The first wave of destruction unleashed by Superstorm Sandy overwhelmed our senses with the fury of its wind and the rage of its surging waters. The second one, though, is a quiet yet potentially lethal menace: Sandy covered the devastated landscapes of the New York and New Jersey coastlines with poisonous layers of chemicals, raw sewage and the perennial threat of mold. And who is on the front line, dealing with Sandy’s toxic legacy? It’s thousands of Latino migrant laborers, most of them undocumented, eager to take any job available, who have flocked to the region on account of the huge demand for reconstruction labor. Only a small minority of them, however, is even aware of the great risks they run by exposing themselves to this toxic threat. The scene of this heartbreaking drama seems to be the work of some deranged artist. Sandy’s retreating floodwaters left behind a lethal cocktail of chemical pollutants, such as motor oil and antifreeze; farm runoff, including pesticides…
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