dupont controversy

Both companies denied wrongdoing. “If we can’t get where we need to go to protect people through our regulatory channels, through our legislative process, then unfortunately what we have left is our legal process,” says Bilott. Even DuPont’s defense witnesses presented damning testimony. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.

Despite being warned by 3M, the manufacturer of C8, to dispose of the chemical in lined landfills or by incineration, DuPont saved money by dumping the toxic compound into the Ohio River. The company knew C8 was permeating into the area’s water supply, even having local employees bring their tap water to the plant to be tested and finding elevated levels of the chemical in the samples. Hollywood film 'Dark Waters' examines DuPont's role in West Virginia chemical leak. In a statement, DuPont defended its safety and environmental record, and said that it does not produce PFAS chemicals, though it does use them. Chemours and DuPont face about 3,500 other suits from Ohio and West Virginia plaintiffs claiming C8 exposure as the cause of injuries and deaths. “We’re talking about chemicals that resulted in billions of dollars in profits over many, many years,” says Bilott. In Dark Waters, Haynes emphasizes the seemingly endless fight taken up by Bilott, as DuPont brings its considerable resources to bear to defend itself over the course of two decades. Rather than seeking monetary damages for the millions of Americans with PFAS in their blood, the lawsuit demands the Chemours and the other chemical companies pay for an independent science panel to definitively establish the health effects of PFAS. She sued DuPont, claiming that the elevated level of C8 in her bloodstream caused the cancer. “We are leading the industry by supporting federal legislation and science-based regulatory efforts to address these chemicals,” the company wrote in an email. Bilott used to be on the other side. DuPont, perhaps sensing it might be found liable for C8 dumping, spun off its Teflon business to a new company, Chemours, which will also assume some of the liability for the damage done by the chemical. “I knew there were a lot of other people who had much higher levels, and so I didn’t think mine was anything to worry about,” he said. “What we’re hearing once again from those companies that put those chemicals out there, knowing that they would get into the environment and into our blood, is that there’s insufficient evidence to show that they present risks to humans who are exposed,” explains Bilott. The Todd Haynes-directed movie Dark Waters, now playing in theaters, tells the story of how the lawyer, played by Mark Ruffalo, switched allegiances. Asked by a stock analyst whether DuPont might sue the movie producers, Breen said, "I'm not going to comment on the legal piece but, obviously, we have a lot of legal folks (who) have been looking at this.". The companies chose Bartlett’s suit to be tried first as one it thought it had a good chance of winning, given their view that her condition appeared less severe than that of other plaintiffs. All rights reserved. “Do we really want to keep exposing the population to potentially toxic chemicals and simply wait for the scientists to find statistically convincing evidence that they are toxic?” says Dr. Grandjean. According to one analyst, the film’s potential to raise awareness about these issues could have a serious effect on some chemical companies’ bottom lines. It was revealed at trial that DuPont knew of the potential toxicity of C8 since the 1950s. DuPont also questioned the veracity of unspecified events depicted in the Dark Waters film. “I would think that prevention would be a much better solution.”. A new Netflix documentary titled, “The Devil We Know,” tells the story of DuPont’s decades-long cover-up of the harm caused by chemicals used to make its popular non-stick Teflon™ products. Executive Chairman Ed Breen told investors that the film is "inspired" by, not based upon, Bilott's story. In October 2018, the lawyer filed a new lawsuit against several companies, including 3M, Arkema, and Chemours, a manufacturer spun off from DuPont in 2015. “I can’t really worry about if the people on the other side like me or not.”. “This is starting out just like those cases,” he told The Intercept. “If that’s what it takes to get people the information they need and to protect people, we’re willing to do it.”. Even DuPont’s defense witnesses presented damning testimony. That ongoing case is seeking class action status, and was initially brought on behalf of Kevin Hardwick, a firefighting veteran of 40 years who used fire-suppression foams and firefighting equipment containing a class of chemicals known as PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFOA is one type of PFAS chemical). SUDDEN DEPARTURE: Chemours exec in charge of controversial chemicals resigns after congressional grilling. As happened in real life, the movie depicts Ruffalo’s Bilott as a lawyer who defends large chemical companies before he is approached for help in 1998 by Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), a West Virginia farmer whose land was contaminated by chemical giant DuPont. Mark Ruffalo stars as Robt Bilott in Todd Haynes' 'Dark Waters.'. ", In one scene in "Dark Waters," Ruffalo portrays Billot claiming that "DuPont is knowingly poisoning 70,000 local residents.". “We also have announced a series of commitments around our limited use of PFAS, including the [sic] eliminating the use of all PFAS-based firefighting foams from our facilities and granting royalty-free licenses to those seeking to use innovative PFAS remediation technologies.” DuPont also questioned the veracity of unspecified events depicted in the Dark Waters film. DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday. Neither Bilott nor "Dark Waters" producer Focus Features replied to requests for comment. "As a testament to that, we have passed the second year of a five-year sharing agreement with Chemours, and we still have paid zero dollars to them," he said. In the first of what is likely to be many such cases, a woman suffering from kidney cancer won a $1.6 million judgement from DuPont for dumping into the local water supply the chemical that caused her disease. “These companies are going to sit back and say, we’re entitled to…use you as guinea pigs, yet those of you who are exposed are somehow the ones who are going to have to prove what these [chemicals] do to you.”, Some scientists are particularly worried by the potential health effects of those less-studied PFAS chemicals. DuPont did dispose of C8 waste properly in Japan, China and the Netherlands, but chose not to at the Parkersburg plant. Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329.

PFAS chemicals are used in products ranging from waterproof jackets to shaving cream, and they can leach into water supplies in areas where they are disposed of or used in fire suppression (in particular on military bases, where they have been used for years). Chemours claims DuPont, its former parent company, either agree to pay a larger chunk of environmental cleanup costs or hand over $4 billion. Donald Trump Revealed to be a Democratic Mole, President Trump Apologizes for Coronavirus Deaths. DuPont and Chemours also face numerous lawsuits in other states over similar contamination from PFOA and its related PFAS family of chemicals, used in Teflon and other products. He works, at first, on Tennant’s behalf, then pursues a class action suit representing around 70,000 people living near a chemical plant that allegedly contaminated drinking water with PFOA, a toxic chemical used in the production of Teflon. DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly known as DuPont, is an American company formed by the merger of Dow Chemical and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company on August 31, 2017, and the subsequent spinoffs of Dow Inc. and Corteva.Prior to the spinoffs it was the world's largest chemical company in terms of sales.

Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.

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