Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg

January 14, 2017 12:30 PM

A rural community takes on a corporate giant:

Then, in August 2000, Bilott came across a single paper that mentioned the presence of a little-known substance called perfluorooctanoic acid in Dry Run Creek. Bilott requested more information on the chemical, which is often called C8 and is found in thousands of household products, including carpeting, Teflon pans, waterproof clothes, dental floss, kitty litter and cosmetics. Unbeknownst to Bilott, his inquiry triggered a panic inside DuPont’s Delaware headquarters. "The shit is about to hit the fan in WV," the company’s in-house counsel, Bernard J. Reilly, wrote in an email to his colleagues. "The lawyer for the farmer finally realizes the surfactant [C8] issue … Fuck him."

Seriously, scroll down to that picture of Bucky Bailey, and then tell me that corporate America is compatible with family values.

posted by kevinbelt (1 comment total)

This originally caught my attention because I have a friend from Parkersburg. I always think about him in discussions of rural stereotypes, because he's a sysadmin at SpaceX.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:33 PM on January 14, 2017