A Cattle Farmer from Parkersburg, West Va. reached out to corporate defense attorney, Rob Bilott, for help once he noticed his cows were dying at an abnormal rate. The Farmer, Wilbur Tennant, had his suspicions about chemical company, DuPont, as they had been operating a site in Parkersburg. Tennant had tried to reach out locally, but it was no match for DuPont, as they have power over nearly all of Parkersburg. Tennant had been shut down by all sources of help, by his own community. But what intrigued Bilott to take this case was not the concern Bilott took to the cows, but rather something a bit more personal- his grandmother, Alma Holland White. White happened to live in Parkersburg, and during Bilott’s many visits to his grandmothers, he’d spend much of it at the Graham’s cattle farm.
Once the Graham’s heard about Tennant’s hunt for legal assistance, they referred Tennant to the only child they had known to grow up to be an environmental lawyer; consequently, not knowing that Bilott was not exactly the proper lawyer for the case. But this didn’t stop Bilott, he had a connection to this place, so he went for it.
The Tennant’s had sold 66 acres of their farmland to DuPont in the 80’s- leading DuPont to later name the plot Dry Run Landfill. A creek that runs through this plot is the same creek that the Tennant’s use to graze their cattle. Tennant noticed an immediate change in the cows after the sale. They were acting deranged, as if someone had flipped a switch.
DuPont, for years, had been allowing toxic pollution to run through the creek, the very same creek Tennant used as a source of water. A chemical called PFOA, one of the only chemicals that was left untested by TSCA, and was therefore untouched by government regulations, was too much of a profit for DuPont to cut ties with. DuPont had kept this scheme up for more years than anyone could have imagined- far too many years. DuPont is responsible for poisoning generations, according to the Times article that shares Tennant’s side of the story and ultimately, revealing the sickening truth. DuPont is just one of the many companies that pollute without care, without consideration of animals, environment, and worst of all, humans.
I can’t believe that even though the DuPont discovery put PFOA’s on the regulation list, there are still dozens of harmful chemicals not being regulated. I think the after discoveries like this, all chemicals should be test or at least regulated. Large companies continue to poison and harmfully effect the environment without being discovered, or shut down. As expensive as it maybe the companies manufacturing the chemicals should pay for the regulation of them in order to continue to produce them more safely.