The Unlikely Band Of Mothers Who Sparked Today's Environmental Movement

"Secrets, long kept in Niagara Falls, began bubbling to the surface on the east side of town, seeping into people’s homes, newspaper stories, national headlines, and finally the American consciousness at large." - Paradise Falls

 

The Love Canal is just across the river, less than an hour from where I live. It became the symbol of the dangers of toxic waste in residential neighborhoods. In the late 1970s my friends Margherita Howe and Laura Dodson formed a community action group here in Niagara-on-the-Lake named Operation Clean and joined their American neighbours to combat the dumping of chemical waste into the Niagara River. Margherita was awarded the Order Of Canada for her efforts.

I will definitely read Paradise Falls, a new book by Keith O’Brien that tells the story of how the toxic waters of Niagara Falls poisoned a community. 

Read an excerpt from the book