ATSDR/CDC also notes that more studies need to be done in the area of health effects, particularly on shorter-chain substances. Despite internal debate, it declined to make the information public," the magazinenotes. Dark Waters tells the true story of American farmer Wilbur Tennant who calls on lawyer Rob Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) to help him sue a chemical company Credit: Focus Features. He sued DuPont again on behalf of thousands of people who lived near the Teflon plant and for decades had been exposed to PFOA through drinking water and air pollution. They would nuzzle him as he scratched their heads. When they bought half of the farm from Wilbur they began to use it for a landfill to store the toxins being . People who didn't know him very well called him Wilbur, but friends and family called him Earl. Among the files, many mentions of the chemical PFOA, also known as C8, a slippery surfactant, that was first produced by DuPont in 1938, appeared. Thats the water right there, underneath that foam, the farmer said. In 1999, a farm farmily sued DuPont for the death of their cattle and the ill health of exposed family and farm workers. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. DuPonts lawyers had a different perspective on the incident, however, writing in an email, It is a federal offense to threaten violence against an aircraft carrying passengers and Please be advised that the helicopter pilot has indicated that he will pursue todays incident with federal authorities.. Attorney Rob Bilott discusses the Fight Forever Chemicals campaign on Nov. 19, 2019. Flies. Nothing jumped out in page after page he reviewed, Bilott recalled. Once this came to light, reports indicate, the Tennants settled their lawsuit against DuPont in August 2000, but the fight wasn't over. du Pont de Nemours and Co, better known as DuPont, on behalf of a West Virginia farmer whose cows were dying. . . His earlier efforts had all revealed unpleasant surprises: tumors, abnormal organs, unnatural smells. The Teflon Toxin, Part 2: Wilbur Tennant vs. DuPontNot Yet Rated. In short, I was playing for the opposite team, Bilott recalled in his memoir about the lawsuit he ended up filing against DuPont and the explosive aftermath. As Bilott recollected in a panel discussion with the Washington Post, it was Wilburs obstinate refusal to simply take his monetary settlement and walk away that compelled Bilott to keep pursuing new legal avenues to hold DuPont to account. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Trial lawyer Harry Deitzler, whos played by Bill Pullman in the film, told Slate in a telephone interview that while Dark Waters captured Bilotts sense of commitment and general modesty, it was less accurate in its depiction on one particular issue: Robert Bilott has not been known to be an especially big fan of Mai Tais, either in general or on special occasions. Wilbur Tennant shot this video in the late 1990s on his property in West Virginia. Dry spells shrank it to a necklace of pools that winked with silver minnows. DuPont immediately removed all female workers from areas where they might come into contact with the chemical.". Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. As in the movie, these events really did lead to a large class-action suit that triggered a massive epidemiological study that, after a yearslong wait, showed there really was a probable link between PFOA and certain conditions, including high cholesterol, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer, though the movie depicts one scientist going so far as to tell Bilott that the results are irrefutable. (DuPont has continued to deny that it did anything wrong.). They were green like the foamy water that ran out of a pipe from the nearby Dry Run Landfill and into the creek from which the Tennant cattle drank. The chemical companies are appealing the decision. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The symptoms shown in the movieincluding such discolorations as blackened teethare also similar to the ones that Tennant really did videotape before sending the tapes to Bilott. As a linchpin bolstering Dark Waters case as a message movie, the events depicted on the Tennant cattle farm in Parkersburg, West Virginia, really ought to be accurate, and for the most part, they are. After contacting the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, he felt stonewalled. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. As one of Bilotts colleagues told the New York Times, To say that Rob Bilott is understated is an understatement. Its also true that Bilott did not have the same Ivy League pedigree of many of his colleagues at Taft, having been raised on Air Force bases across the continental United States and West Germany, and it was through these working-class connections that he was introduced to the Tennant family farm case. Bilott is seeking class-action status in the case against several companies, including 3M and Chemours. And I burn them all. The local employer wanted to buy some of their property for a landfill for its Washington Works plant nearby, where it produces, among other things, Teflon, which contains the chemical C8. His name is Wilbur Tennant. In the flames, a calf lay broadside, burning. A corporate courtroom drama typically doesn't need extensive visual effects, but "Dark Waters" had a few key moments that could not be created practically. "The innards was bright green.". November 25, 2019 12:03 PM EST. During the years before DuPont settled the lawsuit paying the Tennants an undisclosed amount without assigning blame for the dead cows the company sent Bilott boxes of documents he requested through the normal court process. In real life as in the film, Bilotts earliest professional experiences after law school were working on behalf of chemical companies for his employer, Taft Stettinius & Hollister, providing the firms corporate clients with guidance on how best to comply with the so-called Superfund law passed by Congress in 1980 to regulate sites tainted with hazardous substances. Shorty after that, DuPont started to medically monitor female workers at the Washington Works plant to, as the company's medical director noted, "answer a single question does C8 cause abnormal children?" Nor was it on the list of substances regulated by the EPA. The Devil We Know: Directed by Stephanie Soechtig, Jeremy Seifert. No one would help him. . Attached to it was a gallbladder that didnt. