Poisons in Public

This book explores four serious but representative instances of pollution affecting the lives of Canadians.  In Dryden, Ontario, Reed Paper Limited dumped mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system; and farther south Dow Chemicals was responsible for polluting the St. Clair River around Sarnia with mercury wastes. In New Brunswick the forest industry and the government continue to encourage the aerial spraying of vast areas of the province with the chemical Fenitrithion, in spite of the fact that this programme to rid the forests of the spruce budworm has been linked to an outbreak of Reyes Syndrome, a deadly disease that afflicts children.

In presenting these cases, the author notes the relationships that exist between big business and the government, and are leading to the destruction of our environment.