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Trespass Against Us: Dow Chemical & The Toxic Century By Jack Doyle Environmental Health Fund/ Common Courage Press, 2004, 436p.
Review by Soumya Rangarajan
In the United States, there has been increasing concern about the state of our environment and public health, which intensified with two major chemical spills in early 2005: in South Carolina in January and Utah in March. In order to address these environmental hazards, it is important for the public to know where both the government and private corporations stand regarding measures to protect humans and the flora and fauna that ensure our survival. In Trespass Against Us, Jack Doyle, director of JD. Associates, a business and environmental research firm in Washington D. C, investigates the role of the Dow Chemical Company in some of the worst environmental disasters of the 20^sup th^ century. Doyle discusses these numerous incidents in-depth and analyzes the potential impact that Dow's actions could have for generations to come. This book is targeted primarily for those with a basic background in the natural sciences who are interested in the social and legal aspects of the chemical industry. While concentrating on Dow's practices as a 'big business,' Doyle also delves into the relationship between industry and government at the state, federal, and international levels.
Dow Chemical, headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is the second largest chemical firm in the world. It now operates in many states, including Texas, Louisiana, and California, as well as in 164 countries. Dow is tremendously powerful, creating many products taken for granted in the U.S., from automotive parts and computer semiconductors to consumer goods like sandwich bags. Doyle argues that Dow, which has been implicated in many environmental and public health catastrophes since its founding in 1897, has used...