Lakeview Gusher (Taft, CA) - 1910 (http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/09/15/lakeviewgusher_custom-4545bfd58f449248fdfcd1db08b5fe193db0d044-s3.jpg)

January 15, 1919 - Fifty-foot-tall steel storage tank (owned by U.S. Industrial Alcohol), filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses, exploded on Boston's North End industrial waterfront; 15-foot-high wave of molasses, traveling @ 35 mph killed 21, injured 150, caused widespread destruction; 125 lawsuits filed; longest investigation in history of Massachusetts court system at the time; 1926 - Massachusetts courts concluded tank had been improperly designed,  failure due entirely to structural weakness.

Great Molasses Flood - Boston 1919 (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/ BostonMolassesDisaster.jpg/400px-BostonMolassesDisaster.jpg)

November 28,  1942 - Fire destroyed Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston; killed nearly 500 people.

July 6, 1944 - In Hartford, CT, fire broke out under the big top of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus; 8,000 spectators inside; 169 people killed (two-thirds children), 682 injured; tent's ropes burned, its poles gave way, whole burning big top crashed, consumed those who remained inside; over in 10 minutes - some 100 children, 60 of their adult escorts were dead or dying; investigation revealed tent had undergone treatment with flammable paraffin thinned with three parts of gasoline to make it waterproof; Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus eventually agreed to pay $5 million in compensation, several organizers convicted on manslaughter charges; 1950 - Robert D. Segee, of Circleville, Ohio, confessed to starting Hartford circus fire; claimed he had been an arsonist since age of six, apparition of Indian on flaming horse often visited him, urged him to set fires; November 1950 - Segee was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 22 years in prison, maximum penalty in Ohio at the time.

April 2, 1973 - ITT pled guilty to asking CIA to affect Chilean President election.

November 13, 1974 - Karen Silkwood, Oklahoma metallurgy worker at Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium nuclear processing plant near Crescent, OK, blew whistle on blatant worker safety violations at plant; she was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured, forced off road, died while driving to interview with New York Times reporter,  David Burnham; her files were missing from car wreck; FBI investigation concluded accident (not generally believed to have been impartial).

November 22, 1977 - Federal judge fined Phillips Petroleum $30,000 fine for using clandestine corporate fund to illegally funnel contributions to various political campaigns; found Phillips guilty of filing fudged tax reports.

August 7, 1978 - President Jimmy Carter declared federal emergency at Love Canal (neighborhood in Niagara Falls, NY); those living closest to site were relocated; December 20, 1979 - Environmental Protection Agency announced that Department of Justice (on behalf of EPA) filed four suits against Hooker Chemical Co., its parent corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation; requested company clean up four chemical waste dumpsites in Niagara Falls, NY, which posed substantial danger to residents of area; suits sought total of $117,580,000 in clean-up costs from Hooker, reimbursement for more than $7 million spent by Federal agencies in emergency measures at Hooker's Love Canal waste disposal site, unspecified civil penalties; suits specified that Hooker disposed of 199,900 tons of chemical waste at our sites between 1942 and 1975, Olin Corporation disposed of 66,000 tons of chemical waste at 102nd Street landfill; EPA scientists found 82 toxic chemicals in air, water, soil samples near dumps; numerous toxic chemicals (dozen of which were carcinogenic) discarded at Love Canal over past 30 years triggered several health problems (miscarriages) among area's residents, transformed whole sections of community into ghost town; June 22, 1994 - Occidental Petroleum agreed to pay $98 million to cover New York State's cleanup costs; December 22, 1995 - Occidental Petroleum agreed to pay $129 million to cover federal government's cleanup costs at Love Canal.

March 28, 1979 - America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside Unit Two reactor at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (three-months-old) near Middletown, PA (on island in Susquehanna River about 11 miles south of Harrisburg); released above-normal levels of radiation into  central Pennsylvania countryside; officials of Nuclear Regulatory Commission claimed radiation outside plant far less than produced by diagnostic X-rays; some of 60 employees on duty were contaminated, did not require hospitalization; 15,000 people living within mile of plant not evacuated, 'general emergency' declared.

March 13, 1980 - Jury in Winamac, IN found Ford Motor Co. innocent of reckless homicide in fiery deaths of three young women riding in Ford Pinto.

March 30, 1980 - Phillips Petroleum's Alexander Kielland platform in North Sea collapsed, 123 killed; housed 208 men who worked on nearby Edda oil rig in Ekofisk field, 235 miles east of Dundee, Scotland; platform, held up by two large pontoons, had bedrooms, kitchens, lounges, provided place for workers to spend their time when not working; investigation revealed previously undetected crack in one of main legs of platform caused structure’s collapse.

