Between 1987 and 1992 the disintegration of Communist governments of Eastern Europe allowed the people and press of countries from the Baltic to the Black Sea to begin recounting tales of life-threatening pollution and disastrous environmental conditions in which they lived. Villages in Czechoslovakia were black and barren because of acid rain, smoke, and coal dust from nearby factories. Drinking water from Estonia to Bulgaria was tainted with toxic chemicals and untreated sewage. Polish garden vegetables were inedible because of high lead and cadmium levels in the soil. Chronic health problems were endemic to much of the region, and none of the region's new governments had the spare cash necessary to alleviate their environmental liabilities.

The air, soil, and water pollution exposed by new environmental organizations and by a newly vocal press had its roots in Soviet-led efforts to modernize and industrialize Eastern Europe after 1945. (Often...