Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation
Author: Andrea Peacock
List Price: $17.50
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ISBN: 1555663192
Publisher: Johnson Books (April, 2003)
Sales Rank: 53,422
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
More true than true and worse than anyone could believe!
I was born in this town, Libby, Montana. Eventhough I grew up eighteen miles away in Troy, I knew most of the families mentioned in the book. My high school field trip was a day trip to the mine, the dry processing plant, the expansion plant, the loading docks. All through junior high and high school, we had track meets next to the railroad tracks where the trains were loaded with the ore. What she says in her book is true, no one told anyone that the ore was harmful, or even had asbestos in it. No one said a word, and if anyone asked, they were told it was "nuisance dust." It was such a cover-up that I had to read the Seattle PI account twice before I believed it.
I applied for a job at the mine when I went to college. That was thirty years ago. If I had gotten that job, chances are I would be dead, just like my father. Dad never worked at the mine, but he drove by it several times a week to maintain some radio equipment on top of the mountain. Several times a week for twenty-six years and he died of Mesothelioma.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Excellent Read
Andrea Peacock did an excellent job of describing the
environmental disaster that has ravaged this small
Montana town.Peacock's description of human suffering,
corporate greed, and "bought" politicians brings
this true story to life.
Highly recommended reading.
Rating: 3 out of 5
mesothelioma lobby loves this book
Truth be told, asbestos will not kill 100% of everybody. Consider these stats: Industrial accidents comprise 1.1 million deaths, which exceeds the average annual deaths from road accidents (999,000), war (502,000), violence (563,000) and HIV/AIDS (312,000). Of this total deaths from asbestos exposure equals about 100,000 (9% of all industrial accidents, and only 2.9% of the total deaths above).Yet the mesothelioma lobby would want you to believe that asbestos--which is a mineral known since ancient times--will kill everybody unless it's totally removed.
This reporter tries to ape Aron Brockovitch, and plays up to the hype. In fact, it gives just one side of the story. The other side is this: the people at Libby supported asbestos while the going was good, yet when demand died down, they turned against it. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Harsh but true. BTW, I have nothing against cancer sufferors, just pointing out that there's a lobby of lawyers who make a killing filing lawsuits on behalf of mesothelioma victims. And this book plays to that lobby.
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