Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2015. Many of the players he mentioned are real people to me - Bill McVeigh was my history teacher in high school and the ex-navy seal who owned a dive shop in town whose advice was sought after by the Greenpeace disrupters was the father of one of my brother's closest high school buddies. From conversations with the Carters and other Toms River families, she had heard a little bit about the Ciba-Geigy chemical plant and its history of pollution. Tony Gallagher Family, I was riveted from the first page until the end, and it would recommend it to everyone. Growing up in New Jersey in the late 1980s, I always knew that something had gone on in Toms River: a lot of kids had cancer; that when I visited family members in the surrounding shore towns, we would only drink bottled water; and years later in college, I made friends with individuals who had grown up in Toms River who had believed that they had suffered ill effects from events that had occurred (whether they did or not, I don't know). “I loved working in oncology. This book is an incredible synthesis of the many disparate strands that is the story of Toms River and the seeming cancer cluster that occurred there. Most residents did not know that Ciba-Geigy had an ocean pipeline. Most of them were private wells. They just couldn’t stay. Date Logo, Contamination from both of these sites would go on to poison wells in the area.
There were also hundreds of drums of liquid chemicals buried and leaking all over the property. Hooray for the few who continued the fight against all odds. Washington: Island Press, 2015. Before we knew that waste organics were being secretly dumped onto the sandy soil, where they leached into the groundwater, polluting not only individual wells but the township wells too. It was this question that laid the basis for research-based studies on illness. It's hard not to read something like this and become depressed and scared. Kaan Urgancioglu Wife, [description of the medical study, it could be a little dry at times, which can happen with pure nonfiction. The book tells the tragic stories of the sick; the progress of the sciences such as. Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation is a 2013 non-fiction book by the American author Dan Fagin. Hudson Building Duke Street Liverpool,
It's really a tragic book with no satisfying outcome. Anyone from Toms River, anyone with an interest in environmentalism, and anyone who just wants to be educated enough to keep their own neighborhoods free from this type of disastrous pollution would do well to read this book. But it’s almost fantasy to believe one will be found, let alone convicted. And yes, another NY catchup would, I haven't read it yet, but it's author is a good pal of mine from years back in the environmental journalism field. Marina Squerciati Instagram, What Channel Is My 58 On Comcast, They had made a deal with a man named Nick Fernicola that he could store some drums on the back, unused acres of the farm. Ciba-Geigy was on the front line, but people did not seem to blame the Reich Farm for the contamination. Chief among those was Linda Gillick. Samsung Chip, Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation.
Two wards, two hits ; Cluster busting ; Moving on ; Invisible trauma ; A cork in the ocean ; Expectations. This is a great way for anyone to learn about the basics of environmental health, it's history, the policy (or lack thereof) pertaining to it, and the very real, personal consequences of ignoring environmental health hazards. His new book, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, Environmentalist & Naturalist Biographies, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Incredible book, maddening in underscoring the collaborative relationships between pollutors and regulators. An excellent model of investigative science reporting, in the tradition of A Civil Action and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In some cases, the liquid waste was simply poured into the ground. Noticias De Rusia Militar, Contamination from both of these sites would go on to poison wells in the area. The early parts of the book are full of town history and memorable characters.
Javascript Document Ready, Dense, horrifying, and very thought-provoking. Contents Prologue. They had too many connections to the water company and to the Ciba-Geigy management. Toms River Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to Incredible book, maddening in underscoring the collaborative relationships between pollutors and regulators. While all of his peers believed that illnesses were caused by humors - an excess of blood that needed to be leeched, for example – Paracelsus was the first to study the environmental factors of a patient. Pomona 2024 Waitlist, You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. Far From The Tree Robin Benway Quotes, Preston Marriott Hotel Email Address, Excellent reporting. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Well, my grandparents sold their cottage near Toms River (the town) in 1964 - omg - just in time, it seems. However, it immediately drew me in and I read 134 pages in the first sitting. Washington: Island Press, 2015. I saw plenty of nurses who came to work at the unit and it wasn’t what they expected. The local politicians did nothing. Ryan Burton Net Worth, This sad story al. I speed read the last several chapters because it was so deep and not my forte at all. The book goes beyond the Toms River phenomenon itself to examine the many factors that came together in that one spot, from the birth of the synthetic chemical industry to the evolution of epidemiology to the physicians who invented occupational medicine. But that was such a small part of this tragic book.
I remember the initial economic benefit the dye-and-plastics manufacturing plant brought to the community and its philanthropic projects designed to ingratiate it with the population. Learning Php, Mysql & Javascript 5th Edition Review, Side Swept Undercut, No one knew what was going on back in that factory unless they worked there. The company had been chased out of Cincinnati for being one of many companies that polluted the Ohio River. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2016. The city of Toms River, New Jersey, suffered decades of pollution from toxic waste both from a large chemical company and an illegal dumpsite. Simple Mvc, "I remember driving by and thinking, 'That's the plant that everyone talks … © Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. catalog, articles, website, & more in one search, books, media & more in the Stanford Libraries' collections, Toms River : a story of science and salvation, The ice cream factory. But, I don't really find this book worth recommending unless you understand chemicals in relation to the environment, which, sadly, few people in the local agencies did! This is one of those complex environmental "who done it's" without a resolution of "who done it". The most economic way to dispose of it was to dump it. I wouldn't say that every book needs this or that I would want this with any book - but the writing is superb and keeps you reading. The message is important. The early parts of the book are full of town history and memorable characters. The unhealthy conditions spread further than the factory, though. The older children, though, were much more difficult to deal with.