An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a Nati

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Mon, 09 Jan 2006 14:30:01 -0800

An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby,

Montana Uncovered a National Scandal

S

 

 

 

 

http://www.buzzflash.com/premiums/06/01/pre06004.html

 

 

An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana

Uncovered a National Scandal (Hardcover)

by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber

 

 

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)

 

We have government regulations because companies are not to be

trusted. Their interest is, for most large corporations, profit and

share price, not the health and well-being of their workers of the

communities in which they do business. As we witnessed in the West

Virginia mining disaster this week, a hands-off approach by government

can be deadly. And this intrepid journalistic unraveling of the deadly

tale of Libby, Montana, is further proof that we are all at risk when

large companies are let run loose.

 

....

 

This is one heck of a compelling, extremely well-documented, and

strongly written story about the devastation caused in one red-state

community by a company that knowingly let the bodies just keep piling up.

 

 

MORE >>>

 

In a week in which so many BuzzFlash readers purchased " Enron: The

Smartest Guys in the Room, " we thought we'd offer another riveting

insight into corporate corruption, the story of the asbestos poisoning

of Libby, Montana.

 

When Bush touts his snake oil poison of industries regulating

themselves, remember what Erin Brockovich uncovered, remember Love

Canal, remember the toxic pollution Diane Wilson found in the shrimp

harvesting water's of her Texas town.

 

And Bush, of course, as an afternote, had the EPA cover up the release

of asbestos into NYC air as the result of 9/11.

 

The book jacket tells you that this is, in part, " the story of Gayla

Benefield, a former honky-tonk singer and bartender turned activist,

who has sixty-two family members dead, dying, or in danger from

asbestos poisoning. " That's because " over the period of six decades,

thick waves of asbestos dust -- created by corporate mining activities

-- have turned the once pristine town of Libby, Montana, into the

worst of America's killing fields. "

 

We have government regulations because companies are not to be

trusted. Their interest is, for most large corporations, profit and

share price, not the health and well-being of their workers of the

communities in which they do business. As we witnessed in the West

Virginia mining disaster this week, a hands-off approach by government

can be deadly. And this intrepid journalistic unraveling of the deadly

tale of Libby, Montana, is further proof that we are all at risk when

large companies are let run loose.

 

This is really a tale about corporate murder, corporate greed, and

corporate evasion of responsibility.

 

The publisher describes " An Air that Kills " as " the horrifying true

story of the decades-long poisoning of a small town and the definitive

exposé of asbestos in America -- all told by the prize-winning

journalists who broke it.

 

" This is the story of miners who were unaware of the toxins they took

into their lungs, then brought home in their clothes-infecting their

families. It is the story of the ongoing use of asbestos in products

ranging from insulation to cat litter. It is the story behind the

George W. Bush administration's successful campaign to cover up the

full extent of the post-9/11 asbestos problem in Lower Manhattan. But

it is also the story of the townspeople and government workers who

took on the government in Washington to demand justice for those who

died-and those who are still dying-of preventable exposure to asbestos. "

 

Grace Corporation is the villain in this book, but it could be

Halliburton, it could be Enron, it could be -- well -- just fill in

the blank.

 

Terrorists may have killed many Americans and foreigners on 9/11, but

every day the Bush Administration is letting large corporations get

away with murder.

 

This is one heck of a compelling, extremely well-documented, and

strongly written story about the devastation caused in one red-state

community by a company that knowingly let the bodies just keep piling up.

 

Next week, we will be offering a DVD, " Blue Vinyl, " about similar

neglect in the vinyl industry, although not on as massive as scale as

the asbestos corporate murder story.

 

A reader on another website praised " An Air that Kills " : " The story is

one of deception, corruption and greed on the part of Big Business, in

this case the mining business. The owners and executives misled their

workers, investors and the government agencies that regulated them

into turning a blind eye to the dangers of asbestos in their products.

 

" While the deception of the miners in Libby was unconscionable, the

book goes on to document the Bush White House withholding information

that the air in and around the World Trade Center was not healthy! Can

you imagine, after a tragedy like the WTC disaster, that your own

government, that you rallied round to give support, would turn on you

and withhold information that the air that you breathe is full of

cancer causing dust? Which tragedy is worse?

 

" The book is truly a must-read. "

 

Due to a special purchase, BuzzFlash is able to offer the hardcover

edition of an " Air that Kills " under the original retail price,

including shipping and handling.

 

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

 

 

 

 

Description | back to top

 

The 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 Kills is 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.

 

Other Reviews | back to top

 

" An Air That Kills...in the tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent

Spring...is a book of highest service and integrity. "

-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 

" A tale of chilling employer cynicism, of government collusion, and,

fortunately, of an alert reporter, a committed community activist, and

an EPA worker who fought his own agency to do what was right. ...In

this remarkable book, the authors construct a rich, compelling

narrative that includes both hard science and touching stories. "

-- Booklist

 

" A first-rate book about a contemporary American tragedy. "

-- Publisher's Weekly

 

About the Author | back to top

 

Andrew Schneider is deputy managing editor for investigation for the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, a National

Headliner Award, the Society of Professional Journalists' public

service award, the George Polk Award, and others.

 

David McCumber is managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

He won the Don Bolles Award for investigative journalism. His previous

books include The Cowboy Way, Playing Off the Rail, and X-Rated: The

Mitchell Brothers.

 

Details | back to top

 

# Hardcover: 288 pages

# ISBN: 0399150951