personal stories of the residents of Love Canal. Their courage, persistence & patience in the face of unspeakable personal tragedy is something no person should ever have to endure.
I recommend reading this book.
July 24, 2022
I read this entire book with my mouth hanging open. The whole thing is terrifying, knowing that it happened and is still happening.
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