Dirty water [[electronic resource] ] : one man's fight to clean up one of the world's most polluted bays / / Bill Sharpsteen

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910828975003321
• Autore: Sharpsteen Bill <1954->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2010
• ISBN: 1-282-45347-5; 9786612453472; 0-520-94475-5
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (283 p.)
• Collana: The Stephen Bechtel Fund imprint in ecology and the environment
• Classificazione: AR 12500
• Disciplina: 363.739/409794
• Soggetti: Sewage disposal in the ocean - Environmental aspects - California - Santa Monica Bay; Marine pollution - California - Santa Monica Bay - Prevention; Environmental policy - California - Santa Monica Bay Region; Environmentalists - United States; Political activists - United States; High school teachers - United States; Santa Monica Bay Region (Calif.) Environmental conditions
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Author's Note -- Prologue. Surfer Scientist -- Chapter 1. The Swimmer -- Chapter 2. The Witness -- Chapter 3. The Coalition -- Chapter 4. Squirp -- Chapter 5. The Press Conference -- Chapter 6. City Hall -- Chapter 7. The Activist -- Chapter 8. The Second Hearing -- Chapter 9. The Scientist -- Chapter 10. The Politician -- Chapter 11. The Brown Ribbon -- Chapter 12. Heal the Bay -- Chapter 13. The Dirty Toilet Awards -- Chapter 14. The Decision -- Chapter 15. Friend of the Court -- Chapter 16. Outsiders and Insiders -- Chapter 17. The 50 Percent Job -- Epilogue -- Resources -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Dirty Water is the riveting story of how Howard Bennett, a Los Angeles schoolteacher with a gift for outrageous rhetoric, fought pollution in Santa Monica Bay--and won. The story begins in 1985, when many scientists considered the bay to be one of the most polluted bodies of ; water in the world. The insecticide DDT covered portions of the sea floor. Los Angeles discharged partially treated sewage into its waters. Lifeguards came down with mysterious illnesses. And Howard Bennett happily swam in it every morning. By accident, Bennett learned that Los Angeles had applied for a waiver from the Clean Water Act to continue discharging sewage into the bay. Incensed that he had been swimming in dirty water, Bennett organized oddball coalition to orchestrate stunts such as wrapping brown ribbon around LA's city hall and issuing Dirty Toilet Awards to chastise the city's administration. This is the fast-paced story of how this unusual cast of characters created an environmental movement in Los Angeles that continues to this day with the nationally recognized Heal the Bay. Character-driven, compelling, and uplifting, Dirty Water tells how even the most polluted water can be cleaned up-by ordinary people.