May 21, 1980 - President Carter declared state of emergency at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY; property had been dumping site for Hooker Chemicals and Plastics; 1981 - plans made to evacuate 710 families, ordered after  study reported that 30% of residents in area had suffered chromosome damage caused by toxic chemicals leaking through ground into their homes.

September 29, 1982 - Seven people in Chicago area died after unknowingly taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide; suspect for murders never found; led to safety seals on most consumer products.

February 14, 1984 - Drs. Thomas E. Starzl, Henry T. Bahnson performed  world's first heart-liver double transplant in six-year-old Stormie Jones from Texas at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; had blood levels of cholesterol almost five times afe level; lived until age 13.

December 3, 1984 - More than 4,000 people in Bhopal, India (360 miles south of New Delhi) died after more than  40 tons of highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked in 40-minute period from one of three underground tanks at pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide; tank valve apparently malfunctioned after increase in pressure.; plant opened in 1977, produced about 2,500 tons of pesticides per year;  gas produced heavy discharge from eyes; extremely irritated skin, internal organs; could lead to enough fluid accumulation to cause drowning; local authorities arrested five factory officials, charged with criminal negligence; Indian government sued Union Carbide in civil case, settled in 1989 for $470 million.

April 2, 1985 - Drug maker A. H. Robins set aside $615 million to settle claims brought by users of its contraceptive device, Dalkon shield; company had filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from lawsuits brought by hundreds of thousands of women who claimed that Dalkon Shield caused infertility or infections.

April 8, 1985 - India filed suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster.

November 19, 1985 - Pennzoil won $10.53 billion verdict in case against Texaco; stemmed from Pennzoil's attempted acquisition of Getty Oil (had agreed to pay $5.3 billion for family-run oil company without written contract signed by both parties; Texaco doubled Pennzoil's bid, Getty accepted, Pennzoil sued); state-court jury ruled that Pennzoil and Getty had engaged in binding contract, single biggest civil verdict in court history.

June 3, 1986 - Alabama jury awarded $150 million in punitive damages to Alex Hardy against General Motors in Chevy Blazer accident; truck spun out of control, its axle snapped, door latch failed to stay shut, Hardy ejected from vehicle, paralyzed; GM general council, Thomas Gottschalk, dismissed "completely outrageous" decision as "the crowning example of a state tort system gone berserk";  Hardy's legal team presented seemingly damning evidence against GM, including internal documents in which company's own engineers conceded that Blazer's latch was " substandard", prone to failure;  revealed that GM had decided against recalling, repairing vehicles with  defective latches because it deemed $916 million cost too great.

August 22, 1986 - Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay estate of late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settled 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.

February 12, 1987 - Texas court upheld initial 1985 decision against Texaco ($10.5 billion fine) for having initiated illegal takeover bid for Getty Oil after Pennzoil had already made $5.3 billion bid in legally binding contract to which Getty had consented (despite never signing formal contract). 

May 9, 1988 - Jury found Stella Nickell guilty of murder; first person tried,  convicted for committing murder using product tampering; June 17, 1988 - sentenced to 90 years; June 11, 1986 - 40-year-old Washington state bank manager, Sue Snow, woke up with headache at 6 a.m., took two Extra-Strength Excedrin capsules; died in few hours from cyanide poisoning; Bristol-Myers nationally recalled product to avert more deaths; FBI crime lab Washington, DC discovered tainted capsules contained minute specks of  green crystal-like substance, Algae Destroyer; law enforcement officials discovered that Stella Nickell owned a fish tank, had bought Algae Destroyer from pet store prior to murders, took out three life insurance policies on her husband in year prior to his death.

July 6, 1988 - Fire on Occidental Petroleum's Piper Alpha drilling platform, 120 miles off north-east coast of Scotland, killed 167 workers; largest,  oldest platform in North Sea oilfield; 300 deaths on Britain's 123 oil installations (often caused by bad weather) since drilling began in North Sea in 1970s.

October 13, 1988 - U.S. district court handed down record-setting $115 million settlement for fraud against Sundstrand Corp., aerospace and industrial parts company (over-billing on sales of parts to Pentagon); pleaded guilty to padding bills by "millions of dollars," used money to pay for "unallowable" expenses (sauna sessions, servants hired for company officials, confessed to improperly wining, dining defense workers as ploy to "improve (the company's) ability to market its products to the Defense Department."

February 14, 1989 - Union Carbide agreed to pay $470 million to  government of India in court-ordered settlement of 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster.

March 24, 1989 - Worst oil spill in U. S. territory occurred as supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, leaked 11 million gallons of crude; wind and currents spread oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluted more than 700 miles of coastline;  hundreds of thousands of birds, animals adversely affected by environmental disaster.

