[Robert Bilott] Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against Dupont

by Robert Bilott

Hardcover

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Environment, Politics, True Crime, Memoir

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Lyndsay Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a partner in the firm where I work. Rob’s work over the last 20 years is well-captured here. It’s easy to read, not bogged down with technical science and legal language. This is a compelling story that everyone needs to read.

[Joanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both brilliant and difficult to read. What I mean is that it is brilliant in that Rob Bilott does an absolutely fabulous job of explaining a terribly complex case (both legally and scientifically) in a way that normal people can easily understand. It is difficult to read in that the utterly scandalous ways in which DuPont acted is hard to comprehend, especially for those of us who have loved ones who worked for DuPont. My dad spent his entire career at DuPont, and I am appalled to know that the company that supported our family for so long callously disregarded the impact its actions have had on generations of people as well as the environment. Moreover, this story was fascinating in seeing how one man, a man who is not a religious man but clearly a man with a strong moral compass, stood up against virtually everyone one in his life because he wanted to fight for good over evil. It almost cost him everything. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For a book that contains lots of detail about legal manuevers and science, it is riveting.

[Jessi Nill · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I first heard about this story when the New York Times Magazine article came out, I was completely floored by the tenacious work of Rob and the deplorable behavior from DuPont. This is book is so well written and thorough. While detailed it's not overly technical that you aren't able to understand.

It was so incredibly interesting to see all the things that happened to build the case and to get to this point. I'm so proud of Rob and the law firm that stood behind him even if he felt pressure. It's incredible to think how long it took to get to this point and the ways that DuPont put profit over people.

Keep up the fight -- I have a feeling you have a lot more supporters than you'll ever know. #notallheroswearcapes

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

Yeah, it's another one of those "lawyer finds out that an evil corporation has poisoned the local water supply" books. We all sat in theaters 20 years ago, munching on popcorn, watching Erin Brockovich explain "hexavalent chromium" to us, and thinking how glad we were that we didn't live in the trailer park farm of Hinckley, CA, pop. 2,000, or the other nearby white trash receptacle towns whose water supply was knowingly poisoned for decades by PG&E, leaving the residents to suffer all kinds of ill effects including cancer and birth defects.

But what if a company created a chemical that was unregulated by the EPA because its creators never even disclosed its existence? What if that company knew that the chemical was toxic and harmful but they didn't disclose it to their own workforce, allowing even pregnant women to work closely with the chemical without any adequate protective gear? What if the company decided to just dump the stuff in the local groundwater, or blow it out its own smokestacks, ignoring even the astonishingly insufficient safety guidelines the company had drafted internally? What if that chemical got into the water supply locally, then nationally, then globally?

What if that chemical never breaks down? What if it was "biopersistent," meaning it builds up in your body?

What if that chemical was found in water supplies around the world?

What if it infected the blood of every living creature on Earth? Even your blood, and the blood of your loved ones, and even the blood of unborn children?

What if this was all true, and not science fiction?

You owe it to yourself to read this book. For an executive summary, you can watch the excellent film Dark Waters starring Mark (Hulk) Ruffalo, but the whole story is even more amazing, especially the incredible legal maneuvering and flabbergasting public relations whitewashing undertaken by DuPont - and to a lesser degree, 3M - in an effort to avoid legal and financial culpability for essentially poisoning the entire world.

The audiobook narrator is slow and measured in his delivery, which is frustrating in the early going but critically important later as various details begin to emerge. Author Bilott - the attorney who discovered the malfeasance and who has literally devoted his life to bringing justice to the victims - has a knack for explaining complex legal and technical jargon in simple, understandable language, but you will still find yourself re-reading (or listening) to certain passages because they are just too amazing to be true.

This story deserves more attention. The implications are staggering.

[Vasudev Gowda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is better than "Bad blood" in the white-collared true crime genre.
Very informative, tactically presented, intelligently and deeply analyzed, good humor, exceptionally well written with a lot of glimpses into Robert's personal life as well.

Innocence meets endurance in this book and which turned out to be a very powerful combination. Do yourself a favour and read this book.

Highly recommended.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible story. I first became aware of Robert Bilott and his battle against DuPont and the PFOA and PFAS chemicals in our water, and almost everywhere else, when I read the cover story in the New York Times magazine about him that was published in 2015. He references the article later in the book and it obviously affected a lot of other people as well. Bilott has practically given his life to this and he was an incredibly unlikely person to do it. As my husband, also a lawyer said, some things just flip a switch in people. However, this one affected his personal life, his health and almost everything else around him. Happily, he ultimately won in Court and got clean drinking water for the many people whose water was directly polluted by the plant in West Virginia, as well as ongoing medical testing and monetary damages. Unhappily, the bills introduced in the US House and Senate that would require federal government regulation of PFAs in our drinking water by a specific date have still not been passed nor have those which would designate PFOA and PFAS "hazardous substances" under the federal Superfund statute by a specific date.
This is a very readable book. The scientific information is explained in an understandable way. I'm not a major reader of nonfiction but this one turned into a page turner. There is also a movie out based on the book, produced by Mark Ruffalo, which I haven't seen yet but will.

