How to Poison a Planet

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With behind the scenes access to the largest litigation involving drinking water in American history, HOW TO POISON A PLANET investigates how the use of a product as seemingly harmless as firefighting foam, has resulted in the contamination of communities all over the world. Spanning from the heart of New York City to a small First Nations community in Australia, the film exposes one of the most widespread environmental disasters in human history.

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Keywords

Environment,Environmental Justice,Environmental Contamination,Water,Chemical Contamination,Law,Science,Public Health,Indigenous Studies,Legal Studies,Journalism,Sustainability,STEM,Politics,Government Policy,Native American Studies,Indigenous Studies,Civil Rights; "How to Poison a Planet"; GOOD DOCS

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(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

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WOMAN:Do you solemnly swear the
testimony you're about to give

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to be the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?

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Yes, I do.

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MAN:Hi, Dr Butenhoff.

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My name is Ned McWilliams

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and I'm one of the attorneys
representing

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the various water districts
around the country

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that's suing your company, 3M,
among others.

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SONG: ♪ Man-made chemicals are

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♪ Poisoning the Earth ♪

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MAN: There were companies
and people

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that knew the nature and extent
of this threat

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but did it anyway.

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♪ Chemists move molecules around

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♪ Like we move furniture... ♪

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MAN: You can't help but ask

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what kind of people do that?

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♪ After we're dead and gone

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♪ It will be here
a million years... ♪

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WOMAN: All these kids
were dying of cancer.

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How could this happen?

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♪ We'll all be dead and gone

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♪ And cried a billion tears... ♪

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MAN: It was
our 'holy shit' moment.

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(WOMAN LAUGHS) Yeah.

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Like, people do this?!

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♪ In the water... ♪

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WOMAN: Do you swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth

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and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

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MAN: I do.

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MAN: If you wanted to
contaminate the planet,

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you couldn't have invented
a better delivery device

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than firefighting foam.

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♪ Flowing deep in the water. ♪

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(LIQUID BURBLES)

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(SOLEMN INDIGENOUS MUSIC)

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(BIRDS WARBLE)

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(SOFT CRACKLING)

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MAN: Our old people

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have always had a...a really
special intimate relationship

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with this place.

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And when we go to special places
like this,

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it's really important
that we pay respect...

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..to all this part here,

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all this country, the water,

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the trees...

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..grass, everything that's here.

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It's all connected

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and it was all here before us

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and we're obligated
to take care of it.

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(WAVES LAP)

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WOMAN: The Wreck Bay
Aboriginal fishing community

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is tucked away
in a little bit of paradise

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on the south coast
of New South Wales.

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It's pristine ocean.

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And when you look across to the
distance, it's the mountains

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and they're quite blue because
of our eucalypt that we have.

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It's actually a place
right on the ocean

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that is just us, you know,

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and it's been like that
for thousands of years.

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MATTHEW: Wreck Bay has always
been a fishing village

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and everything is here.

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Everything is here in abundance.

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WOMAN: We'd go diving.

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You know,
little ones that I'd get

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are little abalones or oysters.

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So we wouldn't go home
to have lunch.

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We'd have lunch as we catch it.

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So full of culture and heritage.

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It was a child's playground
in paradise.

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(UNEASY MUSIC BUILDS)

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MATTHEW: We don't exist.

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If...if we don't have water,
we're not here.

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It's who we are.

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(HELICOPTER WHIRS)

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REPORTER:But now there's
trouble in paradise.

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PFAS chemicals
used in firefighting foam

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have leached out
from a navy airfield

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known as the Jervis Bay
Range Facility.

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Head along Wreck Bay Road.

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See through there?

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That's the east-west runway
there.

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Into the right here,
we've got the training center

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where they do
all their fire drills.

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Where the PFAS
was kept and stored.

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But everything from there,
from their training center,

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all that water...

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..every time it rains,
everything runs down this hill

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and it runs straight into
little gutters and creeks

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and...and...all of these
little nooks and crannies

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that all flow down
into Wreck Bay

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and then it runs into...
into our ocean down here.

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The two main, um, killers
in the community

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is from heart...heart attack

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and cancer.

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I had a...um, cancerous cyst
in my pancreas.

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Pancreatic cancer is very brutal
and savage.

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Since January,
we've had six funerals.

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So a lot of alarm bells
was ringing.

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You know, it's a chemical
used for something...

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..that's like a business model.

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And when you look at that,

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it's all to do with that,

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to do with money.

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If we can be taken
right back to those places

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where people signed
that dotted line

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and where that was
a business transaction,

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you know, those people
need to be made accountable.

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The whole process that
it's gone through to get here

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and to poison our beautiful part
of country has to be unpacked.

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(SIREN BLARES)

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MAN: I think once people
start to see this story,

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um, and see how much information
was known by this company

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going back as far as it does,

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and knowing how much

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of the current PFAS
contamination problem

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could have been prevented,

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I think there are gonna be a lot
of people that are very angry.

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MAN 2: How do you,
in good conscience,

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if you're aware that a product
that you manufacture,

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and are essentially
the exclusive manufacturer of,

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and you know
that it's in the blood

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of the general population

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all around the world,

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how is it that you could
in good conscience

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not tell folks?

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And you let generation
after generation be exposed...

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-Right.
-..um, in the name of profits.

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I guess that's the goal
of our trial,

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is to...to tell that story.

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We're talking about
worldwide contamination

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and, what, 3M knew
and when they knew it.

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(UNEASY MUSIC)

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ROB: I mean, if you think
about the amount of effort

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3M has spent over the years

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to keep this under wraps,

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you know, to make sure that
people didn't see this evidence.

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And, again,
it's just remarkable to me

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that we're now having
to...to prepare these cases

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to go to trial

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to get these people
to accept responsibility

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for what they did.

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GARY: Right.

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And there's no doubt who did it.

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If you wanted to deliberately
contaminate the planet

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with PFAS,

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you couldn't have invented
a better delivery device

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than firefighting foam

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where you're literally spraying
it into the environment,

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into the water, and don't do
anything to clean it up

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and just let it soak in,

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let it leach through the...
through the ground

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into the aquifers,
into people's drinking water

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and that's exactly
what they did.

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(SINGS) ♪ Man-made chemicals are

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♪ Poisoning the Earth

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♪ Chemists move molecules around

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♪ Like we move furniture... ♪

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GARY: I was always drawn
to being a trial lawyer,

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which is, I like to say,
it's sort of performative art.

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The only difference is I have
a much more captive audience

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when I have a jury.

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They have to sit
and listen to me.

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I started out
as a struggling musician

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for the first 30 years
of my life.

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(SINGS) ♪ Rollin' down
ol' River Road... ♪

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We played everywhere.

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We played some of the most
famous punk rock scenes

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of the '70s and '80s in New York

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and we had a blast.

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♪ Give me hope, give me strength

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♪ And the faith
when I need it most... ♪

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I did not go to law school
till I was 30

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and I realized I had...
(LAUGHS) ..to make a living.

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♪ Holding on. ♪

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-And I also believed...
-(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

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..in pursuing just causes,

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so I would look
to defend the little guy.

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(SOBER PIANO MUSIC)

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I got recruited by a firm

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that was doing tobacco
litigation for plaintiffs

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and we would be representing
thousands of people.

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And I won.

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I think at that time it was
the third successful case

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in the United States.

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And then Rob Bilott,
um, reached out to me.

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His cases were gonna go to trial

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and he needed a trial lawyer.

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I was working at a law firm

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where we were helping
big corporate clients,

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a lot of big chemical companies.

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And I got a call in my office
one day

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from a gentleman who identified
himself as Mr Tennant

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out in West Virginia

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and was telling me
that he had cows dying

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that I needed to help him with.

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He was convinced

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there was something

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obviously in this white foam

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coming out of this landfill

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owned by DuPont

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that was impacting the cows.

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By the time he had
called me in 1998,

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he had lost over a hundred
of these animals.

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That call led to what became

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the next several decades
of litigation

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involving these
PFAS "forever chemicals".

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GARY: We represented
a class of 3,000 people.

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We tried three individual cases,
won them all

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and DuPont... (LAUGHS)
..finally caved in

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and settled
with all 3,000 people

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in that community.

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ROB: It ended up
being on the cover

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of the 'New York Times'
magazine.

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After that story came out,

00:11:50.377 --> 00:11:51.512
one of the people

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that apparently had seen
the story and reached out to me

00:11:54.915 --> 00:11:56.650
was Mark Ruffalo.

00:11:56.717 --> 00:11:58.284
You knew.

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Still you did nothing.

00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:04.558
REPORTER:'Dark Waters' tells
the true story of Robert Bilott,

00:12:04.626 --> 00:12:07.460
the underdog lawyer who
took on the industrial giant

00:12:07.528 --> 00:12:08.862
DuPont Chemical.

00:12:08.929 --> 00:12:11.465
MAN: You want to take everything
that you know

00:12:11.533 --> 00:12:14.568
and turn it against
an iconic American company,

00:12:14.635 --> 00:12:15.969
like an informant!

00:12:16.037 --> 00:12:17.804
Isn't that right?
Isn't that right?!

00:12:17.872 --> 00:12:20.841
-Isn't that right?
-Yes!

00:12:20.908 --> 00:12:22.709
-Hey.
-Oh. Oh, man.

00:12:22.776 --> 00:12:24.377
-So good to see you.
-Yeah, you too.

00:12:24.444 --> 00:12:25.779
-How are you doing?
-Awesome.

00:12:25.846 --> 00:12:28.181
-Oh, buddy, it's been too long.
-Yeah!

00:12:28.249 --> 00:12:30.483
-Good to see you. Yeah.
-Good to see you.

00:12:30.551 --> 00:12:32.219
-It's almost been two years.
-Yeah.

00:12:32.286 --> 00:12:35.421
The film, you know,
that we did together,

00:12:35.489 --> 00:12:38.125
it seems to have created a space

00:12:38.192 --> 00:12:39.726
to start to change everything.

00:12:39.793 --> 00:12:42.028
-Would you say that was true?
-Absolutely.

00:12:42.096 --> 00:12:45.031
I think it really showed people,
"Wait a minute,

00:12:45.099 --> 00:12:47.367
"this stuff,
it's not just in the water

00:12:47.434 --> 00:12:48.768
"in a town in West Virginia."

00:12:48.836 --> 00:12:50.737
This stuff that
we were dealing with

00:12:50.804 --> 00:12:53.006
and that you see in the film,
'Dark Waters',

00:12:53.074 --> 00:12:57.310
it's the same chemicals now
that are in the water in the UK,

00:12:57.378 --> 00:13:01.715
in Germany, in Italy,
in Australia, in Japan.

00:13:01.782 --> 00:13:03.483
This story... (SCOFFS)

00:13:03.551 --> 00:13:06.519
..it's...it's playing out
all over the world now.

00:13:06.587 --> 00:13:09.589
This was always the...thing

00:13:09.656 --> 00:13:11.558
that was astonishing to me,

00:13:11.625 --> 00:13:14.494
that people made the decision

00:13:14.561 --> 00:13:16.096
to go forward

00:13:16.163 --> 00:13:19.833
with putting
these chemicals in...

00:13:19.900 --> 00:13:21.068
..our environment.

00:13:21.135 --> 00:13:22.769
They knew what they were doing.

00:13:22.836 --> 00:13:25.572
Those were decisions
that were made by people.

00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:29.076
You can't help but ask...

00:13:29.143 --> 00:13:31.544
..what kind of people do that?

00:13:31.612 --> 00:13:36.450
(INTRIGUING MUSIC)

00:13:36.517 --> 00:13:39.886
MAN: 3M were a large
multinational conglomerate

00:13:39.954 --> 00:13:40.954
chemical company.

00:13:41.021 --> 00:13:42.856
They're based in Minnesota.

00:13:42.923 --> 00:13:44.657
They go back to the 1800s.

00:13:44.725 --> 00:13:46.827
And they're in
the business of selling

00:13:46.894 --> 00:13:48.929
thousands of different

00:13:48.996 --> 00:13:50.597
commercial and industrial
products.

00:13:50.664 --> 00:13:51.965
It's a multibillion-dollar
company,

00:13:52.032 --> 00:13:54.267
and they were back in the '70s
when this all got started.

00:13:54.335 --> 00:13:59.973
ROB: PFAS is per- and
polyfluoroalkylated substances.

00:14:00.040 --> 00:14:04.344
It is a family of completely
man-made chemicals.

00:14:04.412 --> 00:14:07.681
These are chemicals that
never existed on the planet

00:14:07.748 --> 00:14:09.449
prior to World War II.

00:14:09.517 --> 00:14:12.519
The two chemicals that we...that
we've been talking about here

00:14:12.587 --> 00:14:15.255
that we know the most about
in this PFAS family

00:14:15.323 --> 00:14:18.258
are the ones that have
eight carbons - the C8s.

00:14:18.325 --> 00:14:20.226
That's PFOA

00:14:20.293 --> 00:14:21.995
and PFOS.

00:14:22.062 --> 00:14:23.063
Both of these, really,

00:14:23.130 --> 00:14:26.133
were created by 3M.

00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.103
PFOA was sold primarily
to DuPont

00:14:30.171 --> 00:14:33.040
to use in things like Teflon.

00:14:33.107 --> 00:14:37.677
(OIL SIZZLES, CORN POPS)

00:14:37.744 --> 00:14:39.612
PFOS, on the other hand,

00:14:39.680 --> 00:14:42.715
was one that was
primarily used by 3M

00:14:42.783 --> 00:14:44.484
in a lot of its own products,

00:14:44.551 --> 00:14:50.323
things like Scotchgard.

00:14:50.391 --> 00:14:52.892
And also they made this thing
called Scotchban.

00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.161
Think of like, uh,
a...a hamburger wrapper.

00:14:55.229 --> 00:14:58.164
That special paper where the
grease doesn't leak through it?

00:14:58.232 --> 00:15:00.934
That was what these products
were primarily used for.

00:15:01.001 --> 00:15:03.837
PFOS was very much
their secret sauce,

00:15:03.904 --> 00:15:05.471
their proprietary chemical.

00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:06.673
No one outside of 3M

00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:08.107
had ever made it before,

00:15:08.175 --> 00:15:13.146
had ever seen it before,
knew anything about it.