January 29, 1990 - Former Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood went on trial in Anchorage, Alaska, on charges stemming from nation's worst oil spill.

February 27, 1990 - Exxon Corp., Exxon Shipping indicted on 5 criminal counts (Valdez).

March 22, 1990 - Jury in Anchorage, AK, found former tanker captain Joseph Hazelwood innocent of three major charges in connection with tExxon Valdez oil spill, convicted him of minor charge of negligent discharge of oil.

March 23, 1990 - Judge in Anchorage, AK sentenced former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood to help clean up Prince William Sound, pay $50,000 in restitution for his role in 1989 oil spill.

February 9, 1991 - Japan's worst nuclear accident happened at Mihama when pipe in steam generator burst, leaked 55 tons of radioactive primary (reactor) coolant water into secondary steam-generating circuit; radiation into atmosphere kept to small amount; no deaths resulted.

March 13, 1991 - Exxon paid $1-billion dollars in fines, cleanup of Valdez oil spill.

July 10, 1992 - Alaska court of appeals overturned conviction of Joseph Hazelwood, former captain of oil tanker Exxon Valdez; successfully argued he was entitled to immunity from prosecution because he had reported oil spill to authorities 20 minutes after ship ran aground.

February 8, 1993 - General Motors sued NBC, alleged that program ''Dateline NBC'' had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires; NBC settled lawsuit following day.

June 13, 1994 - Jury in Anchorage, AK, blamed recklessness by Exxon Corp. and Capt. Joseph Hazelwood for Exxon Valdez disaster, allowied victims of nation's worst oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.

February 17, 1995 - Federal judge allowed lawsuit claiming U.S. tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive, manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked.

June 3, 1996 - Alex Hardy and his wife claimed that General Motors, maker of Chevy Blazer, had knowingly sold vehicles with defective door latches (fell asleep at wheel, car turned over, axle snapped, door latch failed to stay shut, he was thrown, paralyzed); brought case to Alabama's courts; jury slapped GM with $150 million in punitive damages; internal GM documents showed company's engineers conceded that Blazer's latch was "substandard", prone to failure; revealed that GM had decided against recalling, repairing vehicles with defective latches because it cost too much - estimated $916 million.

November 12, 1996 - Reverend Jesse Jackson threatened to lead potentially crippling boycott against Texaco if company failed to settle  lingering $520 million racial-discrimination lawsuit (filed in 1994 by six Texaco employees; mushroomed into complaint backed by some 1,400 workers; revelation of "secret" audio tape captured Texaco executives making racial slurs, plotting to derail lawsuit); November 15, 1996 - Texaco announced what was believed to be $175 million settlement in case (included one-time salary boost for minority employees, establishment of "diversity training,  sensitivity programs"); 1996 - Richard Lundwall, Robert Ulrich, two  executives captured on tape, stood trial on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice (acquitted of those charges in 1998); January 8, 1997 - Texaco Inc. took action against David Keough (assistant treasurer at Texaco's finance insurance subsidiary), one of executives surreptitiously caught on 1996 tape making racist jokes, admitting to destroying potentially incriminating documents.

March 20, 1997 - Liggett Group, maker of Chesterfield cigarettes, settled 22 state lawsuits, admitted industry marketed cigarettes to teenagers, agreed to warn on every pack that smoking is addictive.

May 6, 1997 - Hemophiliacs who contracted AIDS between 1978 and 1985 from tainted blood products accepted $600 million settlement from four health-care companies.

June 20, 1997 - Tobacco industry agreed to massive settlement in exchange for major relief from mounting lawsuits, legal bills.

August 25, 1997 - Tobacco industry agreed to $11.3 billion settlement with state of Florida.

October 7m 1997 - Chrysler recalled 1.1 million minivans (at estimated cost of  roughly $30 million); October 8, 1997 - Federal jury ordered Chrysler to pay $260 million to  Jiminez family, whose son, Sergei, was killed after being thrown from third seat of Chrysler minivan in 1987 accident (Jiminez's Dodge Caravan hit by another vehicle at five miles per hour), minivan's rear liftgate malfunctioned, back door flew open, boy ejected on to pavement; 37 deaths traced to faulty liftgate latches on Chrysler's minivans between 1984-1994; 100 lawsuits filed.

June 10, 1998 - Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc. (MMMA) agreed to settle sexual harassment lawsuit (its second - paid $9.5 million in 1997 to settle private suit filed by 29 female plant workers); U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit on behalf of 300 female workers at Mitsubishi's Normal, IL, plant, against carmaker in spring of 1996 (groped by male counterparts, forced to trade sexual favors for job security);  settlement called for MMMA to pay unprecedented $34 million to female workers.

