Amara Strande died of liver cancer from exposure to highly toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS contaminating the groundwater in her St. Paul suburb Maplewood where PFAS manufacturer 3M had been dumping its waste since the 1950s. She was just 20 years old.
PFAS are “forever chemicals” used in a variety of products, including waterproof fabric, stain-resistant carpets, nonstick pans, flame retardant furniture, take-out containers, cosmetics and firefighting foam.
Minnesota became the second state in the nation (Maine was first) to ban PFAS when it passed the bill she tirelessly lobbied for until her untimely death, which came to be known as Amara’s Law.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!
The Devil We Know is a documentary version of the same story focusing on the plaintiffs in the historic class action lawsuit against the DuPont chemical plant that manufactures Teflon. They charged the chemical company with poisoning the drinking water supply of more than 70,000 people living near the factory. In the film, they break their silence about the suffering they’ve endured at the hands of the chemical giant in their backyard. Their lawsuit uncovered shocking internal documents revealing that DuPont knew for decades that C8 had toxic health effects, but continued to leave its workers and the entire community exposed.If you don’t know the troubling history of the companies that profited from PFAS, knowing they were poisoning their employees, communities and customers, there are three excellent films to watch.
Dark Waters tells the shocking and heroic true story of attorney Rob Bilott who risked his career and family to uncover a dark secret hidden by one of the world’s largest corporations and to bring justice to a community dangerously exposed for decades to deadly chemicals.
In the film, he finds himself conflicted after he’s contacted by two West Virginia farmers who believe that the local DuPont plant is dumping toxic waste in the area landfill that is destroying their fields and killing their cattle. Hoping to learn the truth about just what is happening, Bilott, with help from his supervising partner in the firm, files a complaint that marks the beginning of an epic 15-year fight—one that will test his reputation, his health and his livelihood.
In this scene, after being awakened in the middle of the night by Robert (Mark Ruffalo), Sarah (Anne Hathaway) demands to know what is going on. That's when Robert informs her that DuPont is knowingly poisoning the community.
Semper Fi Always Faithful tells the tragic and inspiring true story of Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, a devoted Marine for nearly twenty-five years. When Jerry’s nine-year old daughter Janey died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened. His search for answers led to the shocking discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history. Military bases like Camp Lejeune still have the highest concentrations of PFAS in the country primarily from the near daily use of firefighting foam.
The heroic people whose stories are told in these films deserve our support.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!
*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS*
You will be able to modify this text on the next page, after entering your information.
Dear [Member of Congress]
Maine and Minnesota have passed broad bans on products containing PFAS.
Every state in the nation should do the same.
Chemical companies like DuPont and 3M have covered up evidence of the dangerous human health and environmental impacts of PFAS since the 1960s.
Today, overwhelming research links PFAS to a wide range of health problems, including kidney, testicular, bladder, and prostate cancer, as well as developmental, immune, reproductive, and hormonal dysfunction.
Chemical companies are replacing older PFAS with other chemicals in the PFAS family. Unfortunately, these replacements, such as GenX, act a lot like older PFAS, and studies show that they can present similar hazards. Short-chain perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and perfluoroalkyl carboxylates adversely affect rat livers and thyroid hormones just like their long-chain homologues do.
PFAS do not break down naturally and bioaccumulate in the environment and our bodies.
It’s time to ban all PFAS and set to work cleaning up the water and remediating the land. Some plants, including hemp, have been shown to suck PFAS out of the soil, a process known as "phytoremediation."
For more information, please contact the National Conference of Environmental Legislators: http://www.ncelenviro.org/issue/pfas/
Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
[Your Name]