00:15:13.214 --> 00:15:17.283
3M also started using PFOS,

00:15:17.351 --> 00:15:20.086
and then in later years
PFOA was used as well,

00:15:20.154 --> 00:15:26.793
in making a product called
aqueous film forming foam...

00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:28.995
..a type of firefighting foam

00:15:29.063 --> 00:15:31.331
used to combat petroleum fires.

00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:35.335
This was created primarily
around the 1960s

00:15:35.403 --> 00:15:39.105
and started being sold
to the US military.

00:15:39.173 --> 00:15:41.141
And over the last
several decades,

00:15:41.208 --> 00:15:44.144
this product,
this...this firefighting foam

00:15:44.211 --> 00:15:46.980
that's containing
these PFAS chemicals,

00:15:47.047 --> 00:15:50.450
has been sold to airports,
fire stations,

00:15:50.518 --> 00:15:54.721
military personnel,
firefighters all over the world.

00:15:55.723 --> 00:16:01.161
And this whole other story
started to become apparent

00:16:01.228 --> 00:16:05.732
of how much the...
the Department of Defense

00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:07.968
was using this

00:16:08.035 --> 00:16:09.603
and how many bases

00:16:09.670 --> 00:16:12.805
throughout the United States
were poisoned

00:16:12.873 --> 00:16:14.674
and how many firefighters...

00:16:14.741 --> 00:16:15.675
Yeah.

00:16:15.742 --> 00:16:17.444
..who are covered in this stuff.

00:16:17.511 --> 00:16:20.280
And are told,
"You spray it all out there,"

00:16:20.347 --> 00:16:23.250
even though these companies
understood

00:16:23.317 --> 00:16:25.185
when they were making this stuff

00:16:25.252 --> 00:16:26.853
it's got PFAS in it.

00:16:26.920 --> 00:16:29.756
(LIQUID BUBBLES)

00:16:29.823 --> 00:16:31.424
ROB: And these types
of chemicals

00:16:31.492 --> 00:16:33.260
when they get out
into the environment,

00:16:33.327 --> 00:16:35.462
they never break down.

00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:38.598
And so the problem is
not only do these chemicals

00:16:38.666 --> 00:16:42.202
get out into our environment
and stay there...

00:16:42.269 --> 00:16:44.137
..they're incredibly toxic

00:16:44.204 --> 00:16:47.740
and they've been found to be
incredibly persistent,

00:16:47.808 --> 00:16:49.342
bio-accumulative

00:16:49.410 --> 00:16:51.477
and, unfortunately
in some situations,

00:16:51.544 --> 00:16:52.746
carcinogenic as well.

00:16:52.814 --> 00:16:56.550
A lot of the information
that has come out over the years

00:16:56.617 --> 00:16:58.952
has focused on
what DuPont was doing

00:16:59.019 --> 00:17:00.687
and what DuPont knew

00:17:00.754 --> 00:17:01.821
about these chemicals

00:17:01.888 --> 00:17:03.423
and how DuPont had covered up

00:17:03.491 --> 00:17:05.525
information about
the health threat here.

00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:09.462
There hasn't been as much
information available

00:17:09.530 --> 00:17:13.767
about what 3M knew
about these chemicals.

00:17:13.835 --> 00:17:16.703
This is the company
that actually created these

00:17:16.770 --> 00:17:20.706
at the beginning.

00:17:20.774 --> 00:17:22.642
GARY: The stakes are enormous

00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:26.646
because it's about holding
to account chemical companies

00:17:26.714 --> 00:17:30.917
that have been responsible
for manufacturing a product

00:17:30.985 --> 00:17:34.988
that has contaminated virtually
everyone and everything

00:17:35.055 --> 00:17:36.823
on the planet

00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:38.591
from here to Australia

00:17:38.658 --> 00:17:41.527
to Europe to China.

00:17:41.594 --> 00:17:59.845
(UNEASY MUSIC)

00:17:59.913 --> 00:18:01.981
WOMAN: We're just
on the northern edge

00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:04.317
of the airfield here.

00:18:04.385 --> 00:18:06.286
We've just had bucket-loads

00:18:06.353 --> 00:18:07.820
of rain falling down

00:18:07.888 --> 00:18:09.355
and now all this foam

00:18:09.423 --> 00:18:12.725
seems to be coming down
the waterways off the base.

00:18:13.561 --> 00:18:23.002
You'd have to say
that would have to be PFAS.

00:18:23.070 --> 00:18:26.339
I've been reporting
on PFAS contamination

00:18:26.407 --> 00:18:28.441
for about eight years now.

00:18:28.509 --> 00:18:30.510
It really is one of those issues

00:18:30.578 --> 00:18:33.146
where every time
you turn the stone over,

00:18:33.213 --> 00:18:37.417
you just find something new.

00:18:37.484 --> 00:18:42.889
This is the only road
that takes you into Wreck Bay.

00:18:42.957 --> 00:18:49.028
We're just approaching
the naval college on our right.

00:18:49.096 --> 00:18:51.398
This is where the majority
of the cadets

00:18:51.465 --> 00:18:53.266
have done their fire training

00:18:53.333 --> 00:18:54.668
and so you'd have to think

00:18:54.735 --> 00:18:56.736
that the majority
of the PFAS contamination

00:18:56.803 --> 00:18:58.705
has come from this area.

00:18:58.773 --> 00:19:00.607
So any training
that they've done here

00:19:00.674 --> 00:19:02.676
is gonna have
flushed down the hill,

00:19:02.743 --> 00:19:07.046
straight towards the village
of Wreck Bay.

00:19:07.114 --> 00:19:09.616
So, really,
in this national park,

00:19:09.683 --> 00:19:12.385
you could not have
a worse possible spot

00:19:12.453 --> 00:19:22.461
to be doing your fire training
with toxic PFAS chemicals.

00:19:22.528 --> 00:19:23.963
(DOG BARKS)

00:19:24.030 --> 00:19:25.331
CARRIE: Hi, Uncle Jack.

00:19:25.399 --> 00:19:27.433
-JACK: Hi, Carrie. How are you?
-CARRIE: Yeah.

00:19:27.501 --> 00:19:29.068
-I'm really well, thanks.
-JACK: Yeah?

00:19:29.136 --> 00:19:30.503
-CARRIE: How are you?
-Good, thank you.

00:19:30.571 --> 00:19:35.809
JACK: I started as a ranger
in 1968.

00:19:35.876 --> 00:19:39.278
I was the first Aboriginal
ranger in the Territory.

00:19:39.346 --> 00:19:43.383
We were doing
all our firefighting modules

00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:46.652
up at the Jervis Bay
Range Facility.

00:19:46.719 --> 00:19:49.021
(UNEASY MUSIC)

00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:51.390
If we wanted to put out
an oil fire,

00:19:51.458 --> 00:19:55.628
we'd have to use the foam
and the water to put it out.

00:19:55.696 --> 00:20:01.400
If we wanted to go into a big,
uh, tank or...or like a cabin,

00:20:01.468 --> 00:20:05.438
we'd have to crawl through
in the water and everything else

00:20:05.506 --> 00:20:09.108
while they had all the smoke
and fire in there.

00:20:09.176 --> 00:20:11.077
And what...what would happen,

00:20:11.144 --> 00:20:13.179
we'd come out all soaking wet

00:20:13.246 --> 00:20:16.016
from the foam
and everything else

00:20:16.083 --> 00:20:20.653
and we'd have to, uh, go
near a fire and dry ourself out.

00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:21.855
-Oh, wow!
-Yeah.

00:20:21.922 --> 00:20:23.490
So you were actually
crawling through water

00:20:23.557 --> 00:20:24.858
that had the foam in it.

00:20:24.925 --> 00:20:26.425
-Is that right?
-Yeah, it had... Yeah. Yeah.

00:20:26.493 --> 00:20:29.295
CARRIE: And did you ever use
anything to protect yourself,

00:20:29.363 --> 00:20:31.264
gloves and things,
when you're handling the foam?

00:20:31.331 --> 00:20:33.199
-UNCLE JACK: No. No. No.
-That kind of thing.

00:20:33.266 --> 00:20:36.202
-We'd just use our bare hands.
-Wild. Oh, wow.

00:20:36.269 --> 00:20:39.839
And with a helmet on.
Not even a...a face mask.

00:20:39.906 --> 00:20:41.341
-Wow.
-And our overalls.

00:20:41.408 --> 00:20:43.442
And our boots. Mmm.

00:20:44.411 --> 00:20:46.912
CARRIE: So, of the firefighters
you worked with,

00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.983
how many are still alive now?

00:20:50.051 --> 00:20:51.917
UNCLE JACK: There'd be only
about eight of us.

00:20:51.985 --> 00:20:54.420
-CARRIE: Wow.
-That I know of.

00:20:54.488 --> 00:20:57.757
The rest of them
have all passed on.

00:20:57.825 --> 00:20:59.091
CARRIE:
And so how many, roughly,

00:20:59.159 --> 00:21:01.327
would you say have passed?

00:21:01.395 --> 00:21:03.729
UNCLE JACK: I'd say...

00:21:03.796 --> 00:21:06.266
..between 20 and 22...

00:21:06.333 --> 00:21:14.140
..hmm, have passed.

00:21:14.207 --> 00:21:16.042
(KNOCK AT DOOR)

00:21:16.110 --> 00:21:19.779
MAN: The navy asked us
if we want to do some training

00:21:19.846 --> 00:21:22.115
up at the aerodrome.

00:21:22.182 --> 00:21:23.650
They said, "We use foam."

00:21:23.717 --> 00:21:25.885
I said, "That's all right."

00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.189
'Cause I didn't know
what was in the foam.

00:21:30.257 --> 00:21:32.826
I've had, uh, prostate cancer,

00:21:32.893 --> 00:21:35.327
which I've had
my prostate removed.

00:21:35.395 --> 00:21:38.397
They found that I had
cirrhosis of the liver.

00:21:38.465 --> 00:21:41.601
Every doctor I've been to,
they've asked me,

00:21:41.668 --> 00:21:44.537
"Are you a heavy drinker?"

00:21:44.604 --> 00:21:46.573
"No, sir.

00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.575
"I'm not a heavy drinker."

00:21:48.642 --> 00:21:50.410
The cancers that you've had,

00:21:50.477 --> 00:21:52.578
are those sort of
any possibility

00:21:52.646 --> 00:21:54.981
that they were
inherited down the line

00:21:55.048 --> 00:21:56.349
like hereditary cancers?

00:21:56.416 --> 00:21:57.517
-No. No.
-No.

00:21:57.584 --> 00:21:59.084
There's no history of it

00:21:59.152 --> 00:22:01.254
in...in my...
you know, my family.

00:22:01.321 --> 00:22:03.389
All these different types of

00:22:03.457 --> 00:22:05.325
deformities and blood disorders

00:22:05.392 --> 00:22:06.959
and...and cancers

00:22:07.026 --> 00:22:08.327
that have come to our community

00:22:08.395 --> 00:22:11.597
can't be just...hereditary

00:22:11.665 --> 00:22:17.537
and it can't be just...you know,
a...a fate of bad luck.

00:22:17.604 --> 00:22:34.153
It has to have come
from something else.

00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:35.622
CARRIE: One of
the biggest stories

00:22:35.689 --> 00:22:37.490
I've ever written in my career

00:22:37.557 --> 00:22:39.258
would have to be
the story I wrote

00:22:39.326 --> 00:22:41.094
about Tartan High School,
Minnesota,

00:22:41.162 --> 00:22:46.399
that was basically on the
doorstep of 3M's headquarters.

00:22:46.466 --> 00:22:48.601
They'd had plants over there

00:22:48.669 --> 00:22:51.437
that were manufacturing PFAS

00:22:51.505 --> 00:22:53.973
and that the PFAS had
contaminated the drinking water.

00:22:54.041 --> 00:22:56.709
So I started googling
the name of this town

00:22:56.777 --> 00:22:59.879
where their headquarters was,
which was called Oakdale,

00:22:59.947 --> 00:23:04.350
and I was just blown away
to see these articles coming up

00:23:04.417 --> 00:23:07.086
about these kids
who were dying of cancer

00:23:07.153 --> 00:23:09.088
at the local high school.

00:23:09.156 --> 00:23:12.324
So I just remember this moment,
it was like a lightning bolt,

00:23:12.392 --> 00:23:15.461
of how...how could this happen,
number one?

00:23:15.529 --> 00:23:18.330
And...and number two,
why was no one talking about

00:23:18.398 --> 00:23:21.033
why all these kids
were dying of cancer

00:23:21.100 --> 00:23:22.435
and...and the potential...

00:23:22.502 --> 00:23:23.903
..no one seemed to have made
that connection

00:23:23.971 --> 00:23:26.439
to the contamination
of the drinking water?

00:23:26.506 --> 00:23:28.608
Most of them had grown up
drinking water

00:23:28.675 --> 00:23:30.476
that was contaminated with PFAS

00:23:30.544 --> 00:23:32.679
and their parents
had even drinking that water

00:23:32.746 --> 00:23:35.081
while they were in utero.

00:23:35.149 --> 00:23:37.950
So once I got over there,
I just went doorknocking.

00:23:38.018 --> 00:23:41.754
So I managed to find, um, a few
names of the kids that had died

00:23:41.822 --> 00:23:43.790
and I went and knocked
on those doors.

00:23:43.857 --> 00:23:46.392
And then it just
spread and spread.

00:23:46.459 --> 00:23:48.828
And by the end of the two weeks,

00:23:48.896 --> 00:23:52.799
I'd managed to find
21 cancer cases at that school

00:23:52.866 --> 00:23:55.902
that all happened
within a 15-year period.

00:23:55.969 --> 00:24:00.440
The types of cancers ranged
from Hodgkin's lymphoma,

00:24:00.507 --> 00:24:02.308
leukemia

00:24:02.375 --> 00:24:03.909
to bone cancer,

00:24:03.976 --> 00:24:05.278
and about six cases

00:24:05.345 --> 00:24:06.845
of brain tumors.

00:24:06.913 --> 00:24:08.347
And, tragically,

00:24:08.415 --> 00:24:09.749
at the time of my visit,

00:24:09.816 --> 00:24:12.351
five of the students
had already passed away

00:24:12.419 --> 00:24:16.088
at a really young age.