March 30, 1999 - A jury in Portland, OR ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.

July 7, 1999 - Jury in Miami held cigarette makers liable for making  defective product that caused emphysema, lung cancer, other illnesses.

October 7, 1999 - American Home Products Corp. agreed to pay up to $4.83 billion to settle claims that fen-phen diet drug combination caused dangerous heart valve problems.

August 9, 2000 - Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced it was recalling 6.5 million tires that had been implicated in hundreds of accidents, at least 46 deaths.

May 19, 2003 - WorldCom Inc. agreed to pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges.

June 9, 2004 - Federal Communications Commission agreed to record $1.75 million settlement with Clear Channel to resolve indecency complaints against Howard Stern, other radio personalities.

June 22, 2004 - Federal judge approved class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit representing 1.6 million female workers against Wal-Mart.

August 19, 2005 - Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable for death of man who'd taken once-popular painkiller Vioxx; awarded his widow $253.4 million in damages (figure to about $26 million due to Texas caps on punitive damages; Merck planned appeal).

October 11, 2005 -  Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to pay $240 million to Ford Motor Company in settlement for claims related to 2000 recall of defective tires (6.5 million, especially on Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles); at least 271 persons reported killed, hundreds injured in accidents involving Firestone AT, ATX tires; Bridgestone blamed Ford for vehicle defects vs. Ford's maintaining that tires were at fault; Bridgestone severed its 50-year business relationship with Ford.

May 15, 2007 - Tyco International agreed to pay almost $3 billion to settle class-action lawsuits filed by investors by actions of L. Dennis Kozlowski (former CEO), Mark H. Schwartz (former CFO), PricewaterhouseCoopers (auditor); largest payment ever by company in this kind of litigation (fourth in terms of total payments to investors in multiple defendant suits - Enron, World-Com, Cendant). 

BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/04/timestopics/topics-oilmap395/topics-oilmap395-sfSpan.jpg)

(American Home Products), Alicia Mundy (2001). Dispensing with the Truth: The Victims, the Drug Companies, and the Dramatic Story Behind the Battle over Fen-Phen. (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 402 p.). Washington Bureau Chief for Mediaweek, Contributing Editor at Washingtonian magazine. American Home Products Corporation--Trials, litigation, etc.; Wrongful death--Massachusetts; Fenfluramine--Side effects.

(Blue Diamond Coal Company), Gerald M. Stern (2008). The Scotia Widows: Inside Their Lawsuit Against Big Daddy Coal. (New York, NY: Random House, 145 p.). Blue Diamond Coal Company --Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials --Kentucky --Letcher County; Mine explosions --Kentucky --Letcher County. Landmark legal campaign against powerful corporate interests, judge who protected them. March 9, 1976 - explosion killed fifteen miners working nearly three and a half miles underground; March 11, 1976 - second explosion killed eleven rescue workers; 15 widows sued coal company in epic four-year legal struggle; won despite obstacles; helped to inspire Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (changed safety regulations for coal mines).

(BP Spill), Bob Cavnar (2010). Disaster on the Horizon: High Stakes, High Risks, and the Story Behind the Deepwater Well Blowout. (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 224 p.). Formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Milagro Exploration. What happened in the Gulf: 1) collusion between BP, government to hide severity of spill; 2) why blowout preventer technology failed; 3) Obama administration's $20 billion deal with BP; 4) how BP blamed others for its mistakes; 5) BP's corner cutting on safety; 6) risky top kill procedure; 7) Obama's failure to take advice from industry experts; why deep water drilling; how to avoid these disasters in future.

(BP Spill), William R. Freudenburg and Robert Gramling (2010). Blowout in the Gulf: The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 240 p.). Former Dehlsen Professor of Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Barbara); Professor of Sociology (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). BP (Firm); BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill, 2010; Offshore oil well drilling --Political aspects --United States. Disaster waiting to happen -some in industry cut corners, most federal regulators did not notice; American taxpayers receive lower fraction of income from oil than in almost any other nation; BP's Oil Spill Response Plan - pure fantasy; future emphasis: true prevention, risk-management policies based on better understanding of humans, hardware.

(BP Spill), Peter Lehner, Bob Deans (2010). In Deep Water: The Anatomy of a Disaster, the Fate of the Gulf, and Ending Our Oil Addiction. (New York, NY: Experiment, 176 p.). Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Former Chief Asia Correspondent (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). British Petroleum -- history; Deepwater Hrizon; oil spills - history. April 20, 2010 - Deepwater Horizon's well exploded, killed 11; estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil spewed into Gulf of Mexico over next two months; oil slick covered 2,500 square miles, killed wildlife, menaced coastline, thousands of jobs from Texas to Florida Keys, beyond; environmental, human toll of this tragedy; wasteful over-reliance on oil comes at ever-greater cost to planet.

