This recent article [1] is a great example of all four facts.<p>DuPont knew for half a century that their chemical, PFOA, was poisonous to people and to drinking water, yet kept exposing their own workers and dumping it in places where it killed livestock, leeched into the soil and contaminated water supplies.<p>DuPont is still fighting regulations, and fighting thousands of personal injury lawsuits in court, one by one. It settled with the EPA for $16.5m — essentially nothing. The EPA&#x27;s role is to regulate, but it is basically powerless to do so.<p>Meanwhile, PFOA and related fluoro­chemicals are now apparently present in the bloodstream of almost all animals and people on Earth — including everyone on HN — as well as much of our drinking water.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;10&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;10&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-lawyer-who-be...</a>