A deadly chlorine release at a chemical plant puts in motion events which could culminate in the death of every man, woman and child in the poor, black community of Hope, Louisiana..... unless de-railed by Garrett Cole. These two excerpts set the tone for Garrett Cole's struggle to have truth and reason prevail over unfounded perceptions and fanaticism. Garrett, a Vietnam veteran, knows first hand what happens when they don't. During the Vietnam war, anti-war activists were pitted against the military-industrial-complex, all the while young Marines, like Garrett, were caught in the crossfire. At the heart of evil down in the alley is another such conflict, this time between a chlorine plant that intends to install a hazardous waste disposal well and environmentalists who have vowed to stop it. Because of his heroics during a deadly chlorine release at the plant, Garrett is promoted to a position that places him in the middle of the controversy surrounding the proposed deep well. Safe Earth, a radical environmental group, not only opposes the well, but the very existence of chlorine plants like Victoria Chemicals. With the aid of Michael Felice, a law student with the Community Law Clinic, Safe Earth organizes the residents of Hope to block the permit on the grounds it constitutes environmental racism. The group convinces Mrs. Enola Williams, a resident of Hope and reluctant activist, that the cause of the high cancer deaths in her community is the pollution from the plant. Dr. Mary Elizabeth Stockden, an environmental epidemiologist, is hired by the residents to prove the connection, but along the way she discovers something even more sinister. Eventually, Garrett and Dr. Stockdenwork together to uncover the secret that Brad Guyerson, the owner of a commercial hazardous waste incinerator, is so determined to conceal, even if it means mass murder.