No Safe Place: Toxic Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action

288 Pages·1990·16.174 MB·English

by  Phil Brown, Edwin J. Mikkelsen

No Safe Place
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Toxic Waste,
Leukemia,
and Community Action
Phil Brown and
Edwin J. Mikkelsen
With a New Foreword by Jonathan Harr
and a New Preface by Phil Brown
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
Q 1990 by
The Regents of the University of California
First Paperback Printing 1992
Foreword and Preface (1997)
O 1997 by The Regents of the University of California
The Library of Congress has cataloged the previous printing
of this book as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Phil.
No safe place : toxic waste, leukemia, and community action / Phil
Brown and Edwin J. Mikkelsen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-520-07034-8 (alk. paper)
1. Leukemia in children-Massachusetts-Woburn. 2. Hazardous
wastes-Environmental aspects-Massachtlsetts-Woburn.
I. Mikkelsen, Edwin J. 11. Title.
RJ416.L4B76 1990
618.92'99419'0097444-d~20 90-3399 1
ISBN 0-520-21248-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the m~nimumr equirements of Amer-
ican National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1984
In recognition of their suflering,
and as testimony to their importance
beyond the bounds of their community,
we dedicate this book
to the children of Woburn.
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Contents
List of Tables and Maps ix
Foreword xi
Preface (I 997) xiii
Preface (19 90) xix
Acknowledgments xxiii
Introduction
1. Town in Turmoil:
History and Significance of the Woburn Cluster
2. The Formation of an Organized Community
3. The Sickness Caused by "Corporate America":
Effects of the Woburn Cluster
4. Taking Control:
Popular Epidemiology
5. Making It Safe:
Securing Future Health
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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List of Tables and Maps
Maps
1. Contaminated Wells and Nearby Industrial
Contamination Sites 9
2. Twenty-eight Leukemia Cases, 1964- 1989,
Identified by FACE (For a Cleaner Environment) 12
3. Twelve Leukemia Cases, 1969-1979, Identified
by Massachuset~sD epartment of Public Health 13
Tables
I. Characteristics of Childhood Leukemia Cases,
1969- 1979 15
2. Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Areas of High
and L,ow Exposure before (1977-1979) and
after (1980- 1982) Closure of GW aenllds H 24