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Laid to Waste tells the story of the Stringfellow Acid Pits, a toxic waste disposal site in Riverside County that was designated California’s first Superfund site after years of sustained organizing by local residents. Drawing on archival sources, government records, and oral histories, Brinda Sarathy reveals how toxic waste disposal became foundational to the postwar development of Southern California’s Inland Empire as officials promoted technological optimism and economic expansion at the cost of contaminating groundwater and harming working-class communities. Sarathy also chronicles how communities fought back, transforming Stringfellow into a landmark environmental justice case and a testament to the power of community organizing in hazardous waste cleanup.
Brinda Sarathy is Dean and Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. She is author of Pineros: Latino Labor and the Changing Face of Forestry in the Pacific Northwest and coeditor of two volumes, most recently Inevitably Toxic: Historical Perspectives on Contamination, Exposure, and Expertise.