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". When he noticed his cows were mysteriously dying, he filmed what was happening on the farm, and the toxic legacy of C8 - DuPont's Teflon chemical - was discovered. Washington, West Virginia. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Even though the Tennant case had already settled, Bilott pushed on, building a larger case against DuPont on behalf of residents in a Parkersburg-area water district. Its head was tipped back at an awkward angle. Both companies denied any wrongdoing. The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content. DuPont also discovered that pollution containing PFOA vented from the Washington Works plant affected the surrounding area, allegedly contaminating the local water supply, according to the New York Times Magazine. The Teflon Toxin, Part 2: Wilbur Tennant vs. DuPont. These chemicals are most harmful when ingested and consequently bioaccumulate, meaning they build up over time in the body (just as they build up in the environment). In October 2018, he filed a lawsuit on behalf of a firefighter, who used fire suppression foam and equipment containing PFAS for 40 years. The Tennants were initially reluctant, especially because of its intended use, but DuPont promised it would house only nonhazardous waste, like scrap metal and ash, according to the Huffington Post. Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyers Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont. After this sale, Tennant's cattle started to become sick and Tennant began to understand that . He suspected one of his town's largest employers was up to no good, allegedly dumping chemicals and contaminating his farm's water supply, and the result was hundreds of sickened and dead cattle. The Tennants had sold some of their property to DuPont years earlier. The Messed Up True Story Behind Dark Waters, Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia. This time he is seeking to force 3M and DuPont to pay for medical monitoring of every American exposed to PFAS. At fifty-four, Earl was an . Seventy years later these chemicals are in our soil, our air, in wildlife. Wilbur's brother, Jim, was also employed as a laborer at the Washington Works plant, along with hundreds more who found steady work at the area's largest employer. He had stopped feeding his family venison from the deer he shot on his land. Then one autumn day in 2000, local schoolteacher Joe Kiger . The cattle farmer stood at the edge of a creek that cut through a sun-dappled hollow. Dark Waters tells a story that in many ways is still being written, and itwill likely take years for this latest lawsuit to be resolved. DuPont bought 66 acres of the Tennant's farm land from Wilbur Tennant's brother Jim and his wife Della [1]. Wilbur Earl Tennant. And the money came in handy, too, since Jim, a Washington Works employee, had for years suffered from flu-like symptoms and illnesses that baffled doctors, as outlined in a Delaware Online article from 2016. VigLink sets this cookie to track the user behaviour and also limit the ads displayed, in order to ensure relevant advertising. It wasnt his first. PFAS are ubiquitous. Like the movie, Richs article portrays Bilott as an unassuming and understated man driven by an innate sense of decency. Dark Waters'messed up true story reveals an emerging public health and environmental threat, the pervasiveness of "forever chemicals," and an alleged corporate cover-up. . He didnt believe it anymore. Bill Pullman was portraying me, and hes taller and younger, and everyone appeared to be drinking. In 1998, cattle farmer Wilbur Tennant of Parkersburg, West Virginia, contacted Bilott and claimed that his livestock was dying because the runoff from a DuPont landfill had contaminated a creek on . Her eyes were sunk deep in her head. By the 1980s, DuPont had allegedly begun dumping PFOA waste into the Dry Creek Landfill, near the Tennant property. The state vet wouldnt even come out to the farm. Vacillating Wildly From Dispiriting to Exhilarating, A New Biopic Reduces One of Historys Greatest Writers to a Cottagecore Emo Girl, How Steven Spielbergs Autobiographical New Movie Rewrites His Story, The Lawyer Who Became DuPonts Worst Nightmare, He knew his neighbors and his community was being poisoned, commissioned a photographer to take aerial photos. And Im gonna cut her open and find out what caused her to die. Wilbur Tennant had become desperate. He requested all documents that DuPont had related to PFOA. Around here, that economic engine was DuPont, known for innovations like nylon, Tyvek, and Teflon. The West Virginia-based . Cows that drank from the creek had been healthy. In November 2019, the Washington Post hosted a podcast with Mark Ruffalo and Robert Bilott to discuss the film and the lawsuit. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. In the 1980s, Jim Tennant and his wife, Della, got an offer from DuPont. C8 and other long-chain per-fluorinated chemicals are used in a myriad of household, industrial, and commercial products. Babies are born every day with these chemicals. In the spring, he would run and catch the calves so his daughters could pet them. As he does in the film, the real Bilott did begin to experience strange symptoms in 2010 similar to the strokelike transient ischemic attack seen in the movie. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. Class Action - Part 1. In 2000, Bilott found notations on an internal DuPont document that referred to a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, in Dry Run Creek.
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