00:24:16.155 --> 00:24:18.024
I met a lot of the students.

00:24:18.092 --> 00:24:21.227
And one of the ones
that really stood out to me

00:24:21.294 --> 00:24:23.596
was Amara Strande.

00:24:23.663 --> 00:24:26.799
When I was 15,
I was diagnosed with

00:24:26.867 --> 00:24:29.435
fibrolamellar
hepatocellular carcinoma,

00:24:29.502 --> 00:24:31.704
an incredibly rare liver cancer.

00:24:31.772 --> 00:24:34.373
The chances of being diagnosed
with fibrolamellar

00:24:34.441 --> 00:24:36.175
is 1 in 5 million.

00:24:36.242 --> 00:24:37.977
(ECG BEEPS)

00:24:38.045 --> 00:24:40.013
CARRIE: At the time
that I saw her,

00:24:40.080 --> 00:24:41.848
she'd only just
got out of hospital

00:24:41.915 --> 00:24:44.416
from being in a coma for 33 days

00:24:44.484 --> 00:24:48.121
after her liver tumor
was removed.

00:24:48.188 --> 00:24:51.190
And I remember just
going to her house.

00:24:51.257 --> 00:24:52.658
She was very switched-on

00:24:52.726 --> 00:24:54.226
and she just wanted to know

00:24:54.294 --> 00:24:55.461
everything that I knew

00:24:55.528 --> 00:24:56.462
about PFAS.

00:24:56.529 --> 00:24:57.997
And after I went home,

00:24:58.064 --> 00:24:59.198
she just kept going

00:24:59.265 --> 00:25:00.333
and researching

00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:01.634
and speaking to people.

00:25:01.701 --> 00:25:05.204
And there was just
something about her.

00:25:05.271 --> 00:25:08.641
I had no idea of how significant

00:25:08.708 --> 00:25:12.712
that meeting was gonna be
in the grand scheme of things.

00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:16.049
She didn't have any fear about
going up against

00:25:16.116 --> 00:25:23.789
people who were more powerful
than her.

00:25:23.857 --> 00:25:28.328
ROB: We got involved with 3M
back in 2005.

00:25:28.395 --> 00:25:31.497
That's when these chemicals
were discovered in the water

00:25:31.565 --> 00:25:35.067
outside of their manufacturing
plant in Minnesota by the state.

00:25:35.135 --> 00:25:38.871
You know, we were asked to
come in and help the community,

00:25:38.939 --> 00:25:41.507
who was being exposed
to these chemicals

00:25:41.574 --> 00:25:42.808
in their drinking water.

00:25:42.876 --> 00:25:46.445
Unfortunately, when we...
when we started pursuing

00:25:46.513 --> 00:25:48.213
the litigation in Minnesota,

00:25:48.281 --> 00:25:50.382
one of the first things 3M did

00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:52.919
was go into the local court

00:25:52.986 --> 00:25:55.955
and get a blanket
protective order.

00:25:56.023 --> 00:26:00.326
They essentially were able to
designate every single document

00:26:00.393 --> 00:26:01.760
as confidential.

00:26:02.595 --> 00:26:05.331
So despite the fact
that we were able to see

00:26:05.399 --> 00:26:08.734
these internal studies and
these internal documents of 3M,

00:26:08.802 --> 00:26:11.604
we weren't able to share those
for years.

00:26:11.671 --> 00:26:13.439
And, in fact,
a lot of those documents

00:26:13.507 --> 00:26:17.009
are only just now being
made available to the public.

00:26:17.077 --> 00:26:20.179
And some additional documents
are just now coming out

00:26:20.246 --> 00:26:21.313
through this litigation

00:26:21.381 --> 00:26:26.552
over firefighting foam.

00:26:26.619 --> 00:26:28.287
(SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE)

00:26:28.354 --> 00:26:30.756
So this is the first one

00:26:30.824 --> 00:26:32.758
that sort of shows
the water treatment plant

00:26:32.826 --> 00:26:34.593
and you can see over there
in the end

00:26:34.661 --> 00:26:36.428
it's got the four
ion exchange vessels

00:26:36.496 --> 00:26:38.097
that they've constructed so far.

00:26:38.165 --> 00:26:41.367
Yeah, so our jurors
can see an aerial shot

00:26:41.434 --> 00:26:44.470
of what the whole
treatment plant,

00:26:44.537 --> 00:26:48.641
um, to remove PFAS...looks like.

00:26:48.708 --> 00:26:49.642
(GRIM MUSIC)

00:26:49.709 --> 00:26:51.076
GARY: So a few years back,

00:26:51.143 --> 00:26:52.211
EPA impaneled a group

00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:55.347
of some of the world's
leading scientists and experts

00:26:55.415 --> 00:26:58.451
in the area of
PFAS contamination.

00:26:59.653 --> 00:27:04.623
They concluded that PFOA and
PFOS are likely to cause cancer

00:27:04.691 --> 00:27:12.598
and other human health effects,
in fact.

00:27:12.665 --> 00:27:15.034
And they determined that
"there is no dose

00:27:15.102 --> 00:27:18.504
"below which either chemical
is considered safe".

00:27:18.571 --> 00:27:23.075
In other words,
there is no safe level.

00:27:23.143 --> 00:27:25.277
REPORTER:Now the City of Stuart
is taking several manufacturers

00:27:25.345 --> 00:27:29.481
of the foam to federal court,
including corporate giant 3M,

00:27:29.549 --> 00:27:31.750
claiming 3M knew
but didn't tell the city

00:27:31.818 --> 00:27:33.552
about the toxic
contamination risks.

00:27:33.620 --> 00:27:35.354
Stuart was chosen to represent

00:27:35.421 --> 00:27:36.589
hundreds of communities

00:27:36.656 --> 00:27:37.590
across the country

00:27:37.657 --> 00:27:38.824
who want 3M to pay

00:27:38.892 --> 00:27:40.392
for their
clean-up testing

00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:41.894
and filtration.

00:27:41.962 --> 00:27:45.331
You know, why should the victims
here of this contamination,

00:27:45.399 --> 00:27:48.434
the people that are drinking
this in their homes every day,

00:27:48.501 --> 00:27:50.203
be the ones stuck
with those costs?

00:27:50.270 --> 00:27:52.504
Why should the cities
and the municipalities

00:27:52.572 --> 00:27:54.640
that are now having
to filter this out

00:27:54.707 --> 00:27:56.575
have to be the ones
to pay for this?

00:27:56.643 --> 00:27:58.077
And it's just mind-blowing to me

00:27:58.145 --> 00:28:01.580
that we're... (CHUCKLES)
..having to go to trial

00:28:01.648 --> 00:28:05.918
to get responsibility accepted
for those costs.

00:28:05.986 --> 00:28:08.887
With respect to
firefighting foam specifically,

00:28:08.955 --> 00:28:14.093
as you know, they...they...
they argue that the "end user",

00:28:14.161 --> 00:28:17.129
the firefighters who've been
training with foam,

00:28:17.196 --> 00:28:18.997
um, are at fault.

00:28:19.065 --> 00:28:21.767
Um, and, of course, as you know,
it's mostly used for training

00:28:21.835 --> 00:28:24.237
as opposed to actual fires.

00:28:24.304 --> 00:28:27.306
Um, so most of the contamination
is from training

00:28:27.374 --> 00:28:28.941
where they're not
actually saving lives

00:28:29.009 --> 00:28:32.745
in any way, shape or form.

00:28:32.812 --> 00:28:34.380
So in this litigation

00:28:34.448 --> 00:28:37.683
which is being seen
by Judge Richard Gergel

00:28:37.750 --> 00:28:41.154
in Charleston, South Carolina,
in federal court,

00:28:41.221 --> 00:28:42.855
all of the cases
across the country

00:28:42.922 --> 00:28:44.490
have been consolidated
before him

00:28:44.558 --> 00:28:47.860
and he's decided that the water
provider cases should go first

00:28:47.927 --> 00:28:50.930
and he's picked one
to start with.

00:28:50.997 --> 00:28:52.832
REPORTER:The city
wants to be awarded

00:28:52.899 --> 00:28:54.400
more than $100 million

00:28:54.468 --> 00:28:56.235
to cover what has already
been spent on projects

00:28:56.303 --> 00:28:58.337
like a multimillion-dollar
treatment plant

00:28:58.404 --> 00:28:59.772
and filtration system,

00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:01.307
keeping the levels
of the chemicals

00:29:01.375 --> 00:29:09.982
undetectable or below
the health advisory limit.

00:29:10.050 --> 00:29:12.718
GARY: The story
that we put together

00:29:12.785 --> 00:29:15.221
really started, um, years ago.

00:29:15.288 --> 00:29:16.889
In the course of
what we call discovery,

00:29:16.956 --> 00:29:19.258
the defendants and 3M

00:29:19.326 --> 00:29:20.927
and the other
defendant companies,

00:29:20.994 --> 00:29:22.361
manufacturers of PFAS,

00:29:22.428 --> 00:29:23.796
were required by court order

00:29:23.863 --> 00:29:26.031
to start producing
their internal files,

00:29:26.099 --> 00:29:28.868
anything that had
and that was related to PFAS

00:29:28.935 --> 00:29:31.703
or aqueous film forming foam.

00:29:31.771 --> 00:29:34.574
And over the course
of the next four years,

00:29:34.641 --> 00:29:41.847
they produced about
37 million pages of documents.

00:29:41.915 --> 00:29:44.850
And from that we were able
to pick out those documents

00:29:44.918 --> 00:29:47.553
that really told a story

00:29:47.620 --> 00:29:51.490
and it really starts in 1975.

00:29:51.558 --> 00:29:55.527
If I were to give it a name
in this whole longer timeline,

00:29:55.595 --> 00:29:57.162
this early part of the timeline,

00:29:57.230 --> 00:30:01.700
I would call 'The Shit
Hits the Fan - Part 1'.

00:30:01.768 --> 00:30:08.741
(TENSE MUSIC)

00:30:08.808 --> 00:30:11.476
(MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

00:30:11.544 --> 00:30:15.881
WOMAN: A, B. A, B common mark.

00:30:15.949 --> 00:30:22.922
This is, uh,
so incredibly fucked and evil.

00:30:22.989 --> 00:30:24.623
(READS) "In the summer of 1975,

00:30:24.690 --> 00:30:26.058
"Dr Warren Guy,

00:30:26.126 --> 00:30:29.662
"a toxicologist and professor
at the University of Florida,

00:30:29.730 --> 00:30:33.299
"calls 3M's corporate
headquarters concerning research

00:30:33.366 --> 00:30:37.403
"he and Dr Donald Taves,
a toxicologist and professor,

00:30:37.471 --> 00:30:40.039
"are planning to present
at a symposium

00:30:40.106 --> 00:30:44.343
"organized by
the American Chemical Society.

00:30:44.411 --> 00:30:48.213
"Dr Guy and Dr Taves
have discovered the presence

00:30:48.281 --> 00:30:52.084
"of an unidentified organic
fluorine chemical compound

00:30:52.152 --> 00:30:55.887
"in human blood..."

00:30:55.955 --> 00:31:01.394
"..obtained from the blood banks
in five US cities."

00:31:01.461 --> 00:31:03.329
NED: Imagine
these two outside researchers

00:31:03.396 --> 00:31:05.264
found this fingerprint
on a crime scene

00:31:05.332 --> 00:31:07.132
but they didn't know
who to match it to.

00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:08.801
They could tell some things
about it.

00:31:08.868 --> 00:31:10.202
They could tell it was 8-chain,

00:31:10.270 --> 00:31:11.970
they could tell
it was fluorinated,

00:31:12.038 --> 00:31:14.573
and based on that, they knew
that there was this company

00:31:14.641 --> 00:31:17.910
up in Minnesota, 3M,
they made chemicals like that.

00:31:17.977 --> 00:31:22.948
(TENSE MUSIC)

00:31:23.016 --> 00:31:26.318
GARY: They contacted 3M
and asked them,

00:31:26.386 --> 00:31:29.955
"Hey, we found
this funny-looking compound

00:31:30.023 --> 00:31:32.057
"that's not known in nature."

00:31:32.125 --> 00:31:35.627
And this is the actual
telephone memo

00:31:35.695 --> 00:31:37.029
from that...of that call

00:31:37.096 --> 00:31:39.164
on August 20, 1975.

00:31:39.232 --> 00:31:42.034
And it begins,
"Dr Guy called again

00:31:42.101 --> 00:31:44.069
"to see if we had
any further ideas

00:31:44.137 --> 00:31:48.941
"as to the possible sources
of the fluorocarbon."

00:31:49.008 --> 00:31:53.278
Then they literally
pled ignorance.

00:31:53.346 --> 00:31:56.048
But the internal documents
have since revealed

00:31:56.115 --> 00:31:58.184
3M did its own analysis

00:31:58.251 --> 00:31:59.785
and was able to confirm,

00:31:59.852 --> 00:32:02.221
yes, this was 3M's stuff

00:32:02.288 --> 00:32:04.923
that was being found in
the general population's blood.

00:32:04.991 --> 00:32:06.325
GARY: They had known internally

00:32:06.393 --> 00:32:09.494
that what these two scientists
had stumbled on

00:32:09.562 --> 00:32:11.530
was actually PFOS,

00:32:11.597 --> 00:32:13.866
which is the one particular PFAS

00:32:13.933 --> 00:32:17.369
that is essentially unique
to 3M.

00:32:17.436 --> 00:32:19.738
(GRIM MUSIC)

00:32:20.774 --> 00:32:23.776
ROB: At that point, 3M started
looking at its own workers

00:32:23.843 --> 00:32:25.077
to try to figure out,

00:32:25.144 --> 00:32:27.446
"Is this getting
into the blood of our workers

00:32:27.514 --> 00:32:29.748
"who are working with
these chemicals?"

00:32:29.816 --> 00:32:33.952
Sure enough, 3M had found this
stuff, this organic fluoride,

00:32:34.020 --> 00:32:35.821
was getting in its own workers.

00:32:35.888 --> 00:32:38.991
They notified one of
their main customers

00:32:39.058 --> 00:32:40.893
for these chemicals, DuPont,

00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:42.628
who was buying PFOA.

00:32:42.696 --> 00:32:47.299
DuPont went out and started
testing its workers in 1978.

