In 1982, a toxic waste facility opened in the Piney Woods in Winona, 
Texas. The residents were told that the company would plant fruit 
trees on the land left over from its ostensible salt-water injection well. 
Soon after the plant opened, however, residents started noticing huge 
orange clouds rising from the facility and an increase in rates of 
cancer and birth defects in both humans and animals. The company 
dismissed their concerns, and confusion about what chemicals it 
accepted made investigations difficult.

    Outraged by what she saw, Phyllis Glazer founded Mothers 
Organized to Stop Environmental Sins (MOSES) and worked 
tirelessly to publicize the problems in Winona. The story was 
featured in People, the Houston Chronicle magazine, and The 
Dallas Observer. The plant finally closed in 1998, citing the negative 
publicity generated by the group.

    This book originated in 1994 when Cromer-Campbell was asked 
by Phyllis Glazer to produce a photograph for a poster about the 
campaign. She was so touched by the people in the town that she 
set out to document their stories. Using a plastic Holga camera, she 
created hauntingly distorted images that are both works of art and 
testaments to the damage inflicted on the people of a small Texas 
town by one company's greed.

    In the accompanying essays, Phyllis Glazer describes the history 
of Winona and the fight against the facility; Roy Flukinger discusses 
Cromer-Campbell's striking photographic technique; Eugene 
Hargrove explores issues of environmental justice; and Marvin 
Legator elaborates on how industry and government discourage 
victims of chemical exposure from seeking or obtaining relief. 

_________________________________________________________

TAMMY CROMER-CAMPBELL is a photographer based in Longview, 
Texas, whose photographs have been featured in Foto Mundo, 
CameraArts, and on CNN. PHYLLIS GLAZER was voted one of the 
20 Most Impressive Texans of 1997 by Texas Monthly because of her 
work in Winona. ROY FLUKINGER is the photography curator for The 
University of Texas' Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. 
EUGENE HARGROVE is founder of the Center for Environmental 
Philosophy at the University of North Texas, and the late DR. MARVIN 
LEGATOR was a toxicologist who examined many of the citizens 
involved.



What people are saying about this book

"The photographs and accompanying text are a powerful example of 
environmental rhetoric, one that highlights the importance of visual 
imagery and cultural activism in the struggle for environmental 
justice."—John W. Delicath, U.S. Government Accountability Office

"In the finest tradition of the best documentary photographers, 
Tammy Cromer-Campbell has fashioned a moving portrait of the 
lives destroyed in a small East Texas town by industrial pollution, 
and in so doing has helped remake the lives of some of its poorest 
citizens."—Hank O'Neal, photographer