The Threat at Home: Confronting the Toxic Legacy of the U.S. Military

I had no inkling of what was going on with the military and its contribution to environmental pollution in the United States until I read this book. Each chapter is well written and well researched. I was engrossed in the reading and could not stop until I read it to the finish. I found out how the Navy at the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center in N.J. had estimated in 1981 that "workers had dumped into the ground more than 3 million gallons of cancer-causing aviation fuel and other toxic substances, endangering the Cohansey aquifer.." I found out that Aberdeen Proving Ground (north of Baltimore) is included twice on the Superfund list and that they have toxic sites that are close to impossible to clean up. There are several other contaminated sites, like Hanford, Washington where at least "750,000 gallons of deadly, high-level radioactive waste are believed to have leaked from Hanford's underground storage tank farm over the past few decades." And so on. The horrifying truth is unfolded before our eyes as we see what is being done in our back yards in the name of "national security." Shulman also has a chapter that lists suspected contamination sites by type - from arsenals and ammunition Plants, to Depots, Proving Grounds, and Naval Bases and Shipyards. The redeeming factor comes later in the book when we read that the military has begun to be involved in environmental clean up. But they still have a long way to go. Kudos to Shulman for a very involved book that should be in everyobody's library. I recommend this book highly!