Toxic Lake : Environmental Destruction and the Epic Fight to Save Onondaga Lake

Thomas Shevory

ISBN 10: 1479815675 / ISBN 13: 9781479815678

Published by New York University Press Jan 2024, 2024

About this Item

Neuware - The environmental history of 'the most polluted lake in America.'Native Americans have long regarded Onondaga Lake as one of the most sacred spaces in the continent, the place where peace between nations was achieved and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was created. In the mid-twentieth century, however, it acquired a wholly different reputation as 'the most polluted lake in America.' Toxic Lake is an environmental history of this complex ecological system, tracking how it was tarnished, the costly efforts to clean it up, and the controversies those efforts generated. Thomas Shevory argues that the history of Onondaga Lake mirrors the larger environmental history of the US, from colonization to the industrial era, resulting, eventually, in the rise of social movements and legislative action for environmental protection. Layered within this history is the dismissal of indigenous land claims and the marginalization of indigenous voices in clean-up efforts. Toxic Lake illustrates that the failure to prevent the environmental destruction of Onondaga Lake was part of a political climate which favored unregulated industrial production and urban growth, ignoring the destructive impacts on local environments. Shevory argues this larger failure was the result of an active process of privileging the economic interests of polluters over other business interests, expanding neighborhoods, and indigenous rights. He concludes with an investigation of New York's recent declaration that the clean-up is complete, questioning what exactly that means and whether the lake's status as a sacred space will ever be re-established. Toxic Lake is a compelling work of history, demonstrating the disastrous effects of pollution and the importance of community involvement in environmental activism.

Seller Inventory # 9781479815678

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Toxic Lake : Environmental Destruction and the Epic Fight to Save Onondaga Lake
• Publisher: New York University Press Jan 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1479815675
• ISBN 13: 9781479815678
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 0D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 0 millimeters depth
• Weight: 616 grams

About this title

Synopsis

2024 Outstanding Academic Title, given by Choice Reviews

The environmental history of “the most polluted lake in America.”
​​
Native Americans have long regarded Onondaga Lake as one of the most sacred spaces in the continent, the place where peace between nations was achieved and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was created. In the mid-twentieth century, however, it acquired a wholly different reputation as “the most polluted lake in America.” Toxic Lake is an environmental history of this complex ecological system, tracking how it was tarnished, the costly efforts to clean it up, and the controversies those efforts generated.

Thomas Shevory argues that the history of Onondaga Lake mirrors the larger environmental history of the US, from colonization to the industrial era, resulting, eventually, in the rise of social movements and legislative action for environmental protection. Layered within this history is the dismissal of indigenous land claims and the marginalization of indigenous voices in clean-up efforts. Toxic Lake illustrates that the failure to prevent the environmental destruction of Onondaga Lake was part of a political climate which favored unregulated industrial production and urban growth, ignoring the destructive impacts on local environments. Shevory argues this larger failure was the result of an active process of privileging the economic interests of polluters over other business interests, expanding neighborhoods, and indigenous rights. He concludes with an investigation of New York’s recent declaration that the clean-up is complete, questioning what exactly that means and whether the lake’s status as a sacred space will ever be re-established. Toxic Lake is a compelling work of history, demonstrating the disastrous effects of pollution and the importance of community involvement in environmental activism.

About the Author

Thomas Shevory is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Ithaca College. He is the author of many books, including Toxic Burn: The Grassroots Struggle Against the WTI Incinerator, Notorious H.I.V.: The Media Spectacle of Nushawn Williams, The Great Lakes at Ten Miles an Hour: One Cyclists Journey along the Shores of the Inland Seas, and Toxic Lake: Environmental Destruction and the Epic Fight to Save Onondaga Lake.