| Edition |
First Scribner hardcover edition. |
| Description |
ix, 339 pages : frontispiece, maps ; 23 cm |
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| Summary |
For two decades, the water in the taps and wells of Mingo County didn't look, smell, or taste right. Could it be the root of the health problems--from kidney stones to cancer--in this Appalachian community? Environmental lawyer Kevin Thompson certainly thought so. For seven years, he waged an epic legal battle against Massey Energy, West Virginia's most powerful coal company, helmed by CEO Don Blankenship. While Massey's lawyers worked out of a gray glass office tower in Charleston known as "the Death Star," Thompson set up shop in a ramshackle hotel in the fading coal town of Williamson. Working with fellow lawyers and a crew of young activists, Thompson would eventually uncover the ruthless shortcuts that put the community's drinking water at risk. A respected preacher and his brother, retired coal miners, and women whose families had lived in the area's coal camps for generations, all put their trust in Thompson when they had nowhere else to turn. As he dug deeper into the mystery of the water along a stretch of road where the violence from the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud still echoes, he was pulled into the darkest corners of Mingo County, risking his finances, his marriage, his career, and even his safety. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-321) and index. |
| Contents |
Black water -- The heart of the billion dollar coal field -- The quantification of intuition -- Exodus -- The admiral's den. |
| Subject |
Massey Energy (Firm) -- Corrupt practices.
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Thompson, Kevin W., 1963-
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Drinking water -- Contamination -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
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Drinking water -- Law and legislation -- United States -- Cases.
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Coal mines and mining -- Law and legislation -- United States -- Cases.
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Massey Energy (Firm) -- Trials, litigation, etc.
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Water -- Pollution.
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Water-supply -- Health aspects.
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Mining corporations -- Corrupt practices.
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Coal mines and mining -- Environmental aspects -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
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Coal mines and mining -- Health aspects -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
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Drinking Water -- legislation & jurisprudence. |
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Water Pollution. |
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Water Supply. |
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Coal Mining -- legislation & jurisprudence. |
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Coal Mining -- ethics. |
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Mingo County (W. Va.) -- Social conditions.
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Mingo County (W. Va.) -- Environmental conditions.
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West Virginia. |
| Genre |
Case studies.
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Case studies.
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| Added Title |
Epic battle for clean water and justice in Appalachia |
| ISBN |
9781501187346 (hardcover) : $28.00 |
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1501187341 (hardcover) |
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