Fighting Dirty: How a Small Community Took on Big Trash

Chosen by Now Magazine as one of the “18 must-read books for fall 2017”.
Fighting Dirty tells the story of how one small group of farmers, small-town residents, and Indigenous people fought the world’s largest waste disposal company to stop them from expanding a local dumpsite into a massive land fill. As one of the experts brought in to assess the impact the toxic waste would have on the community, Poh-Gek Forkert was part of the adventures and misadventures of their decades-long fight.
“Fighting Dirty is an inspiring read for all activists battling against the money and power of corporations. It shows that when a small group of determined, committed citizens don’t give up, leaders and unexpected opportunities will emerge. When the cause is just, good people can win.” —David Suzuki, internationally-renowned environmentalist.
“Fighting Dirty is a primer for citizens’ groups battling against powerful corporations attempting to override sensible environmental planning. But more than that it tells the story of a community of rural agricultural and Indigenous peoples pulled together by a need to protect the land they love. It’s well worth the read.” —Gord Miller, ecologist, former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
“There is nothing as divisive or as exhausting for a rural community as having to fight a corporate waste giant. The story of how a leaking local dump was purchased by the largest waste corporation in the world and then promoted as a mega-landfill for Ontario makes for chilling reading. Fighting Dirty is essential for anyone interested in issues of environmental justice, public process, and the power of grassroots citizen activism.” —Charlie Angus, author of Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War