Synopses & Reviews
Smelting is an industrial process involving the extraction of metal from ore. During this process, impurities in oreandmdash;including arsenic, lead, and cadmiumandmdash;may be released from smoke stacks, contaminating air, water, and soil with toxic-heavy metals.
The problem of public health harm from smelter emissions received little official attention for much for the twentieth century. Though people living near smelters periodically complained that their health was impaired by both sulfur dioxide and heavy metals, for much of the century there was strong deference to industry claims that smelter operations were a nuisance and not a serious threat to health. It was only when the majority of children living near the El Paso, Texas, smelter were discovered to be lead-exposed in the early 1970s that systematic, independent investigation of exposure to heavy metals in smelting communities began. Following El Paso, an even more serious led poisoning epidemic was discovered around the Bunker Hill smelter in northern Idaho. In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter exposed children to arsenicandmdash;a carcinogenic threat.
Thoroughly grounded in extensive archival research, Tainted Earth traces the rise of public health concerns about nonferrous smelting in the western United States, focusing on three major facilities: Tacoma, Washington; El Paso, Texas; and Bunker Hill, Idaho. Marianne Sullivan documents the response from community residents, public health scientists, the industry, and the government to pollution from smelters as well as the long road to protecting public health and the environment. Placing the environmental and public health aspects of smelting in historical context, the book connects local incidents to national stories on the regulation of airborne toxic metals.
The nonferrous smelting industry has left a toxic legacy in the United States and around the world. Unless these toxic metals are cleaned up, they will persist in the environment and may sicken peopleandmdash;children in particularandmdash;for generations to come. The twentieth-century struggle to control smelter pollution shares many similarities with public health battles with such industries as tobacco and asbestos where industry supported science created doubt about harm, and reluctant government regulators did not take decisive action to protect the publicandrsquo;s health.
Review
andquot;Tainted Earthand#160;stands out as a compelling demonstration of just how central lead and copper smelters were to the making of our modern science and regulation of environmental pollution in the United States.and#160;The research and writing on display are smoothly woven and in places, inspired.andquot;
Review
andquot;Sullivanandrsquo;s comparative study is unique; she sets many of the regulatory problems of smelters into a firm analytical frameworkand#160;that will be useful for many years.andquot;
Review
andquot;
Tainted Earth provides a detailed history, with a technical focus, of the environmental impact of three metal smelters located in Tacoma, Washington, El Paso,and#160;Texas, and Kellogg, Idaho. This is a well-documented story, providing a warning to other nations where the smelters now glow.andquot;
Review
andquot;An enjoyable and accessible book, The Price of Nuclear Powerand#160;provides great insight into the central problem facing natural resource communities across the globe, and is rich in ethnographic details that focus on environmental inequalities.andquot;and#160;
Review
andquot;Sullivan weaves compelling stories of communities where childrenand#39;s health was irreversibly damaged by heavy metal pollution following smelting industry efforts to downplay and obfuscate the risks of pollution, and efforts to stave off environmental regulation. Well-written and engaging...Tainted Earth will appeal to students oand professionals across a variety of fields, including public health, history of science, toxicology, geography, and environmental policy.andquot;
Review
andquot;Malin provides a compassionate and intriguing ethnography of communities harmed by uranium mining and milling, of government duplicity in covering up hazards, and of the inspiring citizen science with which opponents have mapped cancer clusters and conducted health surveys. This book helps us understand how uranium production, along with other harmful energy production can beget structural violence, disease, and perpetuate inequalities.andquot;
Review
andquot;An engaging, well-crafted addition to the literature on the sociology of disasters in the face of climate change, Superstorm Sandy provides an impressively clear exploration of the events surrounding the hurricane. Readers can feel themselves walking down the boardwalk alongside the author and worrying alongside the residents.andquot;
Review
"Hamblin's examination of radioactive waste dumping in Europe and America is an important and valuable study, particularly for those interested in the role of science, technology, and environment in modern life.
"
Review
"A fascinating account of the role of health physicists and marine scientists in the international politics and public relations of dumping radioactive waste at sea.
"
Review
"
Poison in the Well tells how British and American nuclear scientists have handled radioactive wastes since World War II, despite uncertainty about long-term genetic and somatic effects, creating a legacy that will last for thousands of years. Interdisciplinary turf battles, government secrecy, and technological hubris all play a role in this well-constructed narrative.
