The new film “Dark Waters” tells the true story of Rob Bilott, a Cincinnati corporate defense lawyer who risked his career by suing chemical giant DuPont on behalf of tens of thousands of West Virginia residents who accused the company of knowingly polluting their water with a toxic chemical.
After a legal battle of nearly 20 years, Bilottt won a $617 million settlement in 2017 for some 3,500 residents who blamed the chemical for a variety of illnesses, including kidney and testicular cancers.
Ohio environmental activists hope the movie will draw attention to the increasing dangers to Ohio’s own precious water resources from both industrial and agricultural sources. With more than 166,000 miles of streams and 483,000 acres of wetlands, Ohio is known as a “water-rich” state. But the safety of our water resources is under threat from sediment, manure, and fertilizers, as well as a growing variety of chemical pollutants.
Ohio River toxic pollution 2020 interview PDF