Deadly Dust: The Imperial Sugar Inferno

On Feb. 7, 2008, multiple explosions and fire detonated by sugar dust rolled through the Imperial Sugar refinery near Savannah. Fourteen people died and 39 others were injured, one with burns over 80 percent of his body. The Georgia Institute of Technology called the incident one of the l0 worst industrial disasters since 1945.

This book includes the first-person narratives of dozens of injured workers. It points out that many safety violations were routinely ignored. Explosive sugar dust covered machinery and drifted in the air like snow. Employees told investigators that there had been no fire drills for four years and no working fire alarms the day the plant blew up. Peterson's book exposes a U.S. Senator who took $131,000 in campaign donations from the sugar industry, then badgered a whistle blower witness. It shows the plight of many American workers who aren't adequately protected in the work place.