Book Review: Welcome to Shirley
Kelly McMasters' Memoir About an Atomic Town
One Long Island town's rise and fall, told in a hybrid personal and environmental memoir.
Imagine growing up in a neighborhood where everyone knows each other and block parties are the norm during the lazy days of summer. Now imagine that same town situated nearby a national laboratory that is funded in part by the Department of Energy, with a history of potentially hazardous environmental leaks. The result: unexplainable cancer clusters abound and the town gets a bad reputation. This is Kelly McMasters' childhood town.
McMasters' depiction of Shirley, New York in Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town is a combination of environmental activism laced with the history of a town that had potential for greatness, but failed in part due to class issues and negative publicity. A town that was full of hard working families, nature preserves and coveted proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. A town that also had its share of crime, slumlords, health concerns, a fatal commercial plane crash and even a UFO sighting.
Shirley's Heyday: The Next Hamptons
Walter T. Shirley founded the town of Shirley, located on the southeastern shore of Long Island, New York in the early 1950s. He envisioned the town as a gateway to the posh Hamptons and a place where city dwellers could purchase an affordable summer home close to the ocean. The town immediately began filling up, but due to poor planning, the process was sporadic and inefficient. However, the town offered urban families the opportunity to buy an inexpensive summer bungalow and experience the calm, quiet ambience of the suburbs.
Shirley's Questionable Neighbor: The Brookhaven National Laboratory
Soon after the population of Shirley boomed, summer dwellers decided to make their seasonal bungalows into permanent year-round residences. They enjoyed the natural environment and the cheaper cost of living associated with suburban life. Little did the early residents of Shirley know, they had a dangerous neighbor directly to their west that had previously lain dormant, but was slowing beginning to stir.
In 1965, the Brookhaven National Laboratory completed its first nuclear reactor right next door to the highly populated town of Shirley. Over a period of decades, the reactor had been leaking toxic chemicals into the ground below, which was coincidentally the site of the local water aquifer. In addition, radioactive waste was seeping into the nearby water ecosystems and private residential wells.
Shirley's Infamous Cancer Clusters
Over time, unexplainable cancer clusters began springing up among the residents of Shirley. High incidences of breast cancer and thyroid cancer began alarming the residents. It was only during this time that a parallel was beginning to be drawn between the Lab and the unusual cancer rates. Concerned residents began going to great extremes to find any potential link between the environment and the health crisis their community was experiencing. It wasn't until tests were preformed on the drinking water in Shirley, that traces of radioactive chemicals were discovered.
Shirley's Decline
Once the cancer cluster and subsequent potential link to the lab were made public, Shirley's reputation began to decline. Non-residents began to view it as an unhealthy area. As a result of the negative publicity, residents began leaving and property values dropped drastically. Slumlords began renting out homes to ex-criminals and sex offenders and the town fell into further decline.
McMasters is able to weave a tale of a childhood familiar to all suburban kids, with haunting environmentally hazardous undertones. An enjoyable and informative book on both accounts, sure to have environmentalists, residents and lab supporters alike buzzing long after the book has been put down.
Book Stats:
Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town by Kelly McMasters
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published by PublicAffairs, 2008
ISBN#1586484869
