In 1998, Bilott was a lawyer specializing in helping big corporations stay on the right side of environmental regulations. He received a call from a West Virginia farmer, Earl Tennant, who was convinced the creek on his property was being poisoned by runoff from a DuPont landfill. Bilott agreed to help Tennant, and discovered documents going back fifty years on the harmful effects of the man-made chemical PFOA (one of a class of chemicals called PFAS) used in making Teflon. Now virtually every person on the planet has been exposed to PFOA-- and carries the chemical in his or her blood. An unforgettable David and Goliath-style legal drama about malice and manipulation, the failings of environmental regulation, and one lawyer's quest to expose the truth about this previously unknown--and still unregulated--chemical that presents one of the greatest human health crises of the 21st century. -- adapted from jacket.

Includes index.

Act 1. The farmer: Dry run ; The call ; Parkersburg ; The farm ; The secret ingredient ; Paper trail ; The scientist ; The letter ; The meeting ; The cows come home ; The settlement -- Act 2. The town: Crossroads ; First blood ; Privileged ; Alternative data ; Appetite for destruction ; Of mouse and man ; Teflon pawns ; Actual malice ; Hail Mary ; Narrative warfare ; Epidemiology ; "No known human health effects" ; Corporate knowledge ; The perfect storm ; The big idea -- Act 3. The world: The study ; The second wave ; Dark science ; Burden of proof ; Shaken ; Road to a reckoning ; The trial ; The reckoning -- Epilogue.