About this item

The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job - with deadly results A quarter-century ago, Boston had the dirtiest harbor in America. The city had been dumping sewage into it for generations, coating the seafloor with a layer of "black mayonnaise." Fisheries collapsed, wildlife fled, and locals referred to floating tampon applicators as "beach whistles." In the 1990s, work began on a state-of-the-art treatment plant and a 10-mile-long tunnel - its endpoint stretching farther from civilization than the earth's deepest ocean trench - to carry waste out of the harbor. With this impressive feat of engineering, Boston was poised to show the country how to rebound from environmental ruin.



About the Author

Neil Swidey

Neil Swidey is the author of "Trapped Under the Sea," a No. 1 Boston Globe Bestseller that was named one of the best books of 2014 by Amazon and Booklist. He is also the author of "The Assist," named one of the best books of 2008 by The Washington Post, and a co-author of the New York Times bestselling "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy." A staff writer for The Boston Globe Magazine, Swidey also teaches journalism at Tufts University and has been a contributing analyst for NBC News. His work has been featured in "The Best American Science Writing," "The Best American Crime Writing," and "The Best American Political Writing." He is a three-time winner of the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society for Professional Journalists and has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters. As an outgrowth of his first book, he founded the Alray Scholars Program, a mentoring and scholarship nonprofit that helps give inner-city students a second chance at college.



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