[Wes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping read that hit very close to home. My family is from the town where 3M was founded. I got a yearly college scholarship from 3M. I spent a year doing environmental remediation work at a former DuPont manufacturing site (now managed by Chemours) in northern Wisconsin. Now I’m working on regulating PFAS discharges to the environment and implementing destruction technologies. Like many victims in this book, I had to learn that these companies do not care about environmental protection or public health. Their foremost interests will always be profit and shareholder value.

This book does a great job of laying out the groundwork for PFAS litigation and regulation in America. The difficulties and roadblocks are very much the same as they were for Robert 10-25 years ago. I frequently struggle with my role as a regulator. How everything we do takes way too long and is never enough. There always ends up being a carve out for business interests (a recent PFAS ban in Minnesota was amended to not include youth power sports products). How the cities and counties statewide are saddled with billions of dollars of pollution cleanup all caused by faceless corporations. Ultimately it’s up to environmental professionals to fix this mess. It’s going to be a long, complicated, and costly process. I hope we can look back in 25 years like Robert and see that we affected some positive change.

[Nick Dye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exposure is a great story, but Bilott is clearly a lawyer and not a writer. The book is bogged down in legalese and makes it difficult for a non-lawyer to understand, thought Bilott does try to explain certain things to people like me. The storytelling can miss a few beats that are available to the writer and get a bit repetitive. However, it is an impressive story of determination in the face of a corporate behemoth and you have to salute Mr. Bilott in all that he’s done even if it’s hard for him to find a writerly voice.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read such an amazing book…..and regretted it. I analyze PFCs in my lab in wastewater samples. I didn’t think it was so prevalent in drinking water…..everywhere. Due to corporate greed (shocker) plastic companies (in Ohio, Michigan, and California) have been manufacturing PFAS in Teflon and it’s been leaching into the ground water….for 50yrs….and tried to cover it up bc they KNEW it was a health hazard to humans. And just now (literally as of April 20th) the Biden-Harris administration have set the standard for PFAS in drinking water to 4ppt (parts per TRILLION) for my nonscientist friends, that’s super fucking small which is good but PFAS has been found to be in ppb (billion) in water samples :/ You can remain ignorant (I do not blame you) or you can use biodegradable products, get rid of your nonstick cookware (nonstick is teflon), and look into where your water comes from and if they test for PFAS. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, if you want something else besides politics to be angry about, this is the book for you! This is the story of the TWENTY YEAR legal fight against DuPont (and others) over the waste dumped into the rivers after the production of Teflon.
The case was brought to the author/lawyer's notice by a farmer whose cows were dying. The farmer had his cows in a row and was well documented. Unfortunately, the farmer didn't live to see the end the case. In fact, the case continues to this day.
Written for a lay person to understand.
RECOMMEND.

[Rachel Anderson Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story! Rob works at the Cincinnati office of the law firm where I work, so while I knew the gist of the story, there were so many great details in the book that I learned for the first time. I couldn’t put it down! I’m so impressed by Rob and the work he put in for decades to hold DuPont accountable and I’m so grateful that he wrote such an approachable book so even those of us without science and litigation backgrounds can understand.

I truly think this is one of the best books I’ve read all year!

[Sarah Linhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly engrossing for such a technical memoir. I appreciated that the author didn’t pretend that he was setting out to change the world but rather almost stumbled into it

[Ervina Yoder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book if you want to be properly infuriated.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

rating: 3.85

reason 49583793847287 to not trust big corporations and the government

overall an interesting, mind-blowing read despite the numerous paragraphs of law and science that definitely went over my head…

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my environmental health course. I’m now more aware of harmful pollutants and it’s scary 🤓😩 I would give this a 3.5/5!!

[Emily Bruner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a class, but actually got super into it. Corporations are evil!

[Cara Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Moving. Everyone should read this.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

“How does a chemical pollute the whole globe? How can something that kills animals and lurks in human blood for decades remain undetected for so long? How can a company contaminate the water of entire communities and get away with it? How could regulators-whose sole purpose was to prevent such things-stand by and let it happen?”

