Thundering waters : the toxic legacy of Niagara Falls /

"Few images in the natural world conjure the same awe, power, and amazement as Niagara Falls. Each year, millions flock from around the world to hear the roar of the falls, fell and smell the spray, and maybe take in the sight up close by boat. What they don't know--nor do most of the loca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Civiletto, Christen E. (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Princeton, New Jersey : Island Press imprint, Princeton University Press, [2026]
Subjects:
Description
Summary:"Few images in the natural world conjure the same awe, power, and amazement as Niagara Falls. Each year, millions flock from around the world to hear the roar of the falls, fell and smell the spray, and maybe take in the sight up close by boat. What they don't know--nor do most of the locals--is that the city of Niagara Falls is the setting of one of the most shocking and horrific tales of environmental desecration of the past hundred plus years. By virtue of the Falls' might, Niagara Falls was the birthplace of the commercial electro-chemical industry--and for decades, those massive corporations dumped, buried, vented, incinerated, and piled their millions of tons of toxic and radioactive waste in the surrounding farmlands, rivers, meadows, and empty lots. Venture minutes from the waterfall, and you'll find the bones of a decrepit city. Its residents are plagued by major health problems, often at rates that far exceed state and national averages. The harm is ongoing and generational. As in all such cases, the poor and marginalized bear the brunt of the injury. Environmental attorney Christen Civiletto relates how the major chemical kingpins of the twentieth century relentlessly and indiscriminately laid waste to Niagara Falls in her eye-opening, harrowing, intimate new book, Thundering Waters: The Toxic Legacy of Niagara Falls. Expertly interweaving environmental crime, history, and memoir, Thundering Waters exposes the astonishing story of exploitation and ongoing abuse lurking int he shadows of one of the world's most treasured natural wonders." - from the inside cover.
Physical Description:viii, 349 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-331) and index.
ISBN:9781642834161
1642834165