(BP Spill), Loren C. Steffy (2010). Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 256 p.). Business Columnist (Houston Chronicle). Petroleum industry and trade -- Mexico, Gulf of; Industrial productivity -- Mexico, Gulf of; Oil spills -- Cleanup -- Mexico, Gulf of; Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- Mexico, Gulf of; British Petroleum Company. 100 years of BP corporate history - early exploration in Middle East to energy giant; roots of Gulf oil spill in unwritten bargain between oil producers, consumers (drive search for new oil supplies faster, farther, deeper); history of cost cutting in pursuit of profits (John Browne, Anthony Hayward); how lack of corporate responsibility, government oversight led to biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history; energy industry: its environmental impact, intense competition among stakeholders in today's oil markets.

(BP Spill), Joel Achenbach (2011). A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea: The Race to Kill the BP Oil Gusher. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 288 p.). Reporter (Washington Post). Offshore oil well drilling --Technological innovations; Oil well cementing; Technology and state --United States; BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill, 2010; Offshore oil well drilling --Political aspects --United States. Controversies, miscalculations, frustrations, technical triumphs of BP engineers, government scientists who worked to find way to plug Macondo well; government did not have means to solve problem; private sector had wrong tools; remotely operated vehicles performed challenging technical maneuvers on seafloor; government investigation into what went wrong.

(BP Spill), Antonia Juhasz (2011). Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 384 p.). Director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange. British Petroleum -- history; oil spills -- Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum's catastrophic spill in Gulf - human tragedy, life-changing repercussions, people who are to blame; human failings, human cost of largest oil disaster in American history; how it could easily happen again.

(BP Spill), John Konrad and Tom Shroder (2011). Fire on the Horizon: The Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster. (New York, NY: Harper, 288 p.). Former employee Transocean Ltd. (owner of Deepwater Horizon); Former Editor, Writer (Washington Post). BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill, 2010; Underwater explosions --Mexico, Gulf of; Offshore oil well drilling --Mexico, Gulf of; Petroleum industry and trade --Accidents --Mexico, Gulf of. April 20, 2010 - half-billion-dollar oil rig rig blew up, killed 11 people, spewed more than 200 million gallons of crude oil from 3 mile-deep hole in Gulf of Mexico; life of Deepwater Horizon oil rig, from construction in South Korea in 2000 to journey around world to disastrous end; day-to-day lives, struggles of rig workers; engineering hubris at odds with earth, corporate greed, heroism on board.  

(Dow), Peter H. Schuck (1986). Agent Orange on Trial: Mass Toxic Disasters in the Courts. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 347 p.). Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law (Yale University). Reutershan, Paul, d. 1978 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Dow Chemical Company -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Products liability -- Agent Orange -- United States; Trials (Products liability) -- United States.

(Evergreen Resources), Joseph Hilldorfer and Robert Dugoni (2004). The Cyanide Canary. (New York, NY: Free Press, 336 p.). Special Agent for the Environmental Protection Agency. Elias, Allan; Evergreen Resources (Firm); Offenses against the environment --Idaho --Soda Springs; Fertilizer industry --Accidents --Idaho --Soda Springs; Trials (Offenses against the environment) --Idaho. Scott Dominguez (22) pulled unconscious from cyanide-laced storage tank owned by Evergreen Resources (Soda Springs, ID); struggle for justice for one young man became fight by EPA for its very ability to enforce nation's environmental laws, to bring environmental polluters to justice.

(Exxon), Bruce M. Owen ... [et al.] (1995). u> The Economics of a Disaster: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. (Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 200 p.). Exxon Valdez (Ship); =Water--Pollution--Economic aspects--Alaska--Prince William Sound; Oil spills--Economic aspects--Alaska--Prince William Sound; Tankers--Accidents. 

(Exxon), David Lebedoff (1997). Cleaning Up: The Story Behind the Biggest Legal Bonanza of Our Time. (New York, NY: Free Press, 321 p.). Hazelwood, Joseph Jeffrey, 1946- --Trials, litigation, etc.; Exxon Corporation--Trials, litigation, etc.; Exxon Shipping Company--Trials, litigation, etc.; Exxon Valdez (Ship); Oil spills--Law and legislation--Alaska; Oil spills--Alaska--Prince William Sound; Liability for oil pollution damages--Alaska--Prince William Sound Region. =

(Exxon), John Keeble (1999). Out of the Channel: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound. (Cheney, WA: Eastern Washington University Press, 363 p. [2nd ed.]). Exxon Valdez (Ship); Alyeska Pipeline Service Company; Oil spills--Environmental aspects--Alaska--Prince William Sound Region; Oil spills--Economic aspects--Alaska--Prince William Sound Region; Tankers--Accidents--Environmental aspects--Alaska--Prince William Sound Region.

