Left in the dust
Subtitle: how race and politics created a human and environmental tragedy in L.A.
By: Karen Piper
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9781403969316
Subjects: Water diversion; Race relations; Water-supply; Paiute Indians; Government relations; Dust control; Umweltgefährdung
Description: An intensely personal story crossed with a political potboiler, this book is a unique and passionate account of the city of Los Angeles's creation, cover-up and inadequate attempts to repair a major environmental catastrophe. Owens River, which once fed Owens Lake, was diverted away from the lake to supply the faucets and sprinklers of Los Angeles. The dry lakebed now contains a dust saturated with toxic heavy metals, which are blown from the lake and inhaled by unsuspecting citizens throughout the West, causing major health issues. English professor Piper, one of the victims who grew up breathing that dust, reveals the shocking truth behind this tragedy and examines how waste and pollution are often neglected to encourage urban growth, while poor, non-white, and rural areas are forgotten or sacrificed.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [189]-214) and index.
Table of contents: title: Esprit de corps at the Department of Water and Power; title: Manufacturing whiteness; title: The Department of Water and Power vs the Paiutes; title: "We ate the dust" : Manzanar; title: Control measures; title: "There it is, fix it."