the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html

Who is the lawyer who became DuPont's worst nightmare?

The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare. Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a brazen, decades-long history of chemical pollution. Rob Bilott on land owned by the Tennants near Parkersburg, W.Va.

How many lawyers did Dupont hire to lead the DEP?

Within two years, three lawyers regularly used by DuPont were hired by the state D.E.P. in leadership positions. One of them was placed in charge of the entire agency. ‘‘The way that transpired was just amazing to me,’’ Bilott says.

What did Dupont do wrong with PFOA?

DuPont could argue — and had argued — that even if PFOA caused medical problems, it was only because factory workers had been exposed at exponentially higher levels than neighbors who drank tainted water. The gap allowed DuPont to claim that it had done nothing wrong.

Why did Dupont buy 66 acres in Parkersburg?

The property would have been even larger had his brother Jim and Jim’s wife, Della, not sold 66 acres in the early ’80s to DuPont. The company wanted to use the plot for a landfill for waste from its factory near Parkersburg, called Washington Works, where Jim was employed as a laborer.

Where is Rob Bilott now?

Robert Bilott is a partner at the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio where he has practiced environmental law and litigation for more than twenty-eight years.

How much did Rob Bilott make from DuPont settlement?

$671 million dollarsHis litigation efforts yielded more than $671 million dollars in damages for approximately 3,500 people. DuPont also settled with the EPA, agreeing to pay a mere $16.5 million fine for failure to disclose their findings about C8, a toxin that is now estimated to be present in 98 percent of the world's population.

What did Robert Bilott Sue DuPont for?

In the 2000s, Bilott sued the chemical company DuPont after discovering it contaminated the drinking water of communities along the Ohio-West Virginia border with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

Who was the lawyer against DuPont?

Rob BilottDark Waters Tells the True Story of the Lawyer Who Took DuPont to Court and Won. But Rob Bilott's Fight Is Far From Over. Rob Bilott, a corporate lawyer-turned-environmental crusader, doesn't much care if he's made enemies over the years. “I've been dealing with this for almost three decades,” he says.

Is Rob Bilott still suing DuPont?

Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from West Virginia. Bilott has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)....Robert BilottSpouse(s)Sarah Barlage ​ ( m. 1996)​Children35 more rows

How true is the movie Dark Waters?

"Dark Waters" is extremely accurate when compared to the true events, which makes it all the more upsetting. The script is based on the 2016 New York Times article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare," written by journalist Nathaniel Rich.

Did Wilbur Tennant get money from DuPont?

Wilbur Tennant and his wife, Sandra, won a legal settlement from DuPont two years ago after they accused the company of sickening their family and killing their cattle by dumping C8 into a landfill near their farm.

Is C8 in my blood?

According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades.

Is Teflon still made with C8?

DuPont agreed to casually phase out C8 by 2015. But it still makes Teflon. DuPont replaced C8 with a new chemical called Gen-X, which is already turning up in waterways.

Did anyone go to jail from DuPont?

Du Pont died in prison while serving a sentence of thirty years for the murder of Dave Schultz. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

What happened to the lawyer in Dark Waters?

Bilott's health has taken a battering too. A mysterious neurological disorder struck him in 2008. He suffered tremors and a palsy on his right side which turned into violent shaking convulsions up and down the right side of his body. The episodes would return at unexpected moments, leaving Bilott incapacitated.

Did DuPont pay punitive damages?

(Reuters) - A U.S. jury in Ohio ordered DuPont on Thursday to pay $10.5 million in punitive damages to a man who said he developed testicular cancer from exposure to a toxic chemical leaked from a Dupont plant, the plaintiff's lawyer Robert Bilott said.

Does DuPont still make Teflon?

DuPont is still manufacturing Teflon The jury found DuPont guilty and awarded the plaintiff $1.6 million. In 2017, DuPont and Chemours, a company created by DuPont, agreed to pay $671 million to settle thousands of lawsuits. Many lawsuits are still pending to this day.

Why did DuPont spin off Chemours?

"The reason for the spin-off," Turner said, was that DuPont "was seeking to transform itself into a higher growth, higher value company" and "saw more growth opportunities in its other businesses."

Is C8 still used?

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, is another man-made chemical. It has been used in the process of making Teflon and similar chemicals (known as fluorotelomers), although it is burned off during the process and is not present in significant amounts in the final products.