00:32:47.367 --> 00:32:50.002
Sure enough,
DuPont found organic fluoride

00:32:50.069 --> 00:32:51.937
getting into its workers
as well.

00:32:52.004 --> 00:32:55.341
So by this point of time,
in the late 1970s,

00:32:55.408 --> 00:32:59.845
both 3M and DuPont
knew these chemicals

00:32:59.912 --> 00:33:03.148
were getting into
general population's blood

00:33:03.216 --> 00:33:07.652
and workers who were exposed.

00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:09.154
NED: Yeah, all hell broke loose.

00:33:09.222 --> 00:33:12.157
They immediately started
all these investigations.

00:33:12.225 --> 00:33:14.360
For example,
they started toxicology testing.

00:33:14.427 --> 00:33:16.728
They went out
and they got a bunch of mice,

00:33:16.796 --> 00:33:18.930
rats, monkeys, guinea pigs,

00:33:18.998 --> 00:33:21.733
and they did a whole slew
of toxicology tests,

00:33:21.801 --> 00:33:23.703
and the results were bad.

00:33:23.770 --> 00:33:26.405
They were vomiting,
there was liver necrosis,

00:33:26.473 --> 00:33:29.241
hemorrhaging in their
gastrointestinal tract,

00:33:29.309 --> 00:33:31.544
tremors, convulsions.

00:33:31.611 --> 00:33:36.382
"20 of the 28 rhesus monkeys
in the study

00:33:36.449 --> 00:33:41.353
"die as a result
of their exposures to PFOS."

00:33:41.421 --> 00:33:43.589
It sent shock waves
within the company.

00:33:43.657 --> 00:33:47.759
They said, "This chemical's now
considered extremely toxic,

00:33:47.827 --> 00:33:49.694
"more toxic than
we ever realized."

00:33:49.762 --> 00:33:51.330
And that, to me, is the evidence

00:33:51.397 --> 00:33:53.198
that that's when they
should have told the EPA.

00:33:53.266 --> 00:33:56.402
But actually what they did
was even worse than that.

00:33:56.469 --> 00:33:58.670
They went out
and they published a paper

00:33:58.737 --> 00:34:00.239
in the journal 'Science',

00:34:00.306 --> 00:34:02.274
which is the most prolific

00:34:02.342 --> 00:34:06.244
and well-respected
scientific journal in existence.

00:34:06.312 --> 00:34:08.614
They published a paper saying
that what Guy and Taves found

00:34:08.682 --> 00:34:10.549
was not a man-made chemical
at all,

00:34:10.617 --> 00:34:13.318
that it was this naturally
occurring compound,

00:34:13.386 --> 00:34:15.954
which, of course,
they knew was a lie.

00:34:16.022 --> 00:34:20.125
"3M concludes that both
PFOA and PFOS have,

00:34:20.193 --> 00:34:23.195
"quote, 'the potential
for widespread distribution

00:34:23.262 --> 00:34:24.496
"'in the environment,'
end quote,

00:34:24.564 --> 00:34:28.200
"because they, quote,
'persist in the environment',

00:34:28.267 --> 00:34:30.068
"thus 'forever chemicals',

00:34:30.136 --> 00:34:33.905
"and that they are
highly mobile in soils,

00:34:33.973 --> 00:34:36.041
"and that therefore waterways

00:34:36.108 --> 00:34:47.619
"would be their ultimate
environmental sink."

00:34:47.687 --> 00:34:50.789
MAN: This was the main beach
that was one of the main places

00:34:50.857 --> 00:34:53.792
where the community caught fish
and sent it to the market.

00:34:53.859 --> 00:34:55.027
That's the creek.

00:34:55.094 --> 00:34:56.561
CARRIE: Right.

00:34:56.628 --> 00:34:57.696
Oh, wow.

00:34:57.763 --> 00:35:00.131
So, my understanding was

00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:02.868
Mary's runs pretty much
from the...the airfield

00:35:02.935 --> 00:35:04.670
all the way down to the beach

00:35:04.738 --> 00:35:06.071
carrying the contamination,
is that right?

00:35:06.138 --> 00:35:07.205
MAN: Yes.

00:35:07.273 --> 00:35:09.341
How often would you come down
growing up?

00:35:09.409 --> 00:35:11.143
I was here practically
every day.

00:35:11.210 --> 00:35:12.411
-Yeah.
-Yeah.

00:35:12.478 --> 00:35:16.548
We not only learned to fish
and surf here, and swim,

00:35:16.616 --> 00:35:18.984
we did a lot of
beachcombing here as well

00:35:19.051 --> 00:35:20.018
when we was kids.

00:35:20.086 --> 00:35:22.020
So that was one of
the activities

00:35:22.088 --> 00:35:24.656
you do when you're living
on the coast.

00:35:24.723 --> 00:35:30.028
(PENSIVE MUSIC)

00:35:30.096 --> 00:35:31.830
(CHILDREN'S VOICES ECHO)

00:35:31.898 --> 00:35:35.367
WOMAN: We, obviously,
grew up right in Wreck Bay,

00:35:35.435 --> 00:35:38.637
and the water
was our favorite place to go.

00:35:38.704 --> 00:35:41.139
We love the ocean.

00:35:41.207 --> 00:35:43.675
Especially at, um, Summercloud,

00:35:43.742 --> 00:35:44.876
swimming there,

00:35:44.944 --> 00:35:46.378
we'd swim in the creek.

00:35:46.446 --> 00:35:47.712
(CHILDREN'S VOICES ECHO)

00:35:47.780 --> 00:35:48.914
There was foam in the creek

00:35:48.981 --> 00:35:51.116
and we would play with it.

00:35:51.183 --> 00:35:56.555
We didn't know what it was.

00:35:56.623 --> 00:36:01.526
SKYE: So I'd just finished
school before I turned 18.

00:36:01.594 --> 00:36:05.997
And then I started getting,
like, really bad headaches,

00:36:06.065 --> 00:36:09.200
and it kind of just
was constant.

00:36:09.268 --> 00:36:12.938
And then I started to lose
my balance a little bit.

00:36:13.005 --> 00:36:14.306
My eyesight s...

00:36:14.373 --> 00:36:16.975
Yeah, that started to get
a bit blurry.

00:36:17.042 --> 00:36:18.877
I think the third time
in one week

00:36:18.944 --> 00:36:20.079
I went to the doctor's again.

00:36:20.147 --> 00:36:23.748
And then she said, "I'm just
gonna book you in for a scan

00:36:23.816 --> 00:36:25.950
"on your head."

00:36:26.018 --> 00:36:28.019
And that's when I met
my surgeons.

00:36:28.087 --> 00:36:29.555
And they came in and he said,

00:36:29.622 --> 00:36:32.324
"You've got a tumor
on your brain stem

00:36:32.391 --> 00:36:34.459
"and we need to remove it."

00:36:34.527 --> 00:36:37.663
So they said,
"It's a slow-growing tumor

00:36:37.730 --> 00:36:40.065
"and there is a chance
of recurrence,

00:36:40.132 --> 00:36:42.668
"but it's also benign."

00:36:42.735 --> 00:36:46.304
JADE: We didn't know anyone
that had brain tumors,

00:36:46.372 --> 00:36:50.309
so we'd never experienced,
like, even knowing someone

00:36:50.376 --> 00:36:52.177
having brain surgery
or anything.

00:36:52.244 --> 00:36:55.847
But I think it hit us harder
the second time

00:36:55.914 --> 00:36:57.750
when she had surgery,

00:36:57.817 --> 00:37:00.852
when we got told,
"Oh, the tumor's come back."

00:37:00.919 --> 00:37:02.087
SKYE: It was daunting,

00:37:02.154 --> 00:37:05.423
but I think I...always said

00:37:05.491 --> 00:37:08.193
I would rather it happen to me
than anyone else,

00:37:08.260 --> 00:37:10.362
'cause I knew
that I could do it.

00:37:10.429 --> 00:37:13.132
And I'm like, "Okay, just have
to push through."

00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:14.533
And then...

00:37:14.600 --> 00:37:16.201
..we found out about Jade,

00:37:16.268 --> 00:37:18.770
which, that, I think,
broke my heart the most.

00:37:18.837 --> 00:37:21.406
Yeah.

00:37:21.474 --> 00:37:24.176
JADE: Well,
I was having migraines,

00:37:24.243 --> 00:37:26.845
like, probably during the period

00:37:26.912 --> 00:37:29.414
that she had her first tumor,

00:37:29.482 --> 00:37:32.518
but then the symptoms got worse.

00:37:32.585 --> 00:37:34.186
And then so me and Mum went in

00:37:34.253 --> 00:37:35.487
and they were like,

00:37:35.555 --> 00:37:41.393
"Oh, you have
a massive brain tumor."

00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:43.228
Then they called Mum and Dad up
for a meeting,

00:37:43.295 --> 00:37:44.996
and they were like,
"So, we found...

00:37:45.064 --> 00:37:46.932
"..like, we seen
the first tumor,

00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:52.304
"but she actually has another
one on the other side as well."

00:37:52.371 --> 00:37:55.206
They were trying to connect it
to Mum and Dad

00:37:55.274 --> 00:37:57.743
to see if anything came up
in their genes

00:37:57.810 --> 00:37:59.911
that would connect to
both of us,

00:37:59.978 --> 00:38:02.114
but they found nothing.

00:38:02.182 --> 00:38:05.084
Even when we've seen, like,
different doctors and stuff

00:38:05.151 --> 00:38:08.019
that I've seen, they're like,
"Oh, where do you live?"

00:38:08.087 --> 00:38:09.220
And I'm like, "Jervis Bay."

00:38:09.288 --> 00:38:11.156
And they'll look at me again
and be like,

00:38:11.223 --> 00:38:13.325
"Oh, do you know about PFAS?"

00:38:13.392 --> 00:38:18.330
(GRIM MUSIC)

00:38:18.397 --> 00:38:19.664
WOMAN: I was 26 years old

00:38:19.732 --> 00:38:24.836
when I was formally diagnosed
with cervical cancer.

00:38:24.903 --> 00:38:26.204
I caught it late,

00:38:26.272 --> 00:38:28.573
so I was inoperable,

00:38:28.641 --> 00:38:31.944
it had already went to
my lymph nodes.

00:38:32.011 --> 00:38:36.515
They said, "You might not
be around by Christmas."

00:38:36.582 --> 00:38:39.818
By 2016, in February,

00:38:39.885 --> 00:38:42.220
I was in remission.

00:38:42.288 --> 00:38:46.091
So here I am, and...

00:38:47.060 --> 00:38:52.631
Yeah, thank goodness
you're still here, darling.

00:38:52.698 --> 00:38:54.899
My brother Rob,
he's lived down here,

00:38:54.967 --> 00:38:56.001
grown up down here -

00:38:56.068 --> 00:38:57.402
heart problems.

00:38:57.470 --> 00:39:00.806
My brother Baldy,
he died of a heart attack.

00:39:00.873 --> 00:39:04.376
And then my other brother,
who's the same age as Rob,

00:39:04.443 --> 00:39:06.178
lives in La Perouse -

00:39:06.245 --> 00:39:07.879
no heart problems.

00:39:07.946 --> 00:39:09.214
No health problems.

00:39:09.281 --> 00:39:11.149
No health problems at all.

00:39:11.216 --> 00:39:16.388
It can't be a coincidence.

00:39:16.455 --> 00:39:18.323
CARRIE: So how old were you

00:39:18.390 --> 00:39:21.293
when you first started
getting sick?

00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:23.562
I had this lump here for years.

00:39:23.629 --> 00:39:26.265
-Wow.
-And I never took notice of it.

00:39:26.332 --> 00:39:27.666
Yeah.

00:39:27.733 --> 00:39:32.470
And I found out that I was sick
with breast cancer.

00:39:32.538 --> 00:39:34.606
CARRIE: There have been
studied overseas

00:39:34.674 --> 00:39:37.342
in places like Taiwan
and Greenland

00:39:37.409 --> 00:39:39.711
that have linked PFAS exposure

00:39:39.779 --> 00:39:42.714
to elevated rates
of breast cancer.

00:39:42.782 --> 00:39:44.816
And what experts have told me

00:39:44.884 --> 00:39:47.619
is that in a community
the size of Wreck Bay

00:39:47.687 --> 00:39:50.322
you'd expect to be seeing
about one breast cancer case

00:39:50.389 --> 00:39:52.090
every five years,

00:39:52.157 --> 00:39:54.593
or three in 15 years.

00:39:54.660 --> 00:39:56.561
So it's been surprising

00:39:56.629 --> 00:39:59.431
to have been given the names
of 10 women in that village

00:39:59.498 --> 00:40:01.266
with breast cancer.

00:40:01.333 --> 00:40:05.837
(PENSIVE MUSIC)

00:40:05.905 --> 00:40:09.007
WOMAN:
Peggy, she was my granddaughter.

00:40:09.074 --> 00:40:10.675
She was a strong woman.

00:40:10.743 --> 00:40:13.879
She was gonna be the next
matriarch of the family.

00:40:13.946 --> 00:40:16.414
They used to think
she was Naomi Campbell

00:40:16.482 --> 00:40:18.083
when she'd walk around
the streets

00:40:18.151 --> 00:40:19.985
and people would turn
their heads every time.

00:40:20.053 --> 00:40:26.458
Peg was beautiful too.
Beautiful spirit.

00:40:26.525 --> 00:40:29.094
I've never, ever
heard her complain.

00:40:29.162 --> 00:40:32.097
'Cause she always wanted to be
strong for everyone, you know?

00:40:32.164 --> 00:40:36.768
(WISTFUL MUSIC)

00:40:36.835 --> 00:40:40.272
Oh.

00:40:40.339 --> 00:40:47.279
(TEARFULLY) Oh, Peg.

00:40:47.346 --> 00:40:53.752
I have my moments.

00:40:53.819 --> 00:40:55.420
She calls out to me at times,

00:40:55.487 --> 00:40:56.888
and I'm here by myself

00:40:56.956 --> 00:41:02.227
and I'll hear this, "Nan!"
if I'm a bit weepy, you know?

00:41:02.294 --> 00:41:04.863
She snaps me out of it. (LAUGHS)

00:41:04.931 --> 00:41:07.132
Lets me know she's all right.

00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:09.601
(WAVES CRASH)

00:41:09.668 --> 00:41:12.504
We know we'll meet up again
one day.

00:41:12.571 --> 00:41:16.341
(SOMBER MUSIC)

00:41:16.408 --> 00:41:18.577
Did she wonder, sort of,
her illnesses,

00:41:18.644 --> 00:41:20.478
about the PFAS and...

00:41:20.546 --> 00:41:24.215
Yeah, well, PFAS
could have played a part in...

00:41:24.283 --> 00:41:26.385
..in Peggy's life.

00:41:27.220 --> 00:41:29.154
Peggy, since she was a kid,
loved oysters,

00:41:29.222 --> 00:41:31.856
so she'd been eating oysters
from this area

00:41:31.923 --> 00:41:34.292
for a long time.

00:41:34.359 --> 00:41:36.628
So every little spot
around here,

00:41:36.695 --> 00:41:38.830
Peggy knew where oysters were.

00:41:38.898 --> 00:41:42.667
And oysters are a...
what you call a filter feeder,

00:41:42.735 --> 00:41:46.004
so they feed out
of all the food nutrients

00:41:46.071 --> 00:41:49.207
in the water.

00:41:49.274 --> 00:41:50.942
And she loved the fish.

00:41:51.009 --> 00:42:00.552
(WISTFUL MUSIC)

00:42:00.619 --> 00:42:03.588
we do know, for sure,

00:42:03.656 --> 00:42:07.159
human studies,
not just animal studies,

00:42:07.226 --> 00:42:11.796
that PFOS is renowned
for raising cholesterol.

00:42:12.999 --> 00:42:16.534
If it's not picked up, we can
expect more arterial disease,

00:42:16.602 --> 00:42:20.872
more kidney disease,
strokes, heart attacks.

00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:23.041
The other thing that PFOS
is famous for

00:42:23.109 --> 00:42:25.610
is its ability
to immunosuppress,

00:42:25.678 --> 00:42:27.645
to reduce people's immunity.

00:42:27.713 --> 00:42:31.616
So immunosuppression
in the '70s, '80s and '90s

00:42:31.684 --> 00:42:33.919
could easily be causing cancers

00:42:33.986 --> 00:42:37.422
in the 2000s and the teens
and the '20s.

00:42:37.490 --> 00:42:40.993
So there's theoretical reasons
why there would be a link

00:42:41.060 --> 00:42:43.761
between this contamination
and...

00:42:44.663 --> 00:42:50.435
..and what I believe to be
a cancer cluster.

00:42:50.503 --> 00:42:53.271
NED: There isn't an ailment
that they haven't tied to this.

00:42:53.338 --> 00:42:55.106
I mean, childhood development,

00:42:55.173 --> 00:42:57.309
immune system response,

00:42:57.376 --> 00:42:58.610
cancers,

00:42:58.677 --> 00:43:00.345
thyroid disease.

00:43:00.412 --> 00:43:01.880
And this was all similar

00:43:01.947 --> 00:43:03.682
to what they saw
back in the '70s

00:43:03.749 --> 00:43:05.116
with those animal studies.

00:43:05.184 --> 00:43:08.853
They saw these same effects
in animals in the '70s

00:43:08.921 --> 00:43:11.055
this was, um...
that we're seeing now in people.

00:43:11.122 --> 00:43:16.961
(UNSETTLING MUSIC)

00:43:17.029 --> 00:43:19.264
"The shocking news
that a proprietary chemical

00:43:19.332 --> 00:43:23.868
"made exclusively by 3M
is toxic and present

00:43:23.936 --> 00:43:26.037
"in the blood
of the general population

00:43:26.105 --> 00:43:30.575
"attracts the attention of 3M's
highest-ranking executives,

00:43:30.642 --> 00:43:33.578
"including CEO
and chairman of the board

00:43:33.645 --> 00:43:36.915
"Mr Lewis Lehr.

00:43:36.982 --> 00:43:39.817
"A May 26, 1978 memo confirms

00:43:39.885 --> 00:43:43.621
"arrangements for a meeting
at 9:30am, July 12

00:43:43.689 --> 00:43:45.657
"in Mr Lehr's conference room.

00:43:45.724 --> 00:43:49.327
"The subject -
fluorochemicals in blood."

00:43:49.394 --> 00:43:50.962
Well, of course
he wants to know,

00:43:51.030 --> 00:43:55.300
because his product is poisoning
the general public

00:43:55.367 --> 00:43:56.734
and the monkeys had died,

00:43:56.802 --> 00:44:01.406
so I'm sure he wants to do
the right thing.

00:44:01.474 --> 00:44:04.543
NED: So they knew they had
an obligation to report.

00:44:04.611 --> 00:44:07.812
So then the next question is,
"Are we required to report?

00:44:07.880 --> 00:44:10.481
"Does this rise to the level
that we're supposed to report?"

00:44:10.549 --> 00:44:13.018
"3M consulted
two outside scientists,

00:44:13.085 --> 00:44:17.255
"Dr Jerry R. Mitchell
and Dr Harold C. Hodge."

00:44:17.323 --> 00:44:19.224
GARY: They referred to him
internally,

00:44:19.292 --> 00:44:21.593
in one of their internal
documents as, quote,

00:44:21.660 --> 00:44:23.194
"Dr Harold C. Hodge,

00:44:23.261 --> 00:44:24.863
"a world-renowned expert

00:44:24.930 --> 00:44:26.865
"in fluorine and fluoride
metabolism."

00:44:26.932 --> 00:44:28.800
So he's not a nobody.

00:44:28.867 --> 00:44:31.169
GARY:Good morning, Mr Gerber.
How are you?

00:44:31.237 --> 00:44:32.937
Good morning.
I'm well, thank you.

00:44:33.005 --> 00:44:37.742
Um, have you ever had
your deposition taken before?

00:44:37.810 --> 00:44:39.110
No, I have not.

00:44:39.177 --> 00:44:39.945
Okay.

00:44:40.012 --> 00:44:41.345
Probably what's most important

00:44:41.413 --> 00:44:43.481
about Mr Gerber's deposition

00:44:43.548 --> 00:44:46.918
is that he wasn't there
as Mr Gerber.

00:44:46.986 --> 00:44:49.387
He was there as what's called
a corporate representative.

00:44:49.454 --> 00:44:51.456
So, in law, you can say,

00:44:51.523 --> 00:44:52.790
"Hey, dear company X,

00:44:52.858 --> 00:44:54.492
"I want to know
what the company knows

00:44:54.559 --> 00:44:56.061
"about X, Y and Z."

00:44:56.128 --> 00:44:57.829
And the company
is then obligated

00:44:57.896 --> 00:45:01.032
to get someone prepared
and knowledgeable on a topic

00:45:01.100 --> 00:45:02.733
and then let you interview them.

00:45:02.801 --> 00:45:05.837
And that's who they put up.
They put up Mr Gerber.

00:45:05.904 --> 00:45:07.739
(GARY READS)
"It should be determined

00:45:07.806 --> 00:45:10.809
"if FC-807 or its metabolites

00:45:10.876 --> 00:45:12.611
"are present in man."

00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:15.446
Does that indicate to you
that, at this point in time,

00:45:15.514 --> 00:45:17.949
3M did not disclose to Dr Hodge

00:45:18.017 --> 00:45:20.151
that they in fact
had information

00:45:20.219 --> 00:45:24.555
indicating that PFOS
was "present in man"?

00:45:24.623 --> 00:45:26.624
I...I guess I can't speak
to the full scope

00:45:26.692 --> 00:45:29.327
of what 3M disclosed
to Dr Hodge.

00:45:29.394 --> 00:45:31.929
Um...

00:45:31.997 --> 00:45:34.699
But, yeah, I...I think that
that's a reasonable reading

00:45:34.766 --> 00:45:36.334
of that sentence.

00:45:36.402 --> 00:45:38.336
GARY:And let's read
this last sentence.

00:45:38.404 --> 00:45:40.472
Dr Hodge wanted the people
who attended this meeting

00:45:40.540 --> 00:45:44.642
to know that, "If the levels
are high and widespread

00:45:44.710 --> 00:45:46.111
"and the half-life is long,

00:45:46.178 --> 00:45:49.314
"we could have
a serious problem."

00:45:50.349 --> 00:45:53.684
If we could just, um,
put the draft meeting minutes

00:45:53.752 --> 00:45:55.820
next to the final
meeting minutes.

00:45:55.888 --> 00:45:58.223
So Dr Hodge
wanted the company to know

00:45:58.290 --> 00:46:00.925
and wanted the official
meeting minutes to reflect

00:46:00.993 --> 00:46:02.961
that if this chemical's
in everyone's blood,

00:46:03.028 --> 00:46:04.896
and if the half-life is long,

00:46:04.963 --> 00:46:06.964
you have a "serious problem".

00:46:07.032 --> 00:46:10.635
And that was removed from
the official meeting minutes,

00:46:10.702 --> 00:46:12.137
wasn't it, sir?

00:46:12.204 --> 00:46:13.938
I...I don't see
that final statement

00:46:14.006 --> 00:46:17.442
in...in the second copy
of the meeting minutes.

00:46:17.509 --> 00:46:23.014
(INTENSE MUSIC)

00:46:23.082 --> 00:46:27.185
Nobody would be
that unscrupulous

00:46:27.253 --> 00:46:29.154
to literally delete something.

00:46:29.221 --> 00:46:31.789
It's like...
it's like Richard Nixon

00:46:31.857 --> 00:46:34.225
and the, uh...
you know, the missing minutes

00:46:34.292 --> 00:46:35.626
from the tape.

00:46:35.694 --> 00:46:37.696
"The day after the meeting
with Dr Hodge,

00:46:37.764 --> 00:46:42.000
"the same nine 3M employees
travel on a 3M company plane

00:46:42.067 --> 00:46:43.301
"to Houston, Texas,

00:46:43.369 --> 00:46:45.970
"to meet with
another external expert,

00:46:46.038 --> 00:46:50.408
"this time,
Dr Jerry R. Mitchell."

00:46:50.476 --> 00:46:54.378
GARY:One of the explicit things
that must always be reported

00:46:54.446 --> 00:46:57.248
is cancer, fair?

00:46:57.316 --> 00:46:59.017
Yeah, there's...
there's a...a strong bias

00:46:59.084 --> 00:47:00.685
towards reporting
in those cases.

00:47:00.752 --> 00:47:01.752
Got it.

00:47:01.820 --> 00:47:03.388
Do me a favor -
turn to page three.

00:47:03.456 --> 00:47:08.993
The third comment he provides to
these individuals at 3M.

00:47:09.061 --> 00:47:11.429
(JON READS) "Some of
the symptoms in animals

00:47:11.496 --> 00:47:12.964
"from these 90-day studies

00:47:13.031 --> 00:47:17.502
"are similar to those observed
with carcinogens."

00:47:17.570 --> 00:47:20.004
GARY:Now look at the final,
and I want you to tell me

00:47:20.072 --> 00:47:24.075
if that has been removed
from the final meeting minutes.

00:47:24.143 --> 00:47:26.410
JON: I do see at the bottom
of page two

00:47:26.478 --> 00:47:28.146
and that top of page three

00:47:28.213 --> 00:47:29.881
there are numbers 1 and 2,

00:47:29.948 --> 00:47:33.451
there's not a number 3.

00:47:33.518 --> 00:47:35.119
"The statement by Dr Mitchell

00:47:35.187 --> 00:47:41.759
"is removed from the final
draft of the meeting minutes."

00:47:41.827 --> 00:47:43.461
This world-renowned expert,

00:47:43.528 --> 00:47:45.029
his conclusion

00:47:45.097 --> 00:47:49.133
was completely deleted
from the final draft.

00:47:49.201 --> 00:47:51.502
It's really like, "Holy shit!"
kind of.

00:47:51.569 --> 00:47:53.004
It was our "Holy shit!" moment.

00:47:53.071 --> 00:47:55.573
-(LAUGHS) Yeah.
-Like, "People do this?!"

00:47:55.641 --> 00:47:59.344
Arguably the most important
sentence of the entire thing.

00:47:59.411 --> 00:48:03.147
The CEO knew. You know,
that's good enough for me.

00:48:03.215 --> 00:48:06.818
This wasn't some obscure
nerd in a corner.

00:48:06.885 --> 00:48:09.053
This was the head of the company

00:48:09.121 --> 00:48:11.956
was aware of this information.

00:48:12.024 --> 00:48:15.660
Total and complete criminal...

00:48:15.727 --> 00:48:18.329
..behavior.

00:48:18.396 --> 00:48:21.099
(GRIM MUSIC)

00:48:21.934 --> 00:48:24.802
GARY:Good morning, Mr Bacon.
How are you this morning?

00:48:24.870 --> 00:48:26.437
Not bad, and you?

00:48:26.504 --> 00:48:27.839
I'm pretty good.

00:48:27.906 --> 00:48:29.207
I'm here to take
your deposition.

00:48:29.274 --> 00:48:30.875
My name's Gary Douglas

00:48:30.942 --> 00:48:32.343
from the law firm
Douglas and London.

00:48:32.411 --> 00:48:34.011
So, and if I understand
correctly,

00:48:34.079 --> 00:48:38.583
you worked for 3M
from 1968 to 2008,

00:48:38.650 --> 00:48:39.584
is that correct?

00:48:39.651 --> 00:48:40.584
Yes.

00:48:40.652 --> 00:48:42.186
Dr Griffith shared with you

00:48:42.254 --> 00:48:43.988
that Taves and Guy
had found PFOS...

00:48:44.056 --> 00:48:45.556
..had been found in the blood

00:48:45.624 --> 00:48:48.559
of non-occupationally exposed
persons in the community.

00:48:48.626 --> 00:48:49.927
He shared that with you

00:48:49.995 --> 00:48:52.863
at this coffee meeting
around the water cooler.

00:48:52.931 --> 00:48:55.133
That's how you first
heard about it, right?

00:48:55.200 --> 00:48:57.368
That's the way I remember it,
right.

00:48:57.436 --> 00:48:59.270
We're sort of learning this
in real time

00:48:59.338 --> 00:49:01.939
as we're taking his deposition

00:49:02.007 --> 00:49:03.908
because we had
no internal documents

00:49:03.975 --> 00:49:05.877
reflecting these
water cooler talks,

00:49:05.944 --> 00:49:07.845
and I was thinking to myself,

00:49:07.913 --> 00:49:09.647
"Should I ask him when?"

