ECU Voyages to feature environmental lawyer who inspired ‘Dark Waters’
ECU’s next virtual Voyages of Discovery Series event on climate, water and the environment will feature the attorney who inspired the 2019 movie “Dark Waters.” (Contributed photo by KepplerSpeakers.com)
East Carolina University’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences continues its virtual season of the Voyages of Discovery Series on Feb. 4 with a free, livestreamed event featuring environmental attorney Robert Bilott.
Bilott, who is the inspiration behind the 2019 critically acclaimed film “Dark Waters,” starring Academy Award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo, will discuss “Dark Waters: The Story Behind the Environmental Legal Battle Exposing Corporate Coverup.”
In conjunction with Bilott’s presentation, a free, online viewing of the movie will be available Feb. 2-3 to individuals with an ECU username and password. Links to view the movie and register to attend Bilott’s talk will appear on the Voyages website several days prior to the events.
“The story of Mr. Bilott’s years-long court battles in protecting everyday people from toxic pollution is truly compelling,” said Dr. Allison S. Danell, dean of Harriot College.
Bilott was a corporate defense attorney for eight years before he took on his epic 20-year legal battle against DuPont.
In a 2016 article, The New York Times called Bilott, “The lawyer who became DuPont’s worst nightmare.”
Drawing from his book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” Bilott gives audiences of his talks an inside look at the legal drama. Depicted in the movie, Bilott often recounts the day a farmer came to his firm convinced the creek on his property had been poisoned by runoff from a nearby DuPont landfill.
“The story is a journey about malice and manipulation that ultimately revealed massive chemical contamination,” reads a summary on the Keppler Speakers website. “It is Bilott’s quest to expose the truth about a previously unknown, and still unregulated chemical that impacts virtually every living thing on the planet and presents one of the greatest human health crises of the 21st century.”
To date, Bilott, a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, has helped secure more than $1 billion in benefits for his clients exposed to contaminated drinking water. Among his many honors, Bilott was selected as one of the best lawyers in America for several years running, and in 2017, received the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”
Individuals requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should call 252-737-1018 or email ada-coordinator@ecu.edu at least 48 hours prior to the event.