"
Review
"This impressively researched and judiciously argued book challenges readers to think in new ways about what happens when science, politics, and the environment intersect."
Review
"Hamblin's study is timely and absorbing, discussing an aspect of the history of atomic energy programmes on which very little has been known. Poison in the Well is an incredibly precious expose"
Review
"An excellent and balanced book. Hamblin's story is compelling and complex. By avoiding simple conclusions, he provides great insight into Cold War international relations, the dilemmas of going nuclear, the difficulty in determining risk, and the continuing problems we face with untested or newly tested technologies."
Review
andldquo;Superstorm Sandy and#160;provides a vivid description and wide-rangingand#160;explanation of that huge stormandrsquo;s impact on Americans.and#160; It is a andlsquo;must readandrsquo; as we prepareand#160;for future storms in coastal America.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
Thoroughly grounded in extensive archival research, Tainted Earth traces the rise of public health concerns about nonferrous smelting in the western United States, focusing on three major facilities: Tacoma, Washington; El Paso, Texas; and Bunker Hill, Idaho. It documents the response from community residents, public health scientists, the industry, and the government to pollution from smelters and the long road to protecting public health and the environment.
Synopsis
Smelting is an industrial process involving the extraction of metal from ore. During this process, impurities in ore--including arsenic, lead, and cadmium--may be released from smoke stacks, contaminating air, water, and soil with toxic-heavy metals.
The problem of public health harm from smelter emissions received little official attention for much for the twentieth century. Though people living near smelters periodically complained that their health was impaired by both sulfur dioxide and heavy metals, for much of the century there was strong deference to industry claims that smelter operations were a nuisance and not a serious threat to health. It was only when the majority of children living near the El Paso, Texas, smelter were discovered to be lead-exposed in the early 1970s that systematic, independent investigation of exposure to heavy metals in smelting communities began. Following El Paso, an even more serious led poisoning epidemic was discovered around the Bunker Hill smelter in northern Idaho. In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter exposed children to arsenic--a carcinogenic threat.
Thoroughly grounded in extensive archival research,
Tainted Earth traces the rise of public health concerns about nonferrous smelting in the western United States, focusing on three major facilities: Tacoma, Washington; El Paso, Texas; and Bunker Hill, Idaho. Marianne Sullivan documents the response from community residents, public health scientists, the industry, and the government to pollution from smelters as well as the long road to protecting public health and the environment. Placing the environmental and public health aspects of smelting in historical context, the book connects local incidents to national stories on the regulation of airborne toxic metals.
The nonferrous smelting industry has left a toxic legacy in the United States and around the world. Unless these toxic metals are cleaned up, they will persist in the environment and may sicken people--children in particular--for generations to come. The twentieth-century struggle to control smelter pollution shares many similarities with public health battles with such industries as tobacco and asbestos where industry supported science created doubt about harm, and reluctant government regulators did not take decisive action to protect the public's health.
Synopsis
In The Price of Nuclear Power, environmental sociologist Stephanie Malin offers an on-the-ground portrait of several uranium communities caught between the harmful legacy of previous mining booms and the potential promise of new economic development. An insightful look at the local impact of the nuclear renaissance and community membersandrsquo; shifting notions of environmental justice, this book warns that this industry needs to be closely followed to mitigate the social and environmental tensions inherent in the rebirth of uranium mining.and#160;
Synopsis
Rising fossil fuel prices and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions are fostering a nuclear power renaissance and a revitalized uranium mining industry across the American West. In
The Price of Nuclear Power, environmental sociologist Stephanie Malin offers an on-the-ground portrait of several uranium communities caught between the harmful legacy of previous mining booms and the potential promise of new economic development. Using this context, she examines how shifting notions of environmental justice inspire divergent views about nuclear powerandrsquo;s sustainability and equally divisive forms of social activism.and#160;and#160;Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in rural isolated towns such as Monticello, Utah, and Nucla and Naturita, Colorado, as well as in upscale communities like Telluride, Colorado, and incorporating interviews with community leaders, environmental activists, radiation regulators, and mining executives, Malin uncovers a fundamental paradox of the nuclear renaissance: the communities most hurt by uraniumandrsquo;s legacyandmdash;such as high rates of cancers, respiratory ailments, and reproductive disordersandmdash;were actually quick to support industry renewal. She shows that many impoverished communities support mining not only because of the employment opportunities, but also out of a personal identification with uranium, a sense of patriotism, and new notions of environmentalism. But other communities, such as Telluride, have become sites of resistance, skeptical of industry and government promises of safe mining, fearing that regulatory enforcement wonandrsquo;t be strong enough. Indeed, Malin shows that the nuclear renaissance has exacerbated social divisions across the Colorado Plateau, threatening social cohesion. Malin further illustrates ways in which renewed uranium production is not a socially sustainable form of energy development for rural communities, as it is utterly dependent on unstable global markets.and#160;
and#160;The Price of Nuclear Power is an insightful portrait of the local impact of the nuclear renaissance and the social and environmental tensions inherent in the rebirth of uranium mining.
