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The Road to Love Canal: Managing Industrial Waste before EPA Hardcover – January 1, 1995
The toxic legacy of Love Canal vividly brought the crisis in industrial waste disposal to public awareness across the United States and led to the passage of the Superfund legislation in 1980. To discover why disasters like Love Canal have occurred and whether they could have been averted with knowledge available to waste managers of the time, this book examines industrial waste disposal before the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.
Colten and Skinner build their study around three key questions. First, what was known before 1970 about the hazards of certain industrial wastes and their potential for causing public health problems? Second, what were the technical capabilities for treating or containing wastes during that time? And third, what factors other than technical knowledge guided the actions of waste managers before the enactment of explicit federal laws?
The authors find that significant information about the hazards of industrial wastes existed before 1970. Their explanations of why this knowledge did not prevent the toxic legacy now facing us will be essential reading for environmental historians and lawyers, public health personnel, and concerned citizens.
- Print length231 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Texas Press
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1995
- Dimensions6.5 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-100292711824
- ISBN-13978-0292711822
Product details
- Publisher : University of Texas Press; First Edition (January 1, 1995)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 231 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0292711824
- ISBN-13 : 978-0292711822
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #7,178,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16,737 in Environmentalism
- #27,414 in Nature Conservation
- Customer Reviews:
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The authors discuss the understanding of industrial wastes and developing rationale with no appologies, but do it in a concise fashion that is readable to the layman as well as professionals. The section discussing how decision makers can be influenced by this information is particularly good-reading. The authors end by discussing several case studies (of course, Love Canal is one of them) and identifying the mistakes made in each case. This is the real lesson of the book - if we can't learn from our mistakes, how will we ever improve?