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Outlook: The lawyer, the chemical giant, and the contaminated water

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CROPPED ROBERT BILOTT.jpg

21/03/2024 GMT

The lawyer, the chemical giant, and the contaminated water

BBC World Service - Outlook, The lawyer, the chemical giant, and the contaminated water

Robert Bilott took on a case for one farmer and began a fight for thousands of people

Robert Bilott was an attorney who defended large US corporations. Then a call from a farmer changed his career forever, and he uncovered a crisis affecting thousands of people.

Robert Bilott is an American lawyer who in the 1990s defended large corporations, including chemical companies. Then he got a call from a farmer called Wilbur Earl Tennant, whose cattle were dying. Mr Tennant thought something was wrong with their drinking water. Robert took on what he thought would be a simple case. But what he uncovered was an environmental crisis affecting thousands of people. It became a fight against one of the world’s biggest chemical companies. This interview was first broadcast in June 2020. 

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: June Christie 

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Robert Bilott. Credit: Getty Images)

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