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PeriodicalLarge Print Book
Author Maher, Kris, author.

Title Desperate : an epic battle for clean water and justice in Appalachia / Kris Maher.

Publication Info. Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, a Cengage company, 2022.
©2021

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Glastonbury, Welles-Turner Memorial Library - Adult Department  LP 344.754 MAHER    Check Shelf
Edition Large print edition.
Description 633 pages (large print) : maps ; 23 cm.
Physical Medium large print. rda
Series Thorndike Press large print nonfiction
Thorndike Press large print nonfiction series.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references.
Contents Black water -- Heart of the billion dollar coal field -- The quantification of intuition -- Exodus -- The admiral's den.
Summary "Erin Brockovich meets Dark Waters in this propulsive and heart-wrenching legal drama set in Appalachian coal country, as one determined lawyer confronts a coal industry giant in a battle over clean drinking water for a West Virginia community--from Wall Street Journal reporter Kris Maher. 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. Bringing to life a rich cast of characters and the legacy of coal mining in an essential yet often misunderstood part of America, On Desperate Ground is a masterful work of investigative reporting about greed and denial, a revealing portrait of a town besieged by hardship and heartbreak, and an inspiring account of one tenacious environmental lawyer's mission to expose the truth and demand justice"-- Provided by publisher.
Subject Thompson, Kevin W., 1963-
Blankenship, Don, 1950- -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Massey Energy (Firm) -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Environmental lawyers -- West Virginia -- Biography.
Trials (Toxic torts) -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
Liability for water pollution damages -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
Coal trade -- Corrupt practices -- West Virginia -- Mingo County.
Large type books.
Blankenship, Don, 1950- (OCoLC)fst01931716
Coal trade -- Corrupt practices. (OCoLC)fst00865515
Environmental lawyers. (OCoLC)fst00913174
Liability for water pollution damages. (OCoLC)fst00997150
Trials (Toxic torts) (OCoLC)fst01156418
West Virginia. (OCoLC)fst01205316
West Virginia -- Mingo County. (OCoLC)fst01224821
Genre/Form Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
Trials, litigation, etc. (OCoLC)fst01423712
Other Editions: Maher, Kris. Desperate : an epic battle for clean water and justice in Appalachia New York : Scribner, 2021 9781501187346.
ISBN 9781432894276 (large print) (hardcover)
1432894277 (large print) (hardcover)
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