00:49:09.715 --> 00:49:13.184
Do you remember when you had
this discussion "over coffee"?

00:49:13.252 --> 00:49:14.685
Let's put it that way.

00:49:14.753 --> 00:49:16.354
I was literally thinking,

00:49:16.422 --> 00:49:18.556
"Well, it had to have been
much later on."

00:49:18.624 --> 00:49:21.426
And he leans forward
into the camera and says...

00:49:22.361 --> 00:49:26.730
Frank Griffith died
in about 1980-something.

00:49:26.798 --> 00:49:28.599
I would assume
it was before then.

00:49:28.666 --> 00:49:29.767
It was kind of shocking

00:49:29.834 --> 00:49:31.802
in that how he was so candid
about it,

00:49:31.870 --> 00:49:34.238
and his guard was down,
you know?

00:49:34.306 --> 00:49:37.775
And I'm sure the lawyers
who were not on camera

00:49:37.842 --> 00:49:39.243
were probably going like,

00:49:39.311 --> 00:49:42.046
"Oh, my God,
what did he just say?"

00:49:42.114 --> 00:49:44.615
'Cause the company line
has always been

00:49:44.682 --> 00:49:47.285
they did not know until 1998.

00:49:47.352 --> 00:49:48.786
I think I put my microphone...

00:49:48.853 --> 00:49:50.354
-..on mute.
-Mute.

00:49:50.422 --> 00:49:54.659
And I looked at Rebecca.
I said, "Did I just hear that?"

00:49:54.726 --> 00:49:56.361
Like, "Are you kidding?"

00:49:56.428 --> 00:49:59.464
They were talking about this
so casually

00:49:59.531 --> 00:50:02.700
around the water cooler,
over coffee, for decades.

00:50:02.768 --> 00:50:04.636
And I think part of the reason
it was so shocking

00:50:04.703 --> 00:50:06.737
is that deposition,
I think, came after

00:50:06.805 --> 00:50:08.439
a number of other depositions

00:50:08.507 --> 00:50:10.408
where we had heard them
basically saying that

00:50:10.476 --> 00:50:13.477
that information, they
learned that right in 1998,

00:50:13.544 --> 00:50:15.212
maybe late 1997.

00:50:15.280 --> 00:50:18.316
So we were totally expecting
him to take the company line,

00:50:18.383 --> 00:50:21.085
indicate the same time line,
and so when he said that,

00:50:21.153 --> 00:50:22.753
I think it really was
kind of like,

00:50:22.821 --> 00:50:26.191
"Did I hear that right?"

00:50:26.258 --> 00:50:27.425
GARY:True or false?

00:50:27.493 --> 00:50:31.929
By 1980, 3M was in possession
of information

00:50:31.997 --> 00:50:35.499
that PFOS
was a bioaccumulative compound

00:50:35.566 --> 00:50:36.967
that was widespread

00:50:37.035 --> 00:50:39.837
in the blood
of the general population,

00:50:39.904 --> 00:50:43.541
and that it killed
rhesus monkeys

00:50:43.608 --> 00:50:45.443
that were exposed to it.

00:50:45.511 --> 00:50:48.813
3M had all that information,
decided not to disclose it

00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:52.450
at that time in 1980, correct?

00:50:52.518 --> 00:50:54.251
Yes, I...I've reviewed documents

00:50:54.319 --> 00:50:57.489
that, uh, you know, after those
studies were conducted,

00:50:57.556 --> 00:50:59.390
uh, that information
was reviewed

00:50:59.458 --> 00:51:01.926
against EPA's
reporting criteria,

00:51:01.993 --> 00:51:04.362
and, uh, the company
made the determination

00:51:04.429 --> 00:51:07.031
that the information was not
substantial risk information

00:51:07.098 --> 00:51:09.934
under TSCA 8(e).

00:51:10.001 --> 00:51:13.304
NED: 3M knew that PFOS
was persistent,

00:51:13.372 --> 00:51:15.707
bioaccumulative and toxic.

00:51:15.774 --> 00:51:18.876
3M knew that it was coming
from their products.

00:51:18.943 --> 00:51:20.711
They knew that they were
the only company

00:51:20.778 --> 00:51:22.179
that made these chemicals.

00:51:22.247 --> 00:51:25.016
They knew they had an obligation
under federal law

00:51:25.083 --> 00:51:26.484
to report such information,

00:51:26.552 --> 00:51:29.086
and yet they told nobody
anything.

00:51:29.154 --> 00:51:34.592
They violated federal law.

00:51:34.659 --> 00:52:01.118
(UNEASY MUSIC)

00:52:01.186 --> 00:52:03.254
While this is taking place,

00:52:03.321 --> 00:52:06.957
they are increasing production
of PFOS,

00:52:07.025 --> 00:52:09.661
or POSF, which is the compound

00:52:09.728 --> 00:52:11.963
that converts to PFOS
in the environment

00:52:12.030 --> 00:52:13.631
and in human blood.

00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:18.636
ROB: In the total grand history
of 3M's production of PFOS,

00:52:18.703 --> 00:52:20.538
something like 90% of it

00:52:20.606 --> 00:52:23.374
was produced after they learned
it was in everyone's blood,

00:52:23.442 --> 00:52:25.142
after they learned it was toxic,

00:52:25.210 --> 00:52:32.350
after they learned it was...
it killed these monkeys.

00:52:32.417 --> 00:52:35.219
There were companies and people

00:52:35.287 --> 00:52:36.520
that knew this was happening,

00:52:36.588 --> 00:52:40.124
that knew the nature
and extent of this threat,

00:52:40.191 --> 00:52:41.792
but did it anyway,

00:52:41.859 --> 00:52:44.595
profited enormously for decades.

00:52:44.662 --> 00:52:46.264
And in the meantime,

00:52:46.331 --> 00:52:49.667
the entire world
has been exposed.

00:52:49.735 --> 00:52:59.076
-(KOOKABURRAS LAUGH)
-(WAVES CRASH)

00:52:59.144 --> 00:53:00.878
Just to the right here,
you'll see

00:53:00.946 --> 00:53:06.017
this is the signs that the
Department of Defence put up.

00:53:06.085 --> 00:53:10.187
(READS) "Mary Creek is currently
being tested for PFAS.

00:53:10.255 --> 00:53:14.358
"As a precaution, Mary Creek
is closed to human use."

00:53:14.426 --> 00:53:16.827
Well, this is one of
our sacred sites.

00:53:16.894 --> 00:53:19.397
This is of great importance.

00:53:19.464 --> 00:53:21.432
As a kid,
oh, we used to come up here

00:53:21.500 --> 00:53:23.133
nearly every weekend,

00:53:23.201 --> 00:53:25.203
swimming in the...
under the falls

00:53:25.270 --> 00:53:27.372
and bathing in the ponds.

00:53:27.439 --> 00:53:29.440
It's devastating.

00:53:29.508 --> 00:53:30.674
It's heart-wrenching.

00:53:31.510 --> 00:53:38.783
(WOMAN SINGS SORROWFULLY
IN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE)

00:53:38.850 --> 00:53:40.751
MAN: Tsss!

00:53:40.818 --> 00:53:43.787
(WOMAN CONTINUES SINGING)

00:53:43.855 --> 00:53:45.489
WOMAN: We sing that song

00:53:45.557 --> 00:53:48.593
'cause that keeps us
culturally connected

00:53:48.660 --> 00:53:51.195
to the land and to the water,

00:53:51.262 --> 00:53:55.366
to the animals, to the sounds.

00:53:55.433 --> 00:53:57.868
And that's how we call out
to our old people,

00:53:57.935 --> 00:53:59.637
to our ancestors.

00:53:59.704 --> 00:54:02.473
(GULLS CRY)

00:54:02.541 --> 00:54:04.509
MAN: Our fish
have been poisoned.

00:54:04.576 --> 00:54:09.580
Our land's been poisoned
and sick.

00:54:09.648 --> 00:54:11.282
WOMAN: If she's sick,
we're sick.

00:54:11.349 --> 00:54:13.917
If she's sad, we're sad.

00:54:13.985 --> 00:54:15.987
If she's hurting, we're hurting.

00:54:16.054 --> 00:54:19.223
(BIRDSONG)

00:54:19.290 --> 00:54:26.264
(WATER TRICKLES GENTLY)

00:54:26.331 --> 00:54:27.965
This one here,

00:54:28.032 --> 00:54:31.402
this is a native sarsaparilla.

00:54:31.469 --> 00:54:32.937
And for us here in this area,

00:54:33.005 --> 00:54:35.273
this is probably
the most important medicine

00:54:35.340 --> 00:54:36.607
that we have here.

00:54:36.675 --> 00:54:38.976
All the stuff that's coming
through the ground here...

00:54:40.012 --> 00:54:43.314
..is directly connected to all
these special plants for us.

00:54:43.381 --> 00:54:44.649
(SOMBER MUSIC)

00:54:44.716 --> 00:54:46.951
This medicine, the knowledge,

00:54:47.019 --> 00:54:50.087
this is the sort of stuff
that's irreplaceable.

00:54:50.154 --> 00:54:55.860
What do we do?

00:54:55.928 --> 00:54:58.096
A lot of our people have gotten
sick from this too, you know?

00:54:58.163 --> 00:55:01.432
So that heartache and the...
the pain and the trauma

00:55:01.499 --> 00:55:03.367
from losing family members,

00:55:03.435 --> 00:55:16.980
that's the stuff that
we'll never get past.

00:55:17.048 --> 00:55:20.284
So I'm finally at the stage now

00:55:20.351 --> 00:55:21.786
of putting the story together.

00:55:21.853 --> 00:55:24.589
The way that I've divided it up
at the moment

00:55:24.656 --> 00:55:26.924
is to look at cultural loss

00:55:26.992 --> 00:55:30.027
being such big issue for
the community of Wreck Bay.

00:55:30.094 --> 00:55:31.462
Then there's health.

00:55:31.529 --> 00:55:33.330
Health stories really run
right through.

00:55:33.398 --> 00:55:34.732
You pretty much talk
to anyone there

00:55:34.800 --> 00:55:36.267
and they'll have a health story.

00:55:36.334 --> 00:55:37.969
And it gets interesting because

00:55:38.036 --> 00:55:40.905
the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare

00:55:40.973 --> 00:55:44.842
keep these mortality statistics
for Australia

00:55:44.909 --> 00:55:46.977
and mortality by town.

00:55:47.044 --> 00:55:49.046
That data covers Jervis Bay,

00:55:49.114 --> 00:55:53.284
which includes Wreck Bay,
where 200 people live,

00:55:53.351 --> 00:55:55.086
and also Jervis Bay Village,

00:55:55.154 --> 00:55:56.954
and that's where a lot of
the community of Wreck Bay

00:55:57.021 --> 00:55:57.989
also live.

00:55:58.056 --> 00:56:02.026
And they showed that Jervis Bay
in several years

00:56:02.094 --> 00:56:06.531
had the highest rate of
years of life lost prematurely

00:56:06.598 --> 00:56:07.899
of anywhere in Australia.

00:56:07.966 --> 00:56:10.300
And is that over
a continued period of time

00:56:10.368 --> 00:56:12.336
that it's showing
this kind of...of...

00:56:12.403 --> 00:56:14.238
It's not a data anomaly?

00:56:14.305 --> 00:56:15.306
Yeah, well, that's right.

00:56:15.373 --> 00:56:16.540
Because I looked into it

00:56:16.608 --> 00:56:18.576
and I found that
there were three years

00:56:18.643 --> 00:56:20.077
over the last 10 years

00:56:20.145 --> 00:56:22.480
where they had the highest rate
in Australia.

00:56:22.547 --> 00:56:23.748
So it wasn't just one year.

00:56:23.815 --> 00:56:25.516
-Sounds really strong.
-Mm.

00:56:25.583 --> 00:56:27.418
And it just goes with
what people in the community

00:56:27.485 --> 00:56:28.586
have told me,

00:56:28.653 --> 00:56:31.489
where they say,
"People don't get old here.

00:56:31.556 --> 00:56:36.793
"It just doesn't happen."

00:56:36.861 --> 00:56:44.836
(SOMBER MUSIC)

00:56:44.903 --> 00:56:46.436
CARRIE: Going down to Wreck Bay

00:56:46.504 --> 00:56:48.906
and meeting with young people
who are very sick,

00:56:48.974 --> 00:56:51.975
it immediately took me back
to Tartan High School

00:56:52.043 --> 00:56:53.377
and what I'd seen there

00:56:53.444 --> 00:56:55.679
because the emotions
that people were having

00:56:55.747 --> 00:56:59.617
and the experiences they
were having were the same.

00:56:59.684 --> 00:57:03.387
It was two identical stories
playing out

00:57:03.454 --> 00:57:04.989
on the opposite side
of the world

00:57:05.057 --> 00:57:07.925
and in completely different
communities,

00:57:07.992 --> 00:57:20.237
but connected.

00:57:20.304 --> 00:57:29.646
(TENSE MUSIC)

00:57:29.714 --> 00:57:32.082
REBECCA: We're still two months
out for the trial to begin

00:57:32.149 --> 00:57:35.186
and it's gonna be a long trial.

00:57:35.254 --> 00:57:37.254
And right now, I think
we're still far enough out

00:57:37.322 --> 00:57:39.923
that I think we're just all
sort of trying to remain calm

00:57:39.991 --> 00:57:43.494
and not, you know, get too...
too overly stressed too soon

00:57:43.561 --> 00:57:44.929
'cause it's a long
road ahead, right?

00:57:44.996 --> 00:57:47.398
GARY: There's always
a lot of pressure,

00:57:47.465 --> 00:57:49.500
but, you know, that's the job.

00:57:49.567 --> 00:57:51.568
They didn't enlist me.
I volunteered.

00:57:51.636 --> 00:57:54.538
So, yeah, there's
definitely pressure.

00:57:54.606 --> 00:57:57.641
-(TENSE MUSIC)
-(BOTH SPEAK INDISTINCTLY)

00:57:57.709 --> 00:58:00.210
GARY: I can't think
of an environmental case

00:58:00.278 --> 00:58:02.113
that is as pervasive as this one

00:58:02.180 --> 00:58:05.316
and as urgent
for our own health and safety.

