Paradise Falls was an amazing read. What happened to the families living on a toxic dump site made me ill, and the courage and determination of the mothers of Love Canal inspired me.

I grew up on the Niagara River. We swam at a beach on Grand Island and boated and fished on the river. I remember catching sunfish and bluegill with dad. On a clear day, you could see the mist of Niagara Falls.

We moved in 1963 and on car trips back to Tonawanda we knew we were home by the smell of the methane burning in the gasoline storage tanks along the river.

Western New York has a long history of industry. The power source of Niagara Falls and the salt deposits were perfect for chemical industries.

Just down the road from my childhood home, the home where Dad grew up, was a plant that processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project. They dumped radioactive waste into the local creeks and sanitary system and the town dump where dad went to shot rats as a teen.

In those days, there was no oversight for industry and its byproducts. No Superfund. No Clean Air or Clean Water laws. People who grew up in my neighborhood recount the many family members who had cancer. My parents both died of cancer as well. But in the 1950s and 1960s no one knew that harmful toxins were in the environment. Mom had three miscarriages between me and my brother. Now I wonder if their cause was environmental. She f grew up in a wartime housing project near one of the contaminated creeks.

Not far to the north of my hometown is Love Canal.

Imagine learning that your home was riddled with toxins. Imagine that your children were perpetually ill with rare diseases. Imagine that your home had no resale value and you couldn’t afford to just leave and move away. Imagine that no one would take responsibility or help you. What would you do?

In 1972, Lois Gibbs and the women of Love Canal were in this situation. They saw the orange creek water and black sludge in the park. Irritating fumes rose from their basements. They watched their children with chemical burns, rashes, breathing problems, and seizures. They watched a child die.

Lois got mad and she educated herself and championed their cause. She stood up to power. She went to the governor. She went to Washington D.C. She learned how to use the media and public opinion. She ‘kidnapped’ EPA agents. She lost her marriage but found a calling and a new partner.

She was just a housewife, like most of the women of Love Canal. But because of their activism, President Carter signed the Superfund Act before leaving the White House. An imperfect law that has been hobbled, but has also remediated about 2000 toxic sites.

Keith O’Brien has written a powerful narrative nonfiction book about this story. O’Brien draws deeply from the inside stories of the women, stories that had me shaken and in tears. His research incorporates shocking insights into Hooker Chemicals and details the action and inaction of state and local officials.

I was not as familiar with Luella Kenny’s story. Her standing up to Armand Hammer, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, their annual meeting is amazing and riveting. The death of Kenny’s son is one of the great tragedies of the story.

Later in life we lived in Montague, Michigan, situated along Lake Michigan, and where another Hooker Chemical toxic site is located. It was a reminder that toxins can lurk anywhere I go.

Reading this story I was often reminded of the Flint Michigan Water Crisis, how citizens had to fight for justice, how local and state officials ignored their concerns. Women and children and working class citizens have too often been sidelined because of the fiscal power of business and industry. But when the people rise up, they can achieve amazing things.

I received a free ARC from the publisher through Goodreads. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )