The suit, rather than seeking compensation, requests that the companies fund independent, scientific studies on the health effects of PFAS, according to Time Magazine. 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 . The True Story Behind Dark Waters Affects You - Refinery29 The cattle farmer stood at the edge of a creek that cut through a sun-dappled hollow. Anyone could see that something was terribly wrong, not only with the landfill itself but with the agencies responsible for monitoring it. Wamsley suffered from ulcerative colitis, a condition that can lead to rectal cancer, which, in his case it, did. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It was to be incinerated or sent to chemical-waste facilities. Cookie used to remember the user's Disqus login credentials across websites that use Disqus. Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting. Whatever had killed this cow appeared to Earl to have eaten her from the inside out. DuPont Defends the Teflon Toxin in Court - The Intercept The Case Against DuPont - Type Investigations And now, another side of the DuPont story | Cape Gazette . Call him, they suggested. 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. He didnt believe it anymore. These cookies help provide anonymized information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. It kicked and thumped and wallered around there like you wouldnt believe.. The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare - Brutal Proof The campaign coincided with the release of the film "Dark Waters" starring Mark Ruffalo inspired by the true story of Bilott, who discovered a community had been dangerously exposed for decades to deadly chemicals. 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. Persistent farmer whose cows died from a mysterious disease helped Behind him, white-faced Herefords grazed in . In time, the connection between the Tennants and DuPont would run as deep as the Ohio River. Wilbur Tennant, a cattle farmer in Parkersburg, W.Va., the site of a huge DuPont plant, had over many years gradually built up his herd. The Messed Up True Story Behind Dark Waters, Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia. Dead cows with mysterious bloody noses and green organs - The US Sun Earl retired from the WV Department of Highways as an equipment operator. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Bilott is currently suing several makers and users of these chemicals on behalf of all Americans with PFAS in their blood. 30 Broad Street, Suite 801 In his research, Bilott had come across a DuPont letter that referred to a chemical known as . Her calf, black and white, lay dead on its side in a circle of matted grass. The True Story Behind Dark Waters, Explained - The Cinemaholic . Ill do something about it.. The West Virginia-based . Bilotts law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister, typically represents corporate clients like DuPont in environmental cases, not people like Tennant. These included a polluted river . How would you like for your livestock to have to drink something like that? he asked his imagined audience. None of this information was shared with the public. Wilbur Tennant passed away on May 15, 2009 at the age of 67 in Washington, West Virginia. The accidental activist - Bookanista He toldThe Intercept in 2015 that it bubbled up out of glass containers and "was everywhere." Dark Waters (2019 film) - Wikipedia YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. Ken Wamsley spent nearly 40 years working at DuPont Washington Works plant, and some of that time, he measured levels of the chemical C8 (PFOA). DuPont appeared to be concerned enough about PFOA that the company tested employees at the Teflon plant and found the chemical in their blood, the letter to the EPA revealed. Leadership Lessons From Rob Bilott's 20 Year Battle For - Forbes The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Her son, Bucky, was born in 1981 with nose and eye deformities. The True Story of 'Dark Waters': How Accurate are the Characters? - The The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Late in the film, a disillusioned Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), up against a wall, imagines that the multinational corporation, the likes of which he once defended, might be setting him up to be a cautionary tale for all their would-be litigants: Look, everybody, even he cant crack the maze, Bilott says, and hes helped build it.. Photos by Focus Features and EPK. Much like many river cities, Parkersburg's history speaks of a working class, industrial heritage, which saw companies set up shop on the shores of the Ohio River, bringing jobs and economic stability. just a dukes mix of everything. Until lately, the cattle always fattened up nicely on that, plus the corn he grew to finish them and a grain mix he bought from the feed store. Tennant had a problem. We consulted a variety of sources, including Nathaniel Richs 2016 New York Times Magazine feature The Lawyer Who Became DuPonts Worst Nightmare (upon which the movie is based), Bilotts own book, other longform articles, and attorney Harry Deitzler (the personal-injury lawyer played in the movie by Bill Pullman), to help sort out whats true and whats embellished. NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads. Wilbur Tennant showed Bilott alarming video footage in which his previously docile animals had turned . You notice them dark place there, all down through? Dry Run used to flow gin clear. Wilbur Earl Tennant and his siblings took over the land when their father abandoned them in the 1950s, according to the Huffington Post. . The other companies named in the lawsuit did not respond to Time's requests for comment. