Wasting Libby: The True Story of How the WR Grace Corporation Left a Montana Town to Die (and Got Away with It)

by Andrea Peacock, Jeff Bridges (Introduction)

Wasting Libby chronicles decades of neglect by state and federal agencies, which allowed the Grace corporation to reap millions in profits from the largest vermiculite mine in the world, while knowingly exposing generations of Montana residents to fatal levels of asbestos-contaminated dust. Libby's story, which culminates in the 2009 criminal trial of the corporation's executives, is ultimately the tale of the families who fought Grace for justice, who refused to sacrifice their dignity even as they lost their lives. With an introduction by actor and environmentalist Jeff Bridges. Andrea Peacock is the co-author, with Doug Peacock, of The Essential Grizzly .

Genres: History, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Andrea Peacock has covered Western politics and conservation issues for more than two decades, for publications including Mother Jones, High Country News, the Denver Westword and Austin Chronicle. She writes frequently for Counterpunch.org, and is the former editor of the Missoula Independent.

She was the recipient of a 2010 Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship for her work on the ways oil and gas development affects communities in the Rocky Mountain West.

Her books include Wasting Libby: How the W.R. Grace Corporation Left a Montana Town to Die (And Got Away With It) (AK Press, 2010), and The Essential Grizzly: The Mingled Fates of Men and Bears (The Lyons Press, 2006).

She runs a used bookstore with her cousin, poet Marc Beaudin, in Livingston, Montana, and lives near Emigrant, Montana, with her husband, author Doug Peacock.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty obvious from the title this isn't a neutral book. :) A lot (understatement of the year) was done wrong in Libby, and it will be the common people who pay for it, not the executives and politicians. I don't care if a politician has an "R" or a "D" next to their name - they are sleeping in the same bed. (The author only points out what the "R"s have done badly, and even manages to berate Gov. Judy Martz (R) for doing the right thing! She may not have been the best, but why not give credit where it is due?)

Even though the author's slant is different than mine, this was an easy (although horrific) read. Sometimes it got hard to follow all the names, especially when the author started a chapter, flashed back, and then returned to the starting setting again. But I couldn't put this book down, I had to keep going, even though I knew there was no happy ending.

I live about 2 hours from Libby, and it's very sad to see what's happened to that town. This is the kind of book that makes you stand in the doorway, watching your babies sleep - because there are no guarantees about tomorrow.

The question is, have we learned anything? Has anything changed? Or are we going to continue to be controlled by powerful judges, wealthy executives, high-powered lawyers and self-centered politicians?

[Calvin Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was kind of hard to get through, even as someone who is interested in learning about corporate environmental exploitation and labor rights. There are long boring sections delving into data. However, I enjoyed learning about this because it is very under the radar for how big it actually was. The asbestos from the Libby mines has killed people around the world yet we barely hear about it even in the state where it happened.