“A classic story with very good good-guys and very bad bad-guys, a tale of corporate greed, lethal pollution and sick children and the heroic people who fought to make things right. A wonderful read.”

—Scott Turow, New York Times bestselling author

In 1990, private investigator Bill Clutter learned about a group of mothers in Taylorville, Illinois, who were calling on state health officials to investigate the cause of a rare cancer that was killing children in their community.  As he looked deeper into the case, Clutter discovered a similar epidemic ravaging a small town in Louisiana. The link between the two communities soon became clear: exposure to a byproduct of coal gasification called coal tar.

The small law firm Clutter worked for soon filed a lawsuit representing the mothers against Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS), the operator of one of 50,000 dangerous coal gasification plants in America. It was a classic David versus Goliath battle for justice, with powerful corporate and state interests lined up against them. The case resulted in a landmark Illinois Supreme Court decision that would revolutionize environmental policy in the state. 

But the fight is far from over. Coal Tar: How Corrupt Politics and Corporate Greed Are Killing America’s Children highlights how coal tar is still polluting the environment in towns all across America--like Franklin, Indiana, where another group of mothers are seeking answers in the face of an outbreak of childhood cancers there—and how students in another community are making real change by standing up for what’s right.