Thursday, February 14, 2013

Sorry for the Delay

You must think I dropped off the face of the earth.  Actually I've been reading a lengthy book that I simply can't put down.  Called Tom's River, it's about the polluting of the area around Tom's River, New Jersey by several chemical companies but particularly Ciba-Geigy which had a huge plant, and dumping ground, in a wooded area of Tom's River.  Companies such as Union Carbide and Dupont were also involved.

Just one shocking fact is that they were dumping toxic chemicals into pits on their property.  The pits were typical of surrounding soil, sandy and porous, so the chemicals just filtered down through to the aquifer below and soon plumes of the stuff invaded water wells, adjoining properties, etc.

I'm at around page 300 of a 450+ page book so I'm not ready to review yet, but when I tell you we were living in New Jersey, northeast of Tom's River, at the time, you'll understand perhaps why I'm so fascinated.  It's such a complicated story but very well told by author Dan Fagin, and I'm sure I'll be recommending it for your reading list.

2 comments:

  1. I think I'd be fascinated and angry if I were you. I'll be watching for your review.

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  2. Wow, I don't think I could read that - it would make me too mad!

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