In 1998 a West Virginia cattle farmer gave corporate defense lawyer Rob Bilott videotapes of his dying cows, and DuPont's own files revealed decades of knowledge about the chemical PFOA. The case produced a 70,000-person health study linking it to several diseases, then settlements in the hundreds of millions. The episode ends with the EPA's 2024 drinking-water limits and a 2026 proposal to roll some back.
Who's who
- Wilbur TennantParkersburg-area cattle farmer whose videotapes started the case
- Rob BilottCorporate defense lawyer who spent two decades litigating PFOA
- Lee Zeldin+1 more episodeEPA Administrator whose agency issued the 2026 rollback proposals
- Roy PlunkettDuPont chemist who accidentally discovered Teflon in 1938
- Tony FletcherEpidemiologist on the independent C8 Science Panel
- Kyle SteenlandEpidemiologist on the independent C8 Science Panel
- David SavitzEpidemiologist on the independent C8 Science Panel
Where it happens
- Parkersburg, West Virginia+1 more episodeHome of DuPont's Washington Works plant and the contaminated water
- Dry Run Landfill, West VirginiaDuPont landfill upstream of Tennant's cattle
- Cincinnati, Ohio+2 more episodesWhere Bilott's firm took on the case
- Mid-Ohio ValleyRegion of the 70,000-person C8 Health Project
Timeline
- 1951DuPont begins buying PFOA from 3M to make Teflon at Washington Works.
- 1998Wilbur Tennant brings his videotapes to Rob Bilott.
- 2001Bilott files a class action for about 70,000 people with contaminated drinking water.
- 2017DuPont and Chemours settle about 3,550 injury lawsuits for $670.7 million.
- April 2024EPA finalizes the first federal drinking-water limits for six PFAS.
- May 2026EPA proposes rescinding four limits and delaying the others' deadline.
Still debated
The six-disease list is a settlement-defined standard; some links, such as kidney cancer and thyroid disease, are challenged by newer or industry-funded reviews. The 2026 rollback is only a proposal, and no one has a defensible grand total cost.