This is a really depressing book. I know it is a cliché to call a corporation greedy and evil, but Jeez Du Pont seem to go to some lengths to fulfil all the clichés and criteria. This is just another sad and well-trodden tale of human greed over human lives. I really struggled to like Bilott (a former corporate defence lawyer). For someone from that background he was suspiciously naïve and gullible in the earlier stages of dealing with Du Pont. At one point he boasts about his wife who we learn used to “defended corporations in worker’s comp claims cases.” That sounds like quite a household and just what the world needs, more smug lawyers getting paid lots of money to defend corporations against those big, bad civilians.

This book highlights many things, it reminds us of the vast power and control corporations are allowed to wield over everyone else, making up their own rules and how weak and pathetic government “regulation” is and the blatant absence of transparency, integrity or accountability.
It also made me wonder about all of those countless cases against countless others corporations throughout the US and around the world? The ones who are not lucky enough to find legal representation or have the funds to fight the corporations-the ones that didn’t get their day in court, or a book written about their case with a movie tie-in.

What is blatantly obvious in here is that the laws and regulations are unfit for purpose unless you are the corporation, for them, particularly in America are so over protected from the laws that civilians have to answer to. They are fully aware of this which is why so many so often exploit their disproportionate power and wealth to get their way at the expense and sometimes lives of others, with little to no consequences. The fact that it is common knowledge that you have to have so much money to even be able challenge corporations in a court of law shows how ridiculous the laws are but of course these laws are made to protect the rich and powerful to keep them rich and powerful, just one look at the US prison system and who resides there reflects that.

It also shows you that too often the law is not really about justice or fairness, but more about generating a lucrative income for opportunists, liars and cheats who know how to exploit its loopholes and petty ambiguities, no matter how awful or immoral that makes them. These courts are like a haven for some of the most morally bankrupt scum in the country, a fetid swamp, polluted with bloated, self-important egos and swarming parasites obsessed with percentages and profit margins.


Yet again we see overwhelming evidence to show that there is nothing too ludicrous, audacious, cruel or offensive when it comes to the behaviour of corporations and the lawyers who profit from defending them (and let’s remember the author was one of those very guys prior to taking up these cases). And although he is a hunter turned conservationist of sorts, he really bothered me, at one point he’s talking about willing to help these people as if it was some altruistic gesture doing pro bono work, instead of someone who is actually doing it for the immense financial reward. Although I have my reservations about Bilott, you cannot deny the years of time, effort and work he put into getting justice for his clients, and although he goes to great lengths to emphasise how little he earned from his immense efforts, I notice that he also chose not reveal how much he earned for it either.

This is a terrifying, and at times heart breaking story of a long-established culture of corporate greed, lies and recklessness and to be honest this is easily one of the saddest and depressing books I have ever read. This is the kind of book which makes you feel naïve as to what so many people are capable of in order to protect profit and power. And society constantly tells us that these very people are successful and are what we should aspire to, because they wear suits and have made a phenomenal amount of money. I just cannot get my head around it?...These people will go home to wife/husband/partner and children with the full knowledge of what their actions have done to so many people and pat themselves on the back for doing a good job. It blows my mind.

[Jacob Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS HEARING/SEEING/READING" - Robert Bilott on the 80th time he was shocked by something after claiming he'd never let himself get shocked again.

Attempt to collect and organized my thoughts:

Overall the book is just bad. The actual non-fiction to this is extremely interesting. But it's written about so poorly it disgusts me. The dude will sit here and preach for 400 pages about how he's flabbergasted that Dupont would do the same thing it's done for the entire time he's worked with them while sprinkling in things about how "he's a good guy and doesn't care about the money and is just doing the right thing". Well you wrote this book for the money and you sold off movie rights to Mark Ruffalo for the money and you just continue to brush off not giving a shit about your wife and kids so pardon my belief that you could be disingenuous.

I appreciate the work you did as a lawyer and I'm glad that the whole PFAS situation is now under the spotlight of the world but I should have left the book hating Dupont and instead I left this book thinking you're an idiot and you annoy me.

[Valerie Keinsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an eye opening read about corporate irresponsibility and the true workings of government regulatory agencies. There is a lot of law jargon and scientific language that can be hard to wade through, and at parts the timeline is difficult to follow just because of how much was happening all at once. Overall I really enjoyed it (and now I want a water filter!)

[Isabella Fray · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most riveting nonfiction books I have ever read, and a subject I’ve been interested in since I saw the movie Dark Waters in 2019 on the same subject. I can only say how in awe I am that one lawyer could do so much through Herculean work-ethic and sense of justice. I can only aspire to be reach Bilott’s level of work. It also goes to show just how despicable corporations like DuPont can be, especially if one remembers that corporations are made of people.

