Meet Riverkeeper’s 2020 Fishermen’s Ball honorees

When:

June 30, 2020: 6:00PM to 7:30PM

Where:

Online

To Attend:

Register

Join us for a very special virtual event to meet the Riverkeeper 2020 Fishermen’s Ball honorees and learn about their work to stop toxic PFAS pollution in our waterways here in the Hudson Valley and across the country.

This online event will feature our 2020 Big Fish honoree, Rob Bilott, the lawyer who brought DuPont to account for knowingly contaminating the water in Parkersburg, West Virginia with toxic pollutants. Representing the Newburgh Clean Water Project – this year’s Hudson Hero honoree – will be Ophra Wolf, to discuss how the group has worked to activate the Newburgh community to battle similar chemical contamination in the City’s drinking water supply.

During the evening, Riverkeeper’s President Paul Gallay will speak with Rob and Ophra about the battle to expose the pollution of Forever Chemicals in our waterways and how to stop them from getting into our water supplies and our bodies. We’re also pleased to announce that Mark Ruffalo, who played Rob Bilott in the major motion picture Dark Waters, will join us for a cameo during the event. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.

The event is free but you must register to attend >

We encourage you to check out these resources before the event to learn more about the work our honorees are doing to protect clean water and our environment from PFAS pollution:

Newburgh Clean Water Project

NYTimes Article: “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare”

Dark Waters – Inspired by the true story of Rob Bilott and his decades-long battle against big chemical companies who have been poisoning us and our communities, this new film from Participant Media stars Mark Ruffalo

Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont by Robert Bilott, published by Atria Books, Simon and Schuster

Purchase Exposure from Bookshop.org – an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.

The Devil We Know – documentary from Atlas Films detailing DuPont’s alleged decades-long cover-up of the potential harm caused by chemicals used to make popular Teflon products.

About the honorees:

Rob Bilott, Partner, Taft Law, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Cincinnati, OH
Robert is a partner in Taft’s Environmental, Litigation, and Product Liability and Personal Injury groups. For more than 29 years, Rob has handled a wide variety of highly complex environmental matters and related toxic tort litigation for a diverse array of clients, including the nation’s first cases involving PFAS drinking water contamination. To date, Rob has secured benefits in excess of $1 Billion for clients impacted by PFAS contamination, including through key leadership positions in the nation’s first class action, personal injury, medical monitoring, and multi-district litigations and trials. In 2017, Rob received the international Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on PFAS issues. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the new motion picture, “Dark Waters” from Participant Media and Focus Features, starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. His story is also featured in the documentary available on Netflix, “The Devil We Know.”  Rob is a graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and has a Juris Doctor degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Ophra Wolf
Ophra Wolf is a movement and performance artist whose work investigates and cultivates culture for a lived reality that is transformed by interaction and defined by change rather than by static frameworks of knowledge and authority. She’s the owner of Force and Flow Integrated Bodywork, a holistic health coaching practice that serves visionaries on the path to embodying their highest potential. A City of Newburgh resident for almost six years, she has initiated numerous cultural events and happenings in the City focused on health and empowerment, including Newburgh Open Movement and the Newburgh Suffrage Bike Parade and Convening, which received support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Humanities New York, and Orange County Arts Council among others. As a founding member of the Newburgh Clean Water Project, she has developed the innovative learning event methodology the group employs, helped spearhead the creation of the Stewart ANG Restoration Advisory Council, and has become a knowledgeable presenter and resource person on Newburgh’s water quality issues and potential solutions. ophrawolf.com, forceandflow.com

Newburgh Clean Water Project
The Newburgh Clean Water Project (NCWP) is a nonpartisan grassroots group of Newburgh residents whose mission is to protect the City’s access to clean drinking water and engage the local and regional community in watershed protection and restoration for the wellbeing of current and future generations. We welcome all who’ve been affected by the PFAS contamination by the Stewart Air National Guard Base and we collaborate with a national network of frontline communities and institutions. Together, let’s hold our government and PFAS manufacturers accountable, share resources, and create equitable solutions for our watersheds—ones that keep our communities safe, climate-resilient, healthy and growing.

Photo: Richard Phibbs

Mark Ruffalo
Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and Emmy® nominee Mark Ruffalo is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors, easily moving between stage and screen. He has starred and performed in dozens of acclaimed films and shows including his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in Marvel Studios’ Avengers franchise. Most recently, he portrayed Rob Bilott in Focus Features’ Dark Waters, about the DuPont Pollution scandal. He currently stars in the critically acclaimed HBO series “I Know This Much Is True,” which he executive produced. Ruffalo advocates for addressing climate change and increasing renewable energy. He received the Global Green Millennium Award for Environmental Leadership and the Meera Gandhi Giving Back Foundation Award. He has been named one of Time Magazine’s People Who Mattered, received Riverkeeper’s Big Fish Award in 2013 and helped launch The Solutions Project as part of his mission to share science, business and culture that demonstrates the feasibility of renewable energy.