(Ford), James S. Kunen (1994). Reckless Disregard: Corporate Greed, Government Indifference, and the Kentucky School Bus Crash. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 379 p.). Ford Motor Company--Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder)--Kentucky--Carrollton; Criminal liability of juristic persons--United States; School buses--Safety regulations--United States; Corporations--Corrupt practices--United States; Drinking and traffic accidents--United States.

(Ford), Adam L. Penenberg (2003). Tragic Indifference: One Man's Battle with the Auto Industry over the Dangers of SUVs. (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 342 p.). Turner, Clyde "Tab"; Ford Motor Company--History; Firestone Tire and Rubber Company--History; Products liability--Automobiles--United States; Sport utility vehicles--Defects--Law and legislation--United States; Sport utility vehicles--Defects--United States--History; Automobiles--Tires--Defects--United States--History; Explorer sport utility vehicle.

(General Public Utilities), Mark Stephens (1980). Three Mile Island. (New York, NY: Random House, 245 p.). Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.); Nuclear power plants--Accidents.

(General Public Utilities), Daniel F. Ford (1982). Three Mile Island: Thirty Minutes to Meltdown. (New York, NY: Penguin, 271 p.). Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.).

(General Public Utilities), Mike Gray and Ira Rosen (1982). The Warning: Accident at Three Mile Island. (New York, NY: Norton, 287 p.). Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.); Nuclear power plants--Pennsylvania--Harrisburg Region--Accidents.

(General Public Utilities), Edward J. Walsh (1988). Democracy in the Shadows: Citizen Mobilization in the Wake of the Accident at Three Mile Island. (New York, NY: Greenwood Press, 227 p.). Associate Professor of Sociology (Pennsylvania State University). Metropolitan Edison Company; Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.); Nuclear power plants--Pennsylvania--Public opinion; Public opinion--Pennsylvania; Antinuclear movement--Pennsylvania.

(General Public Utilities), J. Samuel Walker (2004). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 303 p.). Historian of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.); Nuclear power plants--Accidents. Worst accident in history of commercial nuclear power in United States.

(Glaxo), Alison Bass (2008). Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial. (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 260 p.). Mental Health Reporter (Boston Globe). Spitzer, Eliot --Trials, litigation, etc.; GlaxoSmithKline --Trials, litigation, etc.; Products liability --Drugs --United States; Antidepressants --Side effects Paroxetine --Side effects. Increased suicide rates among adolescents taking antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft) - evidence of deception behind one of most successful drug campaigns (Paxil) in history; unhealthy ties between medical establishment, big pharma, FDA; 2002 - New York State Attorney General's office brought lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Paxil, for consumer fraud; 2004 - settled for $2.5 million; changed way drugs are tested, sold, marketed.

(W. R. Grace), Jonathan Harr (1995). A Civil Action. (New York, NY: Random House, 500 p.). Teacher, Nonfiction Writing (Smith College). Anderson, Anne, 1936?- --Trials, litigation, etc.; Schlichtmann, Jan; W.R. Grace & Co.--Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Toxic torts)--Massachusetts--Boston; Groundwater--Pollution--Law and legislation--Massachusetts--Woburn; Drinking water--Contamination--Massachusetts--Woburn; Liability for water pollution damages--Massachusetts--Woburn.

(W. R. Grace), Andrea Peacock (2003). Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation. (Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 244 p.). W.R. Grace & Co.; Asbestosis--Montana--Libby; Vermiculite--Health aspects--Montana--Libby; Asbestos--adverse effects--Montana--Personal Narratives; Asbestos--adverse effects--Montana--Popular Works; Aluminum Silicates--adverse effects--Montana--Personal Narratives; Aluminum Silicates--adverse effects--Montana--Popular Works; Asbestosis--etiology--Montana--Personal Narratives; Asbestosis--etiology--Montana--Popular Works; Mining--Montana--Personal Narratives. 

(W. R. Grace), Andrew Schneider and David McCumber (2004). An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National Scandal. (New York, NY: Putnam, 440 p.). W.R. Grace & Co.; Asbestos--Toxicology--Montana--Libby; Asbestosis--Montana--Libby; Vermiculite--Health aspects--Montana--Libby; Mineral industries--Corrupt practices--Montana--Libby.