This book was particularly interesting for me personally as I am a second year law student inspired in part by Bilott’s story, and so getting a really clear picture about the thousands upon thousands of wrenches DuPont threw at this case mostly through motions was really eye-opening. The legal system can do a lot (although pervasive injustice is still rife, but that’s a subject for another time) but that really relies on the creativity and intelligence of the lawyers to use the tools offered both defensively and offensively. The sheer amount of documents (millions of pages in the end) that one man was able to memorize is astounding, and so were the strategies used to litigate the case like setting traps for DuPont to walk into. Seriously. This is a crime thriller like the best of them.

[Linda Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable...

It's unbelievable what DuPont did, all in the name of financial profit, by introducing this hazardous chemical concoction and then perpetuating its use when they knew full well how toxic it was. It is unbelievable and heartbreaking to hear about the suffering of humans and animals while DuPont raked in profits. It's unbelievable that Earl Tennant found just the right person in Robert Bilott to seek and attain justice...but he did. It's equally unbelievable that the EPA and our legislative bodies have done so little in this fight, while other countries have made giant strides. I had no idea of the scope of this issue...and I thank the author, not only for giving me the story to read, but for his patience and tireless efforts over so many years to expose this issue and cause lasting change. We need more people like that.

[Maureen Caupp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that is both inspiring and disturbing. Inspiring because of all the time and effort Robert Bilott, the Tennants, and others put into trying to the right thing against stiff opposition. Trying to seek the truth and raise awareness against tremendous obstacles and working to exhaustion. Disturbing because it show another example of profit and industry being put above human and environmental health.

This book reminds me of what I felt watching Erin Brockovich growing up and reading Soul Full of Coal Dust earlier this year. They are maddening, frightening, and inspiring. A reminder that we often don't know what we are being exposed to in our daily lives in things we took for granted as safe, and that there are people trying to make a difference for the better, but it is such a hard fight and long slog that you wonder if some things will ever change for the better.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

14-01-2020
Ik ben nog bezig in dit boek. Ik kan nu al zeggen dat dit boek minstens 4 maar waarschijnlijk 5 sterren gaat krijgen.
Ik heb Dark Waters gezien tijdens het PAC Festival van Pathe en was erg onder de indruk. Ik wilde meer weten en meer lezen. Dit boek vertelt het verhaal heel goed. Ik kan er alleen maar heel boos van worden.
15-01-2020
Ik denk dat ik in januari al mijn beste non-fictie van het jaar heb gelezen. Wat een goed boek. Goed verhaal. Fijne man. En dat alles dankzij Earl ❤

[McKenna Sumrak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very humbled and impressed by Bilott and the work he has, and continues to, put into this issue. Although I’m saddened that he’s had to sacrifice much of his life for it! He has done incredible work to fight a very hard fight for the whole human race for what should be basic human rights and respect. A very well-written book on a very maddening subject. Super fascinating and frustrating. It’s along the lines of Bad Blood but for me this one was more impactful and relevant to my field of study so it hit home for me more. Everyone should be aware of this issue.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, wow! I really took my time reading it, taking notes and fully understanding Bilott’s life work.

“(…) I could no longer pretend that my interest in this was strictly as an attorney pursuing a court case. I had become that person I had once looked at with puzzlement, if not bemusement: I was a man with a passionate cause, a fighter against what I saw as a massive public health threat. Somehow I had ended up trying to save the world, or at least a part of it”

As a last year law student, this was just the most inspiring book to read.

[Qian Wen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lengthy read about the PFOA situatuon in US and how DuPont tried to (and still is) deny their wrongdoings. A good read if you like to go into the details otherwise the movie 'Dark Waters' captures the summary just fine. I have to applaud Robert Billot for spending his life on this. The amount of time and effort he has placed in fighting for the civilians is enormous, let alone the courage he has displayed in taking on DuPont when many disagreed with him. We need more people like him.

[Danica S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rob Bilott is an absolute hero. On top of that, he is a riveting storyteller. PFAS are now in the blood of every single person on earth and DuPont continues to deny culpability. It’s absolutely horrifying to think what DuPont could still be concealing were it not for Rob’s tireless investigative efforts. Thank you for holding these companies accountable and telling this story. A must-read for anyone who cares about public health and combatting corporate greed!

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rob Bilott is one of the good guys, one of those people you learn about and then feel a little better about the state of the world. Lots of great detail here on his 20-year (!!) fight against DuPont and PFAS contamination. He’s still fighting for us today and I’m glad I got to hear him speak earlier this year (before things turned upside down).

[Katie Hare · Rating 4 out of 5]

The future is grim, the present a minefield.
A real eye opener into the mindset of corporate America. Surely this is just one story of many. The author did a great job structuring the book and his argument and explaining it in a way that makes sense and truly conveys in the impact to an every day person.