00:58:06.151 --> 00:58:10.187
And this is where we can
level the playing field

00:58:10.255 --> 00:58:12.990
between the average Joe
and giant corporations.

00:58:13.058 --> 00:58:15.559
Like, in this case,
we're talking about 3M.

00:58:15.627 --> 00:58:17.261
They have tremendous resources.

00:58:17.328 --> 00:58:19.797
And this is a place,
a courtroom,

00:58:19.864 --> 00:58:23.934
where we can level
the playing field.

00:58:24.002 --> 00:58:26.570
They pled their ignorance.
They didn't reveal it.

00:58:26.638 --> 00:58:31.341
But within the confines
in the...of private offices,

00:58:31.409 --> 00:58:33.577
they spoke about it casually.

00:58:33.645 --> 00:58:35.313
And I guess that was
the mentality back then,

00:58:35.380 --> 00:58:38.315
that if you can get away
with it, you get away with it,

00:58:38.382 --> 00:58:42.019
until, um, the 1990s.

00:58:42.086 --> 00:58:46.890
(INTRIGUING MUSIC)

00:58:46.957 --> 00:58:48.159
The person at 3M

00:58:48.226 --> 00:58:50.127
who was in charge
of monitoring worker blood -

00:58:50.195 --> 00:58:51.796
because they were
worried about their workers

00:58:51.863 --> 00:58:53.230
who would work with it,

00:58:53.298 --> 00:58:55.432
those folks had higher levels
of it in their blood

00:58:55.500 --> 00:58:56.967
because they were
working with it -

00:58:57.035 --> 00:59:01.138
and he was sort of overwhelmed
with his job.

00:59:01.205 --> 00:59:03.307
Um...

00:59:03.374 --> 00:59:04.775
His name is Dale Bacon

00:59:04.843 --> 00:59:08.079
and he'd been with the company
for about 40 years.

00:59:08.146 --> 00:59:10.547
This is where it gets
Keystone Kop-ish.

00:59:10.615 --> 00:59:13.217
He went and hired a company, um,

00:59:13.285 --> 00:59:17.421
that was known
not for measuring contaminants

00:59:17.488 --> 00:59:19.490
or compounds in human blood,

00:59:19.557 --> 00:59:22.426
but for measuring, um,

00:59:22.493 --> 00:59:25.329
compounds in racehorses.

00:59:25.396 --> 00:59:26.363
(HORSE WHICKERS)

00:59:26.430 --> 00:59:27.397
NED: We always colloquially

00:59:27.465 --> 00:59:28.999
called him 'Horse Track Jack'.

00:59:29.067 --> 00:59:31.602
He's famous for
catching doping horses,

00:59:31.669 --> 00:59:33.871
you know, like,
horses that are being fed

00:59:33.938 --> 00:59:35.672
medicines they're
not supposed to

00:59:35.740 --> 00:59:39.977
to make them run faster
in horse races.

00:59:40.045 --> 00:59:42.112
It would be funny
if it wasn't so serious.

00:59:42.179 --> 00:59:43.781
(HORSE SNORTS)

00:59:43.848 --> 00:59:46.283
NED: So Dr Henion was helping 3M

00:59:46.351 --> 00:59:50.754
in its program of testing its
workers for PFOS in their blood.

00:59:50.822 --> 00:59:52.723
GARY: What he didn't contemplate

00:59:52.790 --> 00:59:55.826
was that Dr Henion
would do good work.

00:59:55.894 --> 00:59:59.429
And what you do
when you are gonna test

00:59:59.497 --> 01:00:01.699
the levels of PFOS
in the worker blood

01:00:01.766 --> 01:00:04.301
is look for what we call blanks

01:00:04.368 --> 01:00:05.469
to compare it to.

01:00:05.536 --> 01:00:08.072
You got to find
blood from people

01:00:08.139 --> 01:00:10.941
who are not likely to have
been exposed, non-workers.

01:00:11.009 --> 01:00:13.110
And he, of course,
is startled to find

01:00:13.178 --> 01:00:19.883
that there's PFOS in every one
of the samples that he took.

01:00:19.951 --> 01:00:22.352
He didn't just sit
right on his report.

01:00:22.420 --> 01:00:23.921
He picked up the phone.

01:00:23.988 --> 01:00:26.090
And Dr Bacon talked about
this in his deposition -

01:00:26.157 --> 01:00:30.127
he received the phone call
from Dr Henion

01:00:30.194 --> 01:00:31.629
because it was urgent.

01:00:31.696 --> 01:00:33.530
"Hey, buddy, I'm finding

01:00:33.598 --> 01:00:39.603
"your company's chemical
in everybody's blood."

01:00:39.670 --> 01:00:41.738
GARY:He calls
with startling news

01:00:41.806 --> 01:00:45.942
because he was finding
quantifiable levels of PFOS

01:00:46.010 --> 01:00:49.312
not just in the worker blood
that you sent for analysis,

01:00:49.380 --> 01:00:51.515
but in blood of non-3M-workers

01:00:51.583 --> 01:00:57.288
he obtained on his own
from Red Cross-pooled blood,

01:00:57.355 --> 01:00:59.790
the blood bank
at the Red Cross, correct?

01:00:59.857 --> 01:01:07.631
That's, uh... I believe so. Yes.

01:01:07.698 --> 01:01:09.399
NED: Some of
the lawyers within 3M,

01:01:09.467 --> 01:01:11.435
they go to their
head toxicologist,

01:01:11.502 --> 01:01:13.237
this guy Dr John Butenhoff,

01:01:13.305 --> 01:01:16.807
and they say, "Okay, well, how
much is in everyone's blood?"

01:01:16.874 --> 01:01:18.708
And he pulled up the data

01:01:18.776 --> 01:01:20.677
and he said, "There's about
30 parts per billion.

01:01:20.745 --> 01:01:22.913
"That's the average amount
in Americans' blood."

01:01:22.981 --> 01:01:24.748
And they go,
"Okay, what's the safe amount?"

01:01:24.816 --> 01:01:26.884
He goes, "Well, hang on.
Let me do some calculations,"

01:01:26.951 --> 01:01:29.887
And he used data
that they had from the '70s,

01:01:29.954 --> 01:01:31.355
those monkey studies,

01:01:31.423 --> 01:01:34.391
and calculated that a safe
level, in his expert opinion,

01:01:34.458 --> 01:01:36.894
was about 1 part per billion,

01:01:36.961 --> 01:01:38.829
meaning the average American

01:01:38.896 --> 01:01:43.467
had 30 times - 3,000% -
more PFOS in their blood

01:01:43.535 --> 01:01:46.136
than what their head
toxicologist said was safe.

01:01:46.204 --> 01:01:48.939
GARY: There was another
document that we found,

01:01:49.007 --> 01:01:53.810
which was
a draft manuscript, 1998.

01:01:53.878 --> 01:01:56.747
There was a note, a curious
note, that we found on it.

01:01:56.814 --> 01:01:59.350
It's obviously
a Post-it that says,

01:01:59.417 --> 01:02:03.620
"John, now that the -
quote - lid is off,

01:02:03.688 --> 01:02:06.256
"Kris would like
to get this paper out.

01:02:06.323 --> 01:02:07.591
"Any problem?"

01:02:07.658 --> 01:02:08.825
We never understood that.

01:02:08.893 --> 01:02:10.660
"The lid is off?
The lid is off what?"

01:02:10.728 --> 01:02:13.897
And I remember
I was riding in my car

01:02:13.965 --> 01:02:15.933
and I got a call from Rob Bilott

01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:19.303
and he said, "Gary...

01:02:19.371 --> 01:02:22.573
"..don't forget
to use the document

01:02:22.640 --> 01:02:24.208
"about 'the lid is off',"

01:02:24.275 --> 01:02:27.311
and I said, "Rob,
what are you talking about?"

01:02:27.379 --> 01:02:30.046
And he said, "You know,
the one with the Post-it

01:02:30.114 --> 01:02:33.216
"that says 'Now that the lid
is off, it's okay to publish',"

01:02:33.283 --> 01:02:36.253
and that...it hit me.

01:02:36.320 --> 01:02:37.521
"I get it now!

01:02:37.589 --> 01:02:40.824
"That's what...that's where
that piece of the puzzle fits."

01:02:40.892 --> 01:02:42.793
It's just a consciousness
of what they were doing.

01:02:42.860 --> 01:02:43.894
Mm-hm, yeah.

01:02:43.961 --> 01:02:45.929
It wasn't, "Oh, my God!

01:02:45.997 --> 01:02:48.933
"I can't believe that our
product is in everyone's blood!

01:02:49.000 --> 01:02:50.334
"What should we do?"

01:02:50.402 --> 01:02:53.904
"Now that the lid is off,"
suggests, you know, a cover-up.

01:02:53.971 --> 01:02:55.472
"Gee, the lid is off.

01:02:55.539 --> 01:02:56.973
"I guess we gotta
come clean now."

01:02:57.041 --> 01:02:59.810
And that's when they decided
to finally tell the EPA

01:02:59.877 --> 01:03:01.678
what they've known
for 23 years -

01:03:01.746 --> 01:03:06.817
that it was in everyone's blood.

01:03:06.884 --> 01:03:10.387
It was in May of 1998
they told the EPA,

01:03:10.454 --> 01:03:12.856
and promptly after that,

01:03:12.924 --> 01:03:15.392
the EPA said, "Okay, well,
you're out of the business.

01:03:15.459 --> 01:03:16.994
"You can't make this anymore."

01:03:17.061 --> 01:03:18.662
It took them four years to do it

01:03:18.730 --> 01:03:21.031
and during that four years,
they increased production,

01:03:21.099 --> 01:03:23.634
during that four years, they
sent letters to the customers

01:03:23.702 --> 01:03:27.037
encouraging them to buy more
before they quit selling it.

01:03:27.105 --> 01:03:28.439
It was like
a going-out-of-business sale.

01:03:28.506 --> 01:03:30.708
It wasn't like,
"Oh, no, this is so bad."

01:03:31.910 --> 01:03:34.211
WOMAN:Do you solemnly swear the
testimony you're about to give

01:03:34.279 --> 01:03:36.847
to be the truth, the full truth
and nothing but the truth?

01:03:36.914 --> 01:03:38.348
Yes, I do.

01:03:38.415 --> 01:03:39.450
NED: That deposition

01:03:39.517 --> 01:03:42.419
was the very first deposition
we took in the case

01:03:42.486 --> 01:03:44.955
and we were so startled

01:03:45.022 --> 01:03:47.190
by how well that deposition went

01:03:47.258 --> 01:03:50.127
and how honest he was
and how forthright he was

01:03:50.194 --> 01:03:52.896
and I think it was because
it was over Zoom.

01:03:52.964 --> 01:03:54.831
It was because
he didn't have his lawyers

01:03:54.899 --> 01:03:57.668
there with him, you know,
at the conference table.

01:03:57.735 --> 01:03:59.069
He was in his home.

01:03:59.137 --> 01:04:01.271
I think he was in his kitchen,
at his home,

01:04:01.339 --> 01:04:04.274
and was just being frank and
honest with us and it was a...

01:04:04.342 --> 01:04:09.246
You know...you know, the results
speak for themselves.

01:04:09.314 --> 01:04:12.016
NED:And in each
and every one of these media

01:04:12.083 --> 01:04:13.817
all around the world,

01:04:13.884 --> 01:04:15.686
in Dr Butenhoff's opinion,

01:04:15.753 --> 01:04:17.488
the source of PFOS

01:04:17.555 --> 01:04:20.524
is more likely
than not 3M, correct?

01:04:20.591 --> 01:04:22.092
Thank you for the logo.

01:04:22.160 --> 01:04:24.160
Uh, yes, I mean, I...

01:04:24.228 --> 01:04:27.698
Other than the fact that there
might be some manufacturing,

01:04:27.766 --> 01:04:32.836
I think that more likely
than not the source is 3M, yes.

01:04:32.903 --> 01:04:34.438
He basically acknowledged

01:04:34.506 --> 01:04:38.275
that if you find a molecule of
PFOS anywhere on planet Earth,

01:04:38.342 --> 01:04:39.776
3M made it.

01:04:39.844 --> 01:04:42.346
Now, we've known that.
We know we can prove it.

01:04:42.413 --> 01:04:46.183
But just to have a head
scientist within the company

01:04:46.250 --> 01:04:48.018
just admit it in black-and-white

01:04:48.085 --> 01:04:50.654
and even use the legal buzzwords
"more likely than not",

01:04:50.722 --> 01:05:11.408
that's the standard of proof
we have here in the States.

01:05:11.476 --> 01:05:13.110
A settlement could
be reached this month

01:05:13.177 --> 01:05:15.545
in a court case
involving a corporate giant

01:05:15.612 --> 01:05:16.947
in the City of Stuart.

01:05:17.014 --> 01:05:18.882
A lawsuit claims
that, for decades,

01:05:18.949 --> 01:05:20.784
a toxic forever chemical

01:05:20.851 --> 01:05:22.886
tied to health issues,
including cancer,

01:05:22.954 --> 01:05:26.022
was pouring into the city's
groundwater and drinking water.

01:05:26.090 --> 01:05:28.325
And now the city is
the face of a national fight

01:05:28.393 --> 01:05:30.527
to have the manufacturer
pay for the clean-up

01:05:30.595 --> 01:05:33.363
that hundreds of communities
have to tackle.

01:05:33.431 --> 01:05:36.400
GARY: And if we can prove
the City of Stuart

01:05:36.467 --> 01:05:39.136
is entitled to be compensated,
then what does that say

01:05:39.203 --> 01:05:41.504
about what New York City
is entitled to

01:05:41.572 --> 01:05:42.906
or cities like Miami

01:05:42.973 --> 01:05:45.775
who happens to be
very heavily contaminated?

01:05:45.843 --> 01:05:50.080
So that's what
this first case is about.

01:05:50.147 --> 01:05:53.316
For me, it's sort of, I guess,
the pinnacle of my career.

01:05:53.384 --> 01:05:55.452
(LAUGHS) I'm getting
a little too old for this,

01:05:55.520 --> 01:05:58.622
but I can't see anything
that's more important

01:05:58.690 --> 01:06:02.292
than seeing this through
and seeing that justice is done

01:06:02.360 --> 01:06:05.695
and the parties responsible
for contaminating our planet

01:06:05.763 --> 01:06:11.668
are held responsible.