(Great Northern), Gary Krist (2007). The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche. (New York, NY: Holt, 315 p.). Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.)--History--20th century; Avalanches--Washington (State)--History--20th century; Railroad accidents--Washington (State)--History--20th century. February 1910 - one of worst rail disasters in U.S. history - two trains full of people, trapped high in Cascade Mountains, hit by devastating avalanche.

(Kerr-McGee), Richard Rashke (1981). The Killing of Karen Silkwood: The Story Behind the Kerr-McGee Plutonium Case. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 407 p.). Silkwood, Bill; Silkwood, Karen, 1946-1974; Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation; Negligence -- United States; Plutonium -- Safety regulations -- United States.

(Manville Corporation), Paul Brodeur (1985). Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial. (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 374 p.). Manville Corporation -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Corporate reorganizations -- United States; Products liability -- Asbestos -- United States; Asbestos industry -- Employees -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.

(Mobil Oil), William Tavoulareas (1985). Fighting Back The Story of How the President of Mobil Took on The Washington Post in One of the Most Sensational Libel Cases.. (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 253 p.). Tavoulareas, William--Trials, litigation, etc.; Washington Post Company--Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Libel)--Washington (D.C.).

(Patterson-UTI Energy), Alexandra Fuller. (2008). The Legend of Colton H. Bryant. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 202 p.). Bryant, Colton H., 1980-2006; Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. --Employees --Biography; Oil well drilling --Accidents --Wyoming; Industrial accidents --Wyoming; Cowboys --Wyoming --Biography; Wyoming --Biography. Died on rig; fell to his death because  drilling company had neglected to spend $2,000 on mandated safety rails; family received no compensation.

(Pittston Company), Gerald M. Stern (1977). The Buffalo Creek: How the Survivors of One of the Worst Disasters in Coal-Mining History Brought Suit Against the Coal Company--and Won. (New York, NY: Random House, 274 p.). Prince, Dennis; Pittston Company; Floods--West Virginia--Buffalo Creek (Logan County).

(Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey), Henry S. Cohn and David Bollier (1991). The Great Hartford Circus Fire: Creative Settlement of Mass Disasters. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 207 p.). Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows--Trials, litigation, etc.; Torts--Connecticut--Hartford--History--20th century; Dispute resolution (Law)--Connecticut--Hartford--History--20th century; Receivers--Connecticut--Hartford--History--20th century; Hartford Circus Fire, Hartford, Conn., 1944. 

(Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey), Stewart O’Nan (2000). The Circus Fire: A True Story. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 370 p.). Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows--History; Hartford Circus Fire, Hartford, Conn., 1944; Fires--Connecticut--Hartford--History--20th century; Hartford (Conn.)--History--20th century.

(Rohm and Haas), Willard Sterne Randall and Stephen D. Solomon (1977). Building 6: The Tragedy at Bridesburg. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 317 p.). Rohm and Haas Company; Dichloromethyl ether--Physiological effect; Lungs--Cancer--Pennsylvania--Bridesburg; Chemical workers--Diseases--Pennsylvania--Bridesburg.

(Shell Chemical Company), Ronnie Greene (2008). Night Fire: Big Oil, Poison Air, and One Woman’s Fight To Save Her Town. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 288 p.). Miami Herald journalist. Richard, Margie Eugene; Shell Chemical Company; Petroleum industry and trade--Social aspects--Louisiana--Norco; Pollution--Louisiana--Norco; African American neighborhoods--Louisiana--Norco--Environmental conditions; Environmental health--Louisiana--Norco--Citizen participation. 15 year quest (two court cases) to  demand that Shell compensate Norco, LA neighborhood for decades of steady poisoning; formed Norco Relocation Committee  to wrest realistic relocation funds; Shell capitulated in 2002.

(Shell UK), Meena Ahmed (2006). The Principles and Practice of Crisis Management: The Case of Brent Spar. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 269 p.). PhD - London School of Economics,. Brent Spar (Offshore oil platform); Crisis management --Case studies. How corporations can, do respond, in very sophisticated ways, to threats to their political and ideological perspectives, and so advance their interests.

(Texaco), James Shannon (1988). Texaco and the $10 Billion Jury. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 545 p.). Pennzoil Company--Trials, litigation, etc.; Texaco, Inc.--Trials, litigation, etc.; Getty Oil Company; Petroleum industry and trade--Mergers--United States; Consolidation and merger of corporations--Law and legislation--United States.

(Texaco), Thomas Petzinger, Jr. (1999). Oil & Honor: The Texaco-Pennzoil Wars: Inside the $11 Billion Battle for Getty Oil (Washington, DC: Beard Books, 495 p. [orig. pub. 1987]). Reporter (Wall Street Journal). Texaco, inc.; Getty Oil Company; Petroleum industry and trade--Mergers--United States; Consolidation and merger of corporations--United States.