and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
Why do people build in areas open to repeated natural disasters? Drawing on a variety of insights from environmental sociology,
Superstorm Sandy offers a wide-ranging look at the Jersey Shore both before and after this disaster, examining the many factorsandmdash;such as cultural attachment, tourism revenues, and governmental regulationandmdash;that combined to create a highly vulnerable coastal region and that fueled the demand to rebuild.
Synopsis
Sandy was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history after Katrina, but the waters had barely receded from the Jersey coast when massive efforts began to andldquo;Restore the Shore.andrdquo;and#160; Why do people build in areas open to repeated natural disasters?and#160; And why do they return to these areas in the wake of major devastation?and#160; Drawing on a variety of insights from environmental sociology,
Superstorm Sandy answers these questions as it looks at both the unique character of the Jersey Shore and the more universal ways that humans relate to their environment.and#160;
and#160;
Diane C. Bates offers a wide-ranging look at the Jersey Shore both before and after Sandy, examining the many factorsandmdash;such as cultural attachment, tourism revenues, and governmental regulationandmdash;that combined to create a highly vulnerable coastal region. She explains why the Shore is so important to New Jerseyans, acting as a key cultural touchstone in a state that lacks a central city or even a sports team to build a shared identity among the stateandrsquo;s residents. She analyzes post-Sandy narratives about the Jersey Shore that trumpeted the dominance of human ingenuity over nature (such as the stateandrsquo;s andldquo;Stronger than the Stormandrdquo; advertising campaign) or proclaimed a therapeutic community (andldquo;Jersey Strongandrdquo;)andmdash;narratives rooted in emotion and iconography, waylaying any thought of the near-certainty of future storms. The book also examines local business owners, politicians, real estate developers, and residents who have vested interests in the region, explaining why the Shore was developed intensively prior to Sandy, and why restoration became an imperative in the post-storm period.
and#160;
Engagingly written and insightful, Superstorm Sandy highlights the elements that compounded the disaster on the Shore, providing a framework for understanding such catastrophes and preventing them in the future.and#160;
Synopsis
Poison in the Wellprovides a balanced look at the policy decisions, scientific conflicts, public relations strategies, and the myriad mishaps and subsequent cover-ups that were born out of the dilemma of where to house deadly nuclear materials. Jacob Darwin Hamblin traces the development of the issue in Western countries from the end of World War II to the blossoming of the environmental movement in the early 1970s.
Synopsis
In the early 1990s, Russian President Boris Yeltsin revealed that for the previous thirty years the Soviet Union had dumped vast amounts of dangerous radioactive waste into rivers and seas in blatant violation of international agreements. The disclosure caused outrage throughout the Western world, particularly since officials from the Soviet Union had denounced environmental pollution by the United States and Britain throughout the cold war.
Poison in the Well provides a balanced look at the policy decisions, scientific conflicts, public relations strategies, and the myriad mishaps and subsequent cover-ups that were born out of the dilemma of where to house deadly nuclear materials. Why did scientists and politicians choose the sea for waste disposal? How did negotiations about the uses of the sea change the way scientists, government officials, and ultimately the lay public envisioned the oceans? Jacob Darwin Hamblin traces the development of the issue in Western countries from the end of World War II to the blossoming of the environmental movement in the early 1970s.
This is an important book for students and scholars in the history of science who want to explore a striking case study of the conflicts that so often occur at the intersection of science, politics, and international diplomacy.
About the Author
STEPHANIE A. MALIN is an assistant professor of sociology at Colorado State University and a faculty affiliate with CSUandrsquo;s Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis and the Water Center.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Tacoma Smelter
2. City of Destiny, City of Smoke
3. Uncovering a Crisis in El Paso
4. Bunker Hill
5. Tacoma: A Disaster Is Discovered
6. A Carcinogenic Threat
7. Sacrificed
Conclusion
Notes
Index