DARK WATERS 12/9/19

It took almost 20 years for Dupont to reimburse victims of TEFLON production in their chemical plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Dupont was the largest employer in this town furtively contaminating the waters and farmlands of Parkersburg West Virginia causing thousands of people to get kidney, testicular, and other cancers as well as birth deformities in pregnant women.

The film "Dark Waters" is a story of one man's resolution and courage in fighting and bringing to light what he found in an investigation which began in 1998 in order to get much-needed justice for the community over a product which had a toxic polluting chemical: Perfluorooctanoic acid —also known as C8—is a "...perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes and as a material feedstock, and is a health concern..."(Wikipedia.) This man is Robert Bilott, an environmental attorney who previously had defended Chemical companies. Mark Ruffalo gives a stolid - understated performance depicting a person whose conscience countermands his job security, health, and his marriage.

C-8 ended up being used in products that most Americans are familiar with: Teflon as well as stain-resistant fabrics and food packaging among others. This film chronicles how Dupont KNEW this chemical was poisonous and still placed it in their products for profit. According to words on the screen at the very end of the film - almost 99% of the population have traces of C-8 in their blood. "This prolific contamination is not because C8 exists in the environment naturally (it doesn't), but solely because of widespread industrial use..." (US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.) We experience the lengthy process of judicial "discovery", the myriad ways investigations can be impeded and after 19 years, some restitution.

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/teflons_toxic_legacy/

DARK WATERS directed by Todd Haynes is a timely film; we witness the abuse of power by our government as well as large corporations. The stealthy methods used to cover-up criminality are clearly articulated and methodically laid out. Sound familiar?