Robert Bilott is no stranger to playing the long game. 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). The Todd Haynes-directed movie Dark Waters, now playing in theaters, tells the story of how the lawyer, played by Mark Ruffalo, switched allegiances. Mark Ruffalo plays corporate lawyer Robert Bilott in the 2019 movie, "Dark Waters." Robert Bilott, a Cincinnati attorney who took on DuPont for contaminating water with toxic forever chemicals, is portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in “Dark Waters,” which premiered here last week. All Rights Reserved. More from Robert Half. His work led to DuPont and other manufacturers phasing out the use of PFOA in the US, though similar replacement chemicals have prompted fresh concerns. 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). “That should be more than sufficient to help pay for whatever studies need to be done.”. Twenty years later, people today are still fighting and still getting diagnosed with cancer, Bilott said. 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. He has spent the last two decades advocating for people in West Virginia and Ohio whose water was contaminated with one of these toxins, a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. Vital Records Office 313 North Figueroa Street Room Lobby-1 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Open Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM (213) 240-7812 (births) (213) 240-7816 (deaths) Email: VRO@ph.lacounty.gov. Subscribe for just 99¢. “In the movie there is a scene where my character makes the comment, ‘We protect us, we do.’ And that is unfortunately the reality right now,” Bilott says. (“Safety, health and protecting the planet are core values at DuPont,” the company told me in an email. It wouldn't surprise anyone that a lawyer dogged as Bilott is continuing the same work. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Robert Bilott's wife Sarah is also a lawyer, and when the two met she was working at a Cincinnati law firm defending corporations against worker's comp … “We’re talking about chemicals that resulted in billions of dollars in profits over many, many years,” says Bilott. Mark Ruffalo produced and starred in the 2019 film about local attorney Robert Bilott's case against the chemical manufacturing company DuPont. His source of fame was when he filed a case against DuPont in 1999. Outside of the companies that made and used PFOA, most people had never heard of it. “We notified the EPA 18 years ago that PFOA in drinking water presented a public health threat, and in 2019 there are still no federal regulatory limits,” Bilott told me. Rob Bilott, a corporate lawyer-turned-environmental crusader, doesn’t much care if he’s made enemies over the years. “If that’s what it takes to get people the information they need and to protect people, we’re willing to do it.”. For years, DuPont knew about Teflon’s threats to human health, but didn’t tell the public. But for the real Rob Bilott, the work of taking the industry to court is far from over. Alum Robert Bilott educates the public on the dangers of “forever chemicals” ... global public health threat bearing down upon all of us, though few know of it or realize its risk. “This is a unique health threat in the sense of its scope and magnitude,” Bilott says. Robert has 2 jobs listed on their profile. Mary Cybulsk—© 2019 FOCUS FEATURES LLC AND STORYTELLER DISTRIBUTION CO., LLC. According to Bilott, we face a “unique health threat” from a class of industrial chemicals that most Americans have never heard of. DuPont dumped the byproducts of Teflon into landfills and rivers, poisoning communities in West Virginia, where Teflon was made. And now, Robert Bilott's story is the focus of the film Dark Waters, in theaters on November 22. “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. “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. The impact of Bilott’s work in reducing a threat to global public health Public interest in the case and the scientific findings generated by it has led to a large number of new toxicological studies of PFOA and other poly-fluorinated chemicals. And if it sounds familiar, it should. “I can’t really worry about if the people on the other side like me or not.”. Cast your vote in the reader poll. A local school community is pulling together to help each other out during challenging times. Then he took on an environmental suit that would upend his entire career — and expose a … As is the case with PFOA, studies link PFAS exposure to a range of human health problems, including a suppression of the human immune system, liver dysfunction, and adverse birth outcomes. 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. The other companies named in the suit — the 3M Company, Dyneon, the Chemours Company, Archroma, Arkema, AGC, Daikin Industries and Solvay Specialty Polymers — did not respond to requests for comment. Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com. Books By Robert Bilott All ... and the disturbing frequency of cancer and other health problems in the area, he’s persuaded to fight against the type of corporation his firm routinely represents. You have 1 free article left. Rob Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years. “We are leading the industry by supporting federal legislation and science-based regulatory efforts to address these chemicals,” the company wrote in an email. “We all know about Flint, Michigan – one chemical, in one water supply. The case could take years to resolve, and then years after that for any potential science panel to publish definitive conclusions. “It is extremely unlikely to ever break down without us going out there and physically finding a way to get rid of it.”. This smear is only one small part of an ongoing effort to limit class-action environmental lawsuits, which are often the last line of defense for consumers. Bilott says scientific research shows that PFAS chemicals accumulate in the human body and in the environment, creating a “ticking time bomb” in anyone exposed. Separately, Bilott has also pushed the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) into action. There’s something very wrong. You can unsubscribe at any time. (The panel portrayed in the movie took seven years to come to its determination.) “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. For a lot of people, their long-term health didn’t matter so much if they couldn’t find work. A conversation with the lawyer Rob Bilott is like a slap across the face. "It's being found in drinking water all over the country," Bilott said. Myanmar’s Creatives Fighting Military Rule With Art, military bases, where they have been used for years. GIS Resources The logic of Bilott’s new suit is to force chemical companies to pay to find answers. “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. And this threat, unlike Covid-19, is of a scope and scale without precedent in human history. Todd Haynes’ new film Dark Waters wades into some of the most complicated topics in public health, chemistry, and the law to dramatize the story of environmental attorney Robert Bilott … Department of Public Health County of Los Angeles Email: DCA@ph.lacounty.gov. ROBERT BILOTT: [played by Mark Ruffalo] This farm is like a graveyard. […] His two decades of work negotiated water filtration and treatment for affected communities, the establishment of a novel scientific panel for human health studies, and the introduction of a medical monitoring program for thousands of people exposed. “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. After Bilott threated to sue ATSDR for failing to look at PFAS exposures, the agency said it would start collecting data from at least eight sites around the United States. But I suspect most people across the United States are still unfamiliar with PFAS and don’t realize the exposure that occurs. Mark Ruffalo stars as Robt Bilott in Todd Haynes' 'Dark Waters.'. Decades later, the first generation of these water-, grease-, and stain-resistant chemicals – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) – have been largely phased-out in the United States and much of the rest of the world as well. I’m going to continue doing what I can elevating that awareness.”, Carey Gillam is a journalist and author and a public interest researcher for US Right to Know, a not-for-profit food industry research group. Robert Bilott ’90 featured on CNN with Mark Ruffalo discussing battle with DuPont, upcoming film Dark Waters. Bilott’s newest lawsuit, as with his prior cases, alleges that these companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals, specifically PFOA, could be linked to serious health …