Rating: 
Summary: The best part is missing
Review: "Canaries on the rim" is as much a story of an environmental movement starting in a small town, as it is a story of the evolution of an environmental activist. Chip draws the reader in with a sparklingly detailed examination of the environmental effects of a single cow in a single canyon. The apathy of local, state, and federal burocrat towards solving the environmental problems he discovers is staggering. The reader is left with the question; "how can someone afford to fight environmental battles"? Shortly after pondering the question of "breakfast cereal for two headed babies" Chip appears to discover that the most important polluters are those with the deepest pockets. Chip describes the fame and attention he receives and the changes it brings to his life as a bookmobile driver. Chip's acting locally evolves into national action. As he evolves so does his prose. Examination is replaced by name-calling, detail replaced by assumption. In short, he becomes one of the environmental shock therapists he pokes fun at early in the book. Chip sells out and if through some literary device he was able to see it this would be a truly great book. Tooele County is pockmarked with environmental problems. Stockton, one of Grantsville's close neighbors, has an arsenic toxic waste site where many towns would have a town square. Overgrazing denudes the deserts. For years cancer-causing pesticide overuse, to attack the grasshopper and cricket blooms, was commonplace. Even natural pollution, in the form of effervescing dust and putrid sulfurous stenches from the salt lake's mudflats, attacks human health. But none of these assailants will pay. It may be necessary to go after the deep pockets to try and patch the broken lives left by health problems caused by life in Tooele County. The fight that Chip's environmental battle evolves into may be a good fight. The changes that Chip goes through in giving up a pure environmental battle based on environmental effect and targeting that battle based on political effect would be a good story. However, that story is only inferred in the later chapters of this book.
Rating:
Summary: The best part is missing
Review: "Canaries on the rim" is as much a story of an environmental movement starting in a small town, as it is a story of the evolution of an environmental activist. Chip draws the reader in with a sparklingly detailed examination of the environmental effects of a single cow in a single canyon. The apathy of local, state, and federal burocrat towards solving the environmental problems he discovers is staggering. The reader is left with the question; "how can someone afford to fight environmental battles"? Shortly after pondering the question of "breakfast cereal for two headed babies" Chip appears to discover that the most important polluters are those with the deepest pockets. Chip describes the fame and attention he receives and the changes it brings to his life as a bookmobile driver. Chip's acting locally evolves into national action. As he evolves so does his prose. Examination is replaced by name-calling, detail replaced by assumption. In short, he becomes one of the environmental shock therapists he pokes fun at early in the book. Chip sells out and if through some literary device he was able to see it this would be a truly great book. Tooele County is pockmarked with environmental problems. Stockton, one of Grantsville's close neighbors, has an arsenic toxic waste site where many towns would have a town square. Overgrazing denudes the deserts. For years cancer-causing pesticide overuse, to attack the grasshopper and cricket blooms, was commonplace. Even natural pollution, in the form of effervescing dust and putrid sulfurous stenches from the salt lake's mudflats, attacks human health. But none of these assailants will pay. It may be necessary to go after the deep pockets to try and patch the broken lives left by health problems caused by life in Tooele County. The fight that Chip's environmental battle evolves into may be a good fight. The changes that Chip goes through in giving up a pure environmental battle based on environmental effect and targeting that battle based on political effect would be a good story. However, that story is only inferred in the later chapters of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An articulate view of Utah accepting environmental abuse
Review: An important book that tells a fascinating story of the passive but patriotic citizens of Utah. They believe, accept, and even support the environmental PR spoutings of the Army and large industry while the isolated county of Tooele gets rich off the results. Fascinating and compelling reading. Very well written by Chip Ward.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Achievement
Review: I loved the book! And Mr. Ward should be commended highly for taking the actions he did, and writing the book to make other people aware of these terrible problems in Utah. It's outrageous! I feel sorry for the people of Utah, and wonder when we will come to our senses.Whatever the answers are to these terrible environmental problems, I think you can depend that each of us will be unpleasantly surprised by some more of these issues in the future, no matter where we live.
