Dark Waters (2019), directed by Todd Haynes, tells the real-life story of how a lawyer, Rob Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), waged a twenty-year battle to hold the DuPont corporation accountable for contaminating a local water supply with carcinogenic chemicals that poisoned tens of thousands of people. While Bilott is ultimately able to achieve some degree of compensation and justice for the victims, the film shows the challenges of litigating against a powerful company bent on denying responsibility and covering up its misconduct.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:35 The origins: a small case for a family friend back home

6:24 Teflon and the “miracle” chemical

10:24 How attorney Rob Bilott uncovers the pollution

13:49 Getting the Taft firm on board

21:50 Addressing the legal challenges in the case

24:30 Medical monitoring and causation in toxic tort cases

28:36 Divisions in the community, financial pressures, and client management

30:30 DuPont’s clout

35:14 Bellwether trials: trying the cases in court

39:44 What the litigation achieved and the continued challenges

46:27 The risks of “forever chemicals”

49:50 Developments since the film was released

55:43 Can the legal system deliver justice?

1:01:53 Some further developments

Further reading:

Bilott, Robert, Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont (Atria Books 2019)

Carucci, Rob, “Leadership Lessons from Rob Bilott’s 20 Year Battle for Justice Against DuPont,” Forbes (July 12, 2021)

Nevitt, Mark P. & Percival, Robert V., “Can Environmental Law Solve the ‘Forever Chemical’ Problem,” 57 Wake Forest L. Rev. 239 (2022)

Rich, Nathaniel, “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare,” N.Y. Times Magazine (Jan. 6, 2016)

Small, Sarah Chen, Note, “Toxic Film: Analyzing the Impact of Films Depicting Major Contamination Events on the Regulation of Toxic Chemicals,” 35 Georgetown Env. L. Rev. 561 (2023)

Tabuchi, Hiroko, “Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others,” N.Y. Times (May 14, 2025)

Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated important cases to protect civil liberties and human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember.
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