(Union Carbide), Martin Cherniack; foreword by Phillip J. Landrigan and Anthony Robbins (1986). The Hawk's Nest Incident: America's Worst Industrial Disaster. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 194 p.). Union Carbide Corporation; Quartz fibers--Toxicology--West Virginia--Gauley Bridge; Silicosis--West Virginia--Gauley Bridge; Construction workers--Diseases--West Virginia--Gauley Bridge; Hawks Nest Tunnel (W. Va.).

(Union Carbide), Dan Kurzman (1987). A Killing Wind: Inside Union Carbide and the Bhopal Catastrophe. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 297 p.). Union Carbide Ltd. (India); Bhopal Union Carbide Plant Disaster, Bhopal, India, 1984; Pesticides industry--Accidents--India--Bhopal; Methyl isocyanate--Environmental aspects--India--Bhopal.

(Union Carbide), Dominique Lapierre, Javier Moro; translated from the French by Kathryn Spink (2002). Five Past Midnight in Bhopal. (New York, NY: Warner Books, 403 p.). Bhopal Union Carbide Plant Disaster, Bhopal, India, 1984; Pesticides industry--Accidents--India--Bhopal.

(United States Industrial Alcohol), Stephen Puleo (2003). Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 263 p.). Floods--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century; Industrial accidents--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century; Molasses industry--Accidents--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century; Alcohol industry--Accidents--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century; Boston (Mass.)--History--1865-. 

(U. S. Steel), L. Stephen Cox (2005). The Cedarville Conspiracy: Indicting U.S. Steel. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 278 p.). Cedarville (Steamship)--Trials, litigation, etc.; United States Steel Corporation--Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials--Ohio--Cleveland; Liability for marine accidents--United States; Merchant mariners--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States; Collisions at sea--Michigan--Straits of Mackinac; Shipwrecks--Law and legislation--Michigan--Straits of Mackinac. 

(Unocal), Thomas D. Beamish (2002). Silent Spill: The Organization of an Industrial Crisis. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 220 p.). Assistant Professor of Sociology (University of Georgia). Oil spills--Environmental aspects--California--Guadalupe Region--Public opinion; Petroleum industry and trade--Environmental aspects--California--Guadalupe Region--Public opinion; Pollution--California--Guadalupe Region--Public opinion; Public opinion--California--Guadalupe Region; Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge (Calif.)--Environmental conditions--Public opinion. Organizational culture of Unocal Corporation (oil fields produced leakage), interorganizational response of regulatory agencies, local interpretations of event.

Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins (2004). Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming, and How To Prevent Them. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 317 p.). Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration (Harvard); Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit (Harvard). Disasters--Prevention. 

Jamie L. Bronstein (2008). Caught in the Machinery: Workplace Accidents and Injured Workers in Nineteenth-Century Britain. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 240 p.). Associate Professor of History (New Mexico State University). Industrial accidents--Great Britain--History--19th century; Workers’ compensation--Great Britain--History; Workers’ compensation--United States--History. Dangers facing working people in Great Britain between 1800, first British Employer's Liability Act of 1880; cultural meanings of workplace accidents, workers' compensation in response to very different sets of pressures.

Charles McKean (2006). Battle for the North: The Tay and Forth Bridges and the 19th-Century Railway Wars. (London, UK: Granta Books, 390 p.). Railroads--Scotland--Design and construction--History; Tay Bridge Disaster, Dundee, Scotland, 1879; Forth Bridge (South Queensferry, Scotland : Railroad bridge)--History; Tay Bridge (Dundee, Scotland : Railroad bridge)--History. 1879 - longest railway bridge in world collapsed in violent storm; folly of trusting in market forces to run railways.

Ian I. Mitroff (2005). Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons for Surviving Disaster. (New York, NY: American Management Association, 238 p.). Professor in both the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communications (University of Southern California). Crisis management; Emergency management; Leadership. 7 distinct competencies to handle crises effectively.

Ian I. Mitroff and Ralph H. Kilmann (1984). Corporate Tragedies: Product ampering, Sabotage, and Other Catastrophes. (New York, NY: Praeger, 1450 p.). Organizational effectiveness.

Robert E. Mittelstaedt (2004). Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal?: Avoiding the Chain of Mistakes That Can Destroy. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Pub., 309 p.). Dean and Professor of the W. P. Carvey School of Business (Arizona State University). Organizational effectiveness; Crisis management; Errors--Prevention.  Catch mistakes early, keep them cheap, learn from them.

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