Rating:
Summary: We all live downstream...
Review: I loved the book! And Mr. Ward should be commended highly for taking the actions he did, and writing the book to make other people aware of these terrible problems in Utah. It's outrageous! I feel sorry for the people of Utah, and wonder when we will come to our senses.Whatever the answers are to these terrible environmental problems, I think you can depend that each of us will be unpleasantly surprised by some more of these issues in the future, no matter where we live.
Rating:
Summary: Think one person can't help change the world? Think again!
Review: If you eat food, drink water or breathe air, you need to read "Canaries on the Rim." Ward's account of environmental injustice in Utah, and the efforts taken by he and other environmental and public health advocates to set right decades of environmental wrongs, ought to move any citizen to action. What I like most about the book is the way Ward uses humor and his first-hand knowledge in the environmental "movement" to make his point. No grandstanding, no techno-babble, no moral high-ground preaching. The book is easy to read and will make you laugh despite the real, frightening details of chemical, biological and nuclear testing in the West. Think one person can't help change the world? Think again -- and read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Think one person can't help change the world? Think again!
Review: If you eat food, drink water or breathe air, you need to read "Canaries on the Rim." Ward's account of environmental injustice in Utah, and the efforts taken by he and other environmental and public health advocates to set right decades of environmental wrongs, ought to move any citizen to action. What I like most about the book is the way Ward uses humor and his first-hand knowledge in the environmental "movement" to make his point. No grandstanding, no techno-babble, no moral high-ground preaching. The book is easy to read and will make you laugh despite the real, frightening details of chemical, biological and nuclear testing in the West. Think one person can't help change the world? Think again -- and read this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Achievement
Review: This book is a remarkable achievement that describes remarkable achievements. First, although this is Chip Ward's first published work, the book is well written and easy to read. It is by turns lyrical, witty, informative, wise, sensitive, and, yes, angry. It describes how the author raised awareness in his community and made a difference despite overwhelming odds. I found it inspiring and uplifting despite the grim topic of toxic pollution. That Ward can keep his sense of humor in the midst of such adversity is amazing. It is a shame this book has not found a much bigger audience.
Rating:
Summary: An Important and Wonderful Memoir
Review: This is the story of Chip Ward awakening to deadly environmental pollution in his community, and what he and others were able to do about it. A must read for anybody who wishes to live a happy, healthy life, without dioxin-laden air or nuclear-irradiated ground water - because your community is not that different from Ward's. A well-written and humorous book that will reconnect you with the land and give you a better understanding of active community life. You won't be able to put it down. Absolutely great, from cover to cover.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Utah!
Review: When you enter Utah, the Billboards don't tell you that you've entered the largest environmental sacrifice zone in the country. You have to read Canaries on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West to find that out. Ward details what the Army and other government officials are afraid to tell you. He documents the environmental ecocide that has taken place in the once pristine deserts of the Great American West from decades of uncontrolled military experiments and unregulated industrial pollution. In his book, Ward describes the attitude and mindset of the people who live in one of the most beautiful, yet most polluted states in America, and the polluters who take advantage of their trust. Home to the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, the only nerve gas incinerator in the country, and the largest industrial polluter in America (MagCorps), the people of Utah have been subjected to environmental conditions that boggle the mind. From atomic testing in the 50's, to open-air biological and nerve agent testing in the 60's, to uncontrolled industrial pollution in the 70's, to the MX missle crisis in the 80's, to chemical weapons incineration in the 90's, the reasons for the skyrocketing rate of chronic illness are not hard to track down. Ward gives a colorful first hand account of his efforts to uncover the deceipt, corruption, and cover-ups that have plagued the people of Utah. Canaries on the Rim is a humerous tale of the darkness that has compromised the lives and health of Utahns. This is a must read for all Americans, especially those living in the intermountain west.
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