Next door to Tennant's farm was a landfill owned by E.I. Nothing jumped out in page after page he reviewed, Bilott recalled. His name is Wilbur Tennant. Its head was tipped back at an awkward angle. Around here, that economic engine was DuPont, known for innovations like nylon, Tyvek, and Teflon. It all started with Wilbur Tennant's dying cows. The muscle looked fine, but a thin, yellow liquid gathered in the cavity where it once beat. Did they think he would just sit by? Issued by Microsoft's ASP.NET Application, this cookie stores session data during a user's website visit. He focuses on the froth-covered creek before the tape cuts to a dissected calf with blackened teeth and oddly colored organs. The local employer wanted to buy some of their property for a landfill for its Washington Works plant nearby, where it produces, among other things, Teflon, which contains the chemical C8. In 2005, DuPont agreed to phase out its use of C8 (PFOA) by 2015, according to The Intercept. Quite soon after DuPont establishes their landfill, weird things start happening to his cattle. I could find no record of any such incident taking place. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. They were green like the foamy water that ran out of a pipe from the nearby Dry Run Landfill and into the creek from which the Tennant cattle drank. The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. Home. They just turn their back and walk on. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. The tongue looked normal, but some of the teeth were coal black, interspersed with the white ones like piano keys. Predictably, his complaints to government went ignored. Despite internal debate, it declined to make the information public," the magazinenotes. Call him, they suggested. That calf had died miserable. Other testing by 3M found the compounds in apples, bread, green beans and ground beef. Thats very unusual. It had paid for the 150 acres of land his great-grandfather had bought and for the two-story, four-room farmhouse pieced together from trees felled in the woods, dragged across fields, and raised by hand. DuPont then really did proceed to turn that plot into a dumping ground for sludge that it knew to be toxic, going so far as to quietly conduct tests for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in the nearby river and expressing concern for the health of the Tennants livestock in internal documents nearly a decade before they would be denying culpability and blaming the Tennants in court. A group of citizens in West Virginia challenges a powerful corporation to be more environmentally responsible. The federal agency notes that it has made significant progress in addressing the public health concerns "from issuing groundwater cleanup guidance to proposing a positive regulatory determination for both PFOA and PFOS, EPA has made progress under every aspect of the Action Plan.". . Tennant stated that . . Dry spells shrank it to a necklace of pools that winked with silver minnows. The substance is stable, persistent, and very difficult to break down. Wilbur Tennant. When he cut out the other lung, he noted dark purple splotches where they should have been fluffy and pink. DuPont's response was they would settle with the Tennant's however Bilott was . Wilbur Tennant is one farmer in a community who sees DuPont as something more than an employer. Dark Waters tells the true story of American farmer Wilbur Tennant who calls on lawyer Rob Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) to help him sue a chemical company Credit: Focus Features. Parkersburg is also home to the Tennant family, who, for nearly a century, have worked land that eventually grew to 700-plus acres and raised more than 200 head of cattle. It dont do you any good to go to the DNR about it. DuPont established a presence along the Ohio River in 1948 with the Washington Works plant near Parkersburg. . A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. Wilbur Tennant's family farm was located next to a "non-hazardous" landfill operated by the chemical company. Bubbles formed as it tumbled over stones in a sudsy film. He had formerly worked for the Wood County Schools as a bus. Their quest for justice wound its way through the American judicial system for nearly two decades, unearthing long-hidden deeds which, some reports say, are akin to those perpetrated by big tobacco on the public. His cattle now drank from its pools. But you just give me time. Earl pulled on white gloves and pried open the cows mouth, probing her gums and teeth. They concluded that 'the study was valid' and that 'the observed fetal eye defects were due to C8,' according to internal DuPont documents. He was an excellent marksman, and his family had always had enough meat to eat. Now it was filled with specimens you might find in a pathology lab. He owned 200 cows that grazed on 600 acres. . are linked to DuPont's landfilling of PFOA. A thicker foam gathered in eddies, trembling like egg whites whipped into stiff peaks so high they sometimes blew off on a breeze. Some of the more surprising moments in the film were in fact real and confirmed by Bilott in his memoir about the case, like when the farmer Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), who brought the case to . He zoomed out and panned over to an industrial pipe spewing froth into the creek. Bilott did marry a fellow lawyer, Sarah Barlage, who left her career defending corporations against workers compensation claims to raise their sons. Yet to this day the companies deny responsibility, Bilott said in an interview. Bryan Schutmaat for The New York Times. Bilotts law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister, typically represents corporate clients like DuPont in environmental cases, not people like Tennant. He requested all documents that DuPont had related to PFOA. 'Dark Waters' is an upcoming American legal thriller helmed by Todd Haynes. DuPont settled the Tennant case for an undisclosed amount. During manufacturing processes, PFAS chemicals are released into the air, soil, and water around industrial facilities, the EPA reports. See how thats all wallered down? Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics. When they bought half of the farm from Wilbur they began to use it for a landfill to store the toxins being . He toldThe Intercept in 2015 that it bubbled up out of glass containers and "was everywhere." Their innards smelled funny and were sometimes riddled with what looked to him like tumors. The EPA on its own only recently started to take steps to study, monitor, and regulate the use of PFAS and released an update to its action plan programin February 2020. Its just like that other calf up yonder, he said, panning over the matted grass. It contained an extraordinarily high concentration of PFOA. DuPont responds with a study of the Tennant farm conducted with the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) that . Now, he was feeding them twice as much and watching them waste away. The farm would have stretched even longer if one of Wilbur Tennant's brothers, Jim, did not sell 66 acres to the DuPont company in the early 1980's for a landfill they were going to create for their factory. It is cut from the same cloth as movies like 'Erin Brockovich' and 'A Civil Action'. . Tennant recounted to anyone who would listen that he'd lost about 100 calves and 50 cows over the years. Washington, West Virginia. "The innards was bright green.". Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. He sliced open the chest cavity, pulled out a lung, and turned the camera back on. Company officials told one of Tennants brothers in person and in writing they planned to turn it into a landfill for office garbage nothing hazardous. While DuPont did also conduct walk-throughs and physical searches of the Tennants belongings, deeply alienating some of the familys renters, the movie depicts some of Tennants evidence going mysteriously missing. He knew the folks at the DNR, because they gave him a special permit to hunt on his land out of season. This is the hundred and seventh calf thats met this problem right here. Even though he sold them to be finished and slaughtered for beef, he didnt have the heart to kill one himself, unless it had a broken leg and he needed to end its suffering. The same year, the EPA fined DuPont more than $10 million for "failing to report 'substantial risk of injury to human health' from C8 (PFOA)," according to The Intercept. The edge in his voice was anger. As he does in the film, the real Bilott did begin to experience strange symptoms in 2010 similar to the strokelike transient ischemic attack seen in the movie. Its something I have never run into before., He reached back into the cow and pulled out a liver that looked about right. Wilbur Tennant and his family had recently sold part of their farmland to a company and had no idea what would end up coming of it. Two of seven babies born to Teflon plant employees in 1981 had facial deformities similar to what 3M had found in newborn rats. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The farmer, Wilbur Tennant of Parkersburg, W.Va., said that his cows were dying left and right. He died of cancer in 2009. Tennant didnt live to witness the scope of what unfolded after he persuaded Bilott to file the lawsuit about his dead cows. As a father, he had watched his little girls splash around in its shallow ripples. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Attached to it was a gallbladder that didnt. Seventy years later these chemicals are in our soil, our air, in wildlife. W. Earl Tennant Wilbur Earl Tennant, 67 of New England passed away suddenly at his residence May 15, 2009. . His mothers grandfather had bought this land, and it was the only home he had ever known. It smelled rotten. 30 Broad Street, Suite 801 DuPont detected PFOA in the drinking water of communities near the Teflon plant. Parkersburg is also home to the Tennant family, who, for nearly a century, have worked land that eventually grew to 700-plus acres and raised more than 200 head of cattle. DuPont's Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The primary coordinates for Tennants Farm Pond Dam places it within the WV 26184 ZIP Code delivery area. Something is the matter right there. He was born at New England, a son of the late Blaine Tennant and Lydia (Wildman) Tennant. Bilott later determined it was one of the forever chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid, commonly referred to today as PFOA. Over the decades they steadily acquired land and cattle, until 200 cows roamed more than 600 hilly acres. Theres been fifty-six cows thats been burnt just like this.. DuPont determined that PFOA passed from pregnant employees to their fetuses. When the Grahams heard in 1998 that Wilbur Tennant was looking for legal help, they remembered Bilott, White's grandson, who had grown up to become an environmental lawyer. I dont ever remember seeing that in there before., He cut out the heart and sliced it open. Excerpt from Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyers Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont. It stars Mark Ruffalo as Bilott, along with Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare . Photos by Focus Features and Mike Coppola/Getty Images. She had spent the summer in the hollow, drinking out of Dry Run until shed started to act strangely. As a man, he had walked its banks with his wife. Given the fact that the events depicted on the Tennant cattle farm in Parkersburg, West Virginia, are Dark Waters' most important evidence, the filmmakers should have treated them with the utmost authenticity - to their credit, they did for the most part.Wilbur Tennant's brother Jim really was a DuPont employee who got sick with a disease the doctors couldn't diagnose; and the chemical . The cattle farmer stood at the edge of a creek that cut through a sun-dappled hollow. Wilbur Earl Tennant and his siblings took over the land when their father abandoned them in the 1950s, according to the Huffington Post. Photo illustration by Slate. Alternatives for PFOA and PFOS promoted as safe by industry are just as dangerous, if not more so, scientists are finding. They're in virtually everything we use, including stain-resistant fabric and carpets, nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, and firefighting foam. On the other line was Wilbur Tennant (played by Bill Camp), a cattle farmer from Parkersburg, W.V. But now it seemed they were ignoring him. Tennant is convinced that a landfill operated by the DuPont company upstream from his farm is the cause of the continuing maladies suffered by his cattle and his family. As a boy, he had cooled his bare feet in this creek. People who didnt know him very well called him Wilbur, but friends and family called him Earl. He started the legal process in 1999 against DuPont by filing motions compelling it to turn over documents pertaining to hazardous materials used at the Washington Works plant near Parkersburg. Tennants Farm Pond Dam, Wood County, West Virginia. song that goes bum bum bum 2020. wilbur tennant farm locationconservation international ceo. It was small and ephemeral, fed by the rains that gathered in the creases of the ancient mountains that rumpled West Virginia and gave it those misty blue, almost-heaven vistas. DuPont later paid more than $750 million to settle lawsuits filed by Teflon plant neighbors with PFOA-linked diseases, including testicular and kidney cancer, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease and pregnancy-induced hypertension. This cookie is set by the provider Akamai Bot Manager. Wilbur Earl Tennant and his siblings took over the land when their father abandoned them in the 1950s, according to the Huffington Post. The visit to the Grahams' farm was one of his happiest childhood memories. just a dukes mix of everything. Until lately, the cattle always fattened up nicely on that, plus the corn he grew to finish them and a grain mix he bought from the feed store. In short, I was playing for the opposite team, Bilott recalled in his memoir about the lawsuit he ended up filing against DuPont and the explosive aftermath. Foam began appearing in a creek that meandered past the landfill before spilling into the Tennants pasture, he later testified in a court filing.
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