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. New York, NY 10004. Wilbur Earl Tennant - May 15, 2009 - Obituary - Tributes.com He made for an imposing figure at six feet tall, lean and broad shouldered, his . This cookie is set by the provider Akamai Bot Manager. 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. Drawing Parallels between the Dupont Chemical accident and The Westlake Thunderstorms occasionally swelled the creek so much that he couldnt wade across it. Editors note: In 1999, Robert Bilott sued E.I. R ob Bilott, a corporate lawyer-turned-environmental crusader, doesn't much care if he's made enemies over the years. When he cut out the other lung, he noted dark purple splotches where they should have been fluffy and pink. The story started in Parkersburg, West Virginia, home to about 32,000 people and about a three-hour drive due east of Cincinnati. It's a story straight out of a legal thriller penned by John Grisham, though instead of the Deep South, this one takes place in Appalachia. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. It turned out 3M also made PFOA and sold it to DuPont, which used the chemical cousin of Scotchgard to keep Teflon from clumping during production. Dark Waters and the True Story of Lawyer Rob Bilott | Time Sloan Science & Film 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 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. Just months before Rob Bilott made partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, he received a call on his direct line from a cattle farmer. DuPont responds with a study of the Tennant farm conducted with the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) that . In 1973 she [took] him to the cattle farm belonging to the Tennants' neighbors, the Grahams, with whom White was friendly. Now it looked like dirty dishwater. When the cattle on Wilbur Earl Tennant's farm began to mysteriously fall ill and die, he suspected it wasn't what the animals were eatingit was what they were drinking. In less than two years he had lost at least one hundred calves and more than fifty cows. . Her white hide was crusted with diarrhea, and her hip bones tented her hide. Calf born dead. Earl loved his cows, and the cows loved Earl. Dark Waters True Story: What The Movie Gets Right & Changes - ScreenRant The first thing Im gonna do is cut this head open, check these teeth.. After this sale, Tennant's cattle started to become sick and Tennant began to understand that . The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare Dark Waters true story: How a lawyer exposed a chemical giant - mirror On the other line was Wilbur Tennant (played by Bill Camp), a cattle farmer from Parkersburg, W.V. The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. And it takes immense courage and conviction to do that. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. As a father, he had watched his little girls splash around in its shallow ripples. PDF Extraordinary Struggle of A Lawyer- Billion Dollar "P.f.o.a." Cases Ill do something about it.. The farm would have stretched even longer if one of Wilbur Tennant's brothers, Jim, did not sell 66 acres to the DuPont company in the early 1980's for a landfill they were going to create for their factory. At least thats what his family had been told thirteen years before by the company that had bought their land. DuPont initially refused, but a court order ultimately forced them to turn over what amounted to more than 100,000 pages, some dating back 50 years. The problem had to be Dry Run, he thought. But you just give me time. The sometimes contentious tenor of Bilotts relationship with Wilbur Tennant is also true to life. wilbur tennant farm location - HAZ Rental Center And in 2017, according to Reuters, DuPont and its spinoff, Chemours, agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle about 3,500 personal injury resulting from the alleged contamination of local water supplies in Parkersburg. Home. 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. Hunting had been one of Earls greatest pleasures. Dry spells shrank it to a necklace of pools that winked with silver minnows. DuPont detected PFOA in the drinking water of communities near the Teflon plant. Created by Bluecadet. Azure sets this cookie for routing production traffic by specifying the production slot. Turns out his grandmother lived in the same town as the farmer and that's the connection that brought the underdog and the hero together.