01:06:11.735 --> 01:06:21.445
(BIRDSONG)

01:06:21.512 --> 01:06:23.480
REBECCA: Our anticipation
is that we will be

01:06:23.548 --> 01:06:25.382
picking a jury
starting this morning

01:06:25.450 --> 01:06:29.319
and be here for
at least five weeks.

01:06:29.387 --> 01:06:35.359
GARY: We have been in the final
laps of a very long marathon.

01:06:35.426 --> 01:06:37.594
(PEOPLE CHATTER INDISTINCTLY)

01:06:37.661 --> 01:06:39.997
MAN: Okay, great. Here we go.

01:06:40.065 --> 01:06:44.401
GARY: And we were literally at
the proverbial courthouse steps

01:06:44.469 --> 01:06:47.771
when we were told that there
was something in the works.

01:06:47.838 --> 01:07:05.255
(TENSE MUSIC)

01:07:05.323 --> 01:07:11.962
(LOW MOMENTOUS MUSIC)

01:07:12.029 --> 01:07:13.363
GARY: I guess we all thought

01:07:13.431 --> 01:07:15.833
we'd be in the middle
of jury selection right now

01:07:15.900 --> 01:07:18.902
and I know everybody
has that bittersweet feeling.

01:07:18.970 --> 01:07:23.940
We've all been working so hard
and, uh, we were ready.

01:07:24.008 --> 01:07:26.075
You know, this is what
this case is all about

01:07:26.143 --> 01:07:28.245
and, you know, this was one of
the demonstratives

01:07:28.312 --> 01:07:29.813
who we were gonna use.

01:07:29.880 --> 01:07:32.015
I was gonna say to our jurors

01:07:32.082 --> 01:07:36.619
that they are looking at...
an image,

01:07:36.687 --> 01:07:38.922
a model of a molecule,

01:07:38.989 --> 01:07:40.524
a speck of matter

01:07:40.591 --> 01:07:44.328
that neither God nor nature
brought into this world

01:07:44.395 --> 01:07:46.396
and this molecule was man-made

01:07:46.464 --> 01:07:49.132
and man-made by one company
and one company alone,

01:07:49.200 --> 01:07:50.701
the 3M company.

01:07:50.768 --> 01:07:53.637
And I know
it's frustrating for everybody

01:07:53.705 --> 01:07:56.973
that we're unable
to tell that story.

01:07:57.041 --> 01:08:00.310
I know that you're all
conscientious lawyers,

01:08:00.378 --> 01:08:01.845
environmental lawyers

01:08:01.913 --> 01:08:04.781
and I know that each
and every one of you here today

01:08:04.848 --> 01:08:07.150
worked hard to bring that story

01:08:07.218 --> 01:08:09.619
and I want to thank you all
for your hard work.

01:08:09.687 --> 01:08:11.655
The reason that we're all
in this room here today

01:08:11.723 --> 01:08:14.924
and the reason that 3M ran
from the court is because of us.

01:08:14.992 --> 01:08:16.559
They weren't afraid of the EPA.

01:08:16.627 --> 01:08:19.229
They weren't afraid of lying
to regulators around the world

01:08:19.296 --> 01:08:20.931
or lying to the military.

01:08:20.999 --> 01:08:24.401
They were willing to do anything
to protect their pocketbook

01:08:24.468 --> 01:08:25.969
and the fact is
is that

01:08:26.036 --> 01:08:27.938
this is what made them
worried about that.

01:08:28.005 --> 01:08:29.405
It was a team effort

01:08:29.473 --> 01:08:32.342
and I couldn't be prouder to be
part of it, so thank you all.

01:08:32.410 --> 01:08:36.579
(PEOPLE CHATTER QUIETLY)

01:08:36.647 --> 01:08:38.949
REBECCA: There's a bit of a
shock value going on right now.

01:08:39.017 --> 01:08:41.551
We've been obviously working
for years to put it together,

01:08:41.619 --> 01:08:45.255
so it was sort of the moment
of getting that opportunity.

01:08:45.322 --> 01:08:49.826
It was gonna be the big...
sort of the big day.

01:08:49.894 --> 01:08:54.564
Even though someone
can be given monetary value

01:08:54.632 --> 01:08:58.201
to help address whatever problem
they're claiming or alleging,

01:08:58.269 --> 01:09:00.337
it doesn't totally make you feel

01:09:00.404 --> 01:09:02.339
like justice was done
all the time

01:09:02.406 --> 01:09:04.240
if you don't get the actual...

01:09:04.308 --> 01:09:06.876
..get to put the actual conduct
on trial.

01:09:06.944 --> 01:09:21.191
(SOFT SOMBER MUSIC)

01:09:21.258 --> 01:09:23.059
GARY: They got away with it.

01:09:23.127 --> 01:09:24.828
We didn't get to tell the story.

01:09:24.896 --> 01:09:28.331
I almost feel, like, dirty.
It's like hush money.

01:09:28.399 --> 01:09:31.435
But I have an obligation
to our clients.

01:09:31.502 --> 01:09:33.970
I think their decision to settle

01:09:34.037 --> 01:09:35.672
it has a lot to do with the fact

01:09:35.740 --> 01:09:40.543
that they really were afraid
of even an opening statement

01:09:40.611 --> 01:09:46.516
and their dirty laundry was
about to be aired in a big way.

01:09:46.584 --> 01:09:50.420
We know 3M will,
to their last breath,

01:09:50.488 --> 01:09:53.256
take the position
that PFAS is harmless

01:09:53.324 --> 01:09:57.961
at the levels found in blood
and in the environment.

01:09:58.028 --> 01:09:59.863
But even still,

01:09:59.931 --> 01:10:24.153
people have a right
to know it's in them.

01:10:24.221 --> 01:10:25.756
ROB: Right now
we're dealing with,

01:10:25.823 --> 01:10:28.625
really, global
contamination problems.

01:10:28.693 --> 01:10:31.127
These PFAS chemicals
have been used

01:10:31.195 --> 01:10:34.063
in such an incredible array
of products

01:10:34.131 --> 01:10:36.466
over the last 70 to 80 years.

01:10:37.301 --> 01:10:39.402
Stain-resistant
waterproof clothing,

01:10:39.470 --> 01:10:43.540
carpeting, fast-food wrappers
and packaging, cosmetics,

01:10:43.607 --> 01:10:46.309
things that are waterproof,
things that are greaseproof,

01:10:46.377 --> 01:10:48.211
things that are non-stick.

01:10:48.279 --> 01:10:51.848
These chemicals have been used
in so many different products,

01:10:51.916 --> 01:10:54.417
you're really dealing
with global contamination

01:10:54.485 --> 01:10:58.688
on an unprecedented scale.

01:10:58.756 --> 01:11:01.891
MARK: It's in the water.
It's in the air.

01:11:01.958 --> 01:11:03.893
It's in the food.

01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:05.295
It's everywhere.

01:11:05.362 --> 01:11:06.696
There's nothing you can do

01:11:06.764 --> 01:11:08.264
without coming
into contact with it.

01:11:08.332 --> 01:11:11.334
It's...it's intense, man.
It's huge.

01:11:11.402 --> 01:11:27.817
(SOLEMN VOCAL MUSIC)

01:11:27.884 --> 01:11:30.787
My name is Amara Strande

01:11:30.854 --> 01:11:32.322
I'm 20 years old.

01:11:32.389 --> 01:11:35.525
And at the age of 15,
I was diagnosed

01:11:35.593 --> 01:11:39.329
with stage IV fibrolamellar
hepatocellular carcinoma.

01:11:39.396 --> 01:11:43.600
Growing up,
I lived in the 3M plume

01:11:43.667 --> 01:11:46.035
and attended
Tartan Senior High School

01:11:46.103 --> 01:11:48.304
where I met many classmates

01:11:48.372 --> 01:11:50.507
that were also
directly affected by cancer

01:11:50.574 --> 01:11:53.109
as a result of what
we now understand

01:11:53.176 --> 01:11:55.812
these chemicals to be - PFAS.

01:11:55.880 --> 01:11:58.081
CARRIE: I never realized
that meeting with her

01:11:58.148 --> 01:12:00.149
would have this ripple effect.

01:12:00.217 --> 01:12:02.986
She went to the lawmakers
in Minnesota

01:12:03.054 --> 01:12:06.823
and she tried to convince them
to ban PFAS

01:12:06.890 --> 01:12:08.357
and it worked.

01:12:08.425 --> 01:12:12.962
Corporations must stop
the production of these toxins

01:12:13.029 --> 01:12:14.397
and be held accountable

01:12:14.465 --> 01:12:17.067
and pay for the damage
they've done.

01:12:17.135 --> 01:12:22.372
We need stricter regulations
on the use of PFAS chemicals

01:12:22.439 --> 01:12:24.273
and more research to be done

01:12:24.341 --> 01:12:27.410
on the long-term effects
of exposure.

01:12:27.478 --> 01:12:30.780
We also need more education
for the public...

01:12:30.848 --> 01:12:32.916
-(SPEECH FADES)
-(MUSIC CONTINUES)

01:12:32.984 --> 01:12:36.887
MAN: This spring, she was
asked to speak truth to power

01:12:36.954 --> 01:12:40.390
by testifying before
legislative committees

01:12:40.457 --> 01:12:42.692
about her experience
of having cancer

01:12:42.760 --> 01:12:46.529
to give reasons why
the use of forever chemicals

01:12:46.597 --> 01:12:50.433
should be banned
or greatly reduced in products.

01:12:50.501 --> 01:12:53.937
We have been told
that her testimonies

01:12:54.005 --> 01:12:59.041
were key in getting
the legislation passed.

01:12:59.109 --> 01:13:00.576
CARRIE: It's called Amara's Law,

01:13:00.644 --> 01:13:03.112
and Minnesota has become
the first place in the world

01:13:03.180 --> 01:13:05.081
to enact laws to ban PFAS.

01:13:05.149 --> 01:13:08.785
And that's not just banning,
like, one or two kinds of PFAS.

01:13:08.853 --> 01:13:11.888
They're trying to eliminate
PFAS altogether there.

01:13:11.955 --> 01:13:24.167
(EMOTIVE MUSIC)

01:13:24.235 --> 01:13:27.771
CARRIE: I hope people that read
the Wreck Bay stories,

01:13:27.838 --> 01:13:30.607
that they can
connect to the love

01:13:30.674 --> 01:13:32.341
that the Wreck Bay people have

01:13:32.409 --> 01:13:36.112
for their land
and for their culture...

01:13:36.180 --> 01:13:38.648
..because unless you can
feel that and understand,

01:13:38.716 --> 01:13:41.284
you can't really understand
what they've lost

01:13:41.351 --> 01:13:43.319
and you can't understand
the devastation

01:13:43.387 --> 01:13:46.222
that these chemicals
have caused.

01:13:46.289 --> 01:13:47.624
I hope it lands with the impact

01:13:47.691 --> 01:13:50.694
that we feel like
the story deserves.

01:13:50.761 --> 01:14:22.592
(EMOTIVE MUSIC CONTINUES)

01:14:22.659 --> 01:14:24.594
JAMES: When our
physical bodies die

01:14:24.661 --> 01:14:26.663
and we go back into the mother,

01:14:26.730 --> 01:14:29.666
all that water
that's inside of us

01:14:29.733 --> 01:14:31.601
goes back to the mother as well

01:14:31.668 --> 01:14:34.337
and we drink that water

01:14:34.404 --> 01:14:37.707
and our ancestors
live inside of us.

01:14:38.542 --> 01:14:44.080
But now that PFAS
has poisoned that water...

01:14:44.147 --> 01:14:45.481
..they don't just poison us.

01:14:45.549 --> 01:14:47.150
They poison our ancestors...

01:14:48.052 --> 01:14:50.820
..and everything
that's connected to ngadjung,

01:14:50.887 --> 01:15:42.205
or to our water.

01:15:42.273 --> 01:16:06.863
('DEEP IN THE WATER'
BY THE GARY DOUGLAS BAND)

01:16:06.930 --> 01:16:10.567
♪ Man-made chemicals are

01:16:10.634 --> 01:16:16.906
♪ Poisoning the Earth

01:16:16.974 --> 01:16:20.176
♪ Chemists move molecules around

01:16:20.243 --> 01:16:26.850
♪ Like we move furniture

01:16:26.917 --> 01:16:29.652
♪ After we're dead and gone

01:16:29.720 --> 01:16:36.926
♪ It will be here
a million years

01:16:36.994 --> 01:16:40.329
♪ We'll all be dead and gone

01:16:40.397 --> 01:16:44.567
♪ We cried a billion tears

01:16:44.634 --> 01:16:47.169
♪ Those tears are flowing

01:16:47.237 --> 01:16:51.173
♪ Deep in the water

01:16:51.241 --> 01:16:55.912
♪ Flowing deep in the water

01:16:55.979 --> 01:17:00.884
♪ Flowing deep in the water

01:17:00.951 --> 01:17:06.255
♪ Flowing deep in the water

01:17:06.322 --> 01:17:08.725
♪ A devil with your suit and tie

01:17:08.792 --> 01:17:14.530
♪ I know your wicked little game

01:17:14.598 --> 01:17:16.599
♪ And we're rising up from

01:17:16.666 --> 01:17:20.703
♪ Deep in the water

01:17:20.771 --> 01:17:25.608
♪ Rising deep in the water

01:17:25.675 --> 01:17:29.145
♪ Sing it now,
brothers and sisters

01:17:29.212 --> 01:17:31.447
♪ Sons and daughters

01:17:31.514 --> 01:17:33.783
♪ The truth is lying

01:17:33.850 --> 01:17:46.228
♪ Deep in the water

01:17:46.296 --> 01:17:48.531
♪ The truth is rising up

01:17:48.598 --> 01:17:50.933
♪ The truth is rising up from

01:17:51.001 --> 01:17:55.805
♪ Deep in the water,
deep in the water

01:17:55.872 --> 01:17:58.340
♪ The truth is rising up

01:17:58.408 --> 01:18:01.210
♪ The truth is rising up from

01:18:01.277 --> 01:18:04.747
♪ Deep in the water... ♪

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How to Poison a Planet

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