Original version

BBC World Service Online

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

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

Magazines & Reviews

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)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

The lawyer, the chemical giant, and the contaminated water

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service