An Air that Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National ScandalThe horrifying true story of the decades-long poisoning of a small town and the definitive exposé of asbestos in America-told by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who broke it. In a valley in Montana, the U.S. has spent millions of dollars removing toxic residue from a town that had lain pristine for ages. Until the last century, when the dust came down like a snowstorm. That dust turned a paradise into the worst of America's killing fields, a name at the top of the list that includes Love Canal and Woburn. A place now known to be deadlier than all the rest: Libby. An Air That Killsis told through the eyes of the men and women who fought back-among them, a woman who watched more than forty members of her family succumb to asbestos; a miner who worked there and carried the poison home; and an EPA investigator who battled not only one of the world's most powerful corporations but also his superiors in Washington. It is the first book to reveal how deeply asbestos has embedded itself into the texture of America: how many people have died or are dying; how the industry and government repeatedly ignored the danger; and how, for many Americans, the dying is not over. It is a suspense story with real American heroes at its heart and one of the most importants works of environmental journalism in years. |
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agency Andrew Schneider asbestos exposure asbestos fibers asbestos-related disease asbestosis asked ATSDR attic Benefield bestos brakes breath called cancer chrysotile clean cleanup Cohn contaminated crayons danger Denver doctor documents dust e-mail environmental EPA's expansion plants federal Gary Graham Gayla going happened hazard headquarters Heberling hell industry inspectors insulation Judy Martz Kalispell kids killed knew lawyers Les's Libby Libby team Libby's looked Lovick lung lung cancer Margaret McCumber McDermott memo mesothelioma mill Miller million miners mining Montana MSHA never NIOSH Norita OSHA percent Perley Peronard Peter Grace Post-Intelligencer problem risk safety samples Schneider's interviews screening Seattle Seattle Post-Intelligencer showed sick Skramstad Spokane story Superfund taconite talc talked tell testing thing told Schneider took town toxic tremolite Vanderbilt Vatland vermiculite W. R. Grace Weis Whitehouse workers X-rays Zonolite Zonolite Mountain