Netflix’snew limited series drama,Toxic Town, tellsthe incredible true story of Corby, a town in the UK that faced a terrible environmental crisis for decades. In the 80s and 90s,dozens of children in Corby were born with physical disabilities, particularly limb differences, although there were a host of other medical concerns that arose as well. This flew under the radar for years, until a group of mothers began to recognize similarities in their children’s disabilities and suspected environmental factors could be at play.
Specifically, the Corby mothers came to believe that their town’s council was responsible due to alleged mismanagement of toxic waste removal at a former steel plant site that had been shut down and demolished. Based on these suspicions, the mothers launched a full-fledged lawsuit against the council, with the help of a legal team.Netflix’sToxic Townremains fairly loyal to the true story, andthe cast ofToxic Townportrays several of the real-life Corby mothers.Here’s how everything works out in the end for the mothers ofToxic Townand their children.
Did The Corby Mothers Win Their Court Case? The Outcome Of The Lawsuit Explained
Despite Very Difficult Odds, The Corby Mothers Were Victorious
This lawsuit was truly an uphill battle for the mothers of Corby and their legal team. They had a series of arguments to prove, which included that the particular chemicals from the site could have caused the specific disabilities in their children, that the chemicals had a way to travel from the site to their homes, and that there was explicit negligence on the part of the council. Compounding how difficult this process was already going to be,there was no legal precedent at that time for a lawsuit that successfully linked toxic waste and disabilities.
Despite that difficulty, in the end, the Corby mothers were victorious. Not only was the council found liable in the matter, but they also had to pay out a significant settlement. At the time, the precise settlement amount was unknown, butToxic Townconfirmed at the very end that the total settlement was in the ballpark of 14.6 million pounds.
This Case Required Careful Strategy
As mentioned, there were several factors at play in proving the council was responsible for the limb differences and other disabilities in the children of Corby. Early on in the process, in fact, the council’s legal team presented the argument that it wasn’t possible for these toxins to have traveled to where the families lived and, even more damaging to the Corby mothers' case, they provided evidence that Corby’s rates of children with disabilities and/or limb differences were no higher than the surrounding towns' rates.
However,it was eventually revealed that this evidence had employed faulty mathematics. In reality, Corby was found to have three times as many children with birth defects as the surrounding towns. Moreover, the Corby mothers' team proved that the contaminated dust and mud had been traveling on trucks from the site into the residential areas.
Corby was found to have three times as many children with birth defects as the surrounding towns.
The lawsuit also relied heavily on the mothers' testimonies, not only pertaining to their children’s disabilities but also in terms of what they had seen of the dust and mud. InToxic Town, the mothers described layers of dust on everything and being unable to open the windows in the summer because of the dust. They also witnessed sludge coming off the trucks from the site, which they described as being completely uncovered.
The mothers' testimonies became particularly important because some of the children’s fathers were unable to testify due to their jobs, which was the case for Maggie and Derek Mahon.Toxic Townalso depicted the efforts of people who had worked on the council itself, such as Sam Hagen and Ted Jenkins. Jenkins was actually a character invented for the series, although he is a stand-in for some of the real-life whistleblowers who did come forward. InToxic Town, Jenkins' testimony was essential in proving the council knowingly mismanaged the waste.
Toxic Town Review: I Was Barely Distracted By The Legal Drama’s Pacing Issues Thanks To A Compelling Cast & True Story Elements
Netflix’s British miniseries Toxic Town delivers memorable characters alongside a serviceable story that offers a look into a landmark legal case.
Why Tracey Taylor Was Removed From The Lawsuit
Tracey’s Tragedy Sadly Wasn’t Included In The Settlement
One of the heartbreaking true stories inToxic Townis that of Tracey Taylor, whose daughter, Shelby Anne, was born with a deformity on her ear and with just two heart chambers rather than the typical four. Because of the heart complication, as well as some other medical concerns, Shelby Anne sadly died at just four days old. Initially, Tracey was part of the lawsuit because she and her child had been affected.
Unfortunately,because the lawyers felt they needed a streamlined argument, they removed Tracey from the lawsuit. Tracey’s story was an outlier when compared with other stories, particularly because her child passed away and did not share the limb differences many other children did as a result of these chemicals. The lawyers felt that discrepancies could weaken the argument by making it seem as though there wasn’t a direct link between the toxic waste and the children’s disabilities.
Despite the heartbreak of being kicked off the lawsuit, in bothToxic Townand in real life, Tracey remained dedicated to supporting the mothers of Corby. Her testimony ended up being key to winning the case, asToxic Towndepicted. In fact, in the series, her impassioned plea was one of the most touching, especially after the opposing counsel said the lawsuit wasn’t about"dead children"and she persisted even so.
The Long-Term Implications Of The Corby Case Explained
This Was A Groundbreaking Case For Environmental Justice
The Corby lawsuit became a landmark case, as it was the first to successfully prove a link between airborne toxins and harm caused to unborn children. This not only had implications for other communities that had been affected in similar ways but also for environmental justice more broadly. To date, in fact, the Corby case is used as a point of comparison, including for insurance companies as a way to advise workers who are responsible for clearing toxic waste sites.
Industry standards also changed following this case, in an effort to avoid similar circumstances ever happening again. As the end ofToxic Townreveals on Netflix, there are hundreds of sites similar to this one, making this a relevant concern even today. For these reasons, the Corby lawsuit continues to be seen as one of the most important environmental justice cases in the UK to date.
The Corby lawsuit continues to be seen as one of the most important environmental justice cases in the UK to date.
What Happened To The Real Corby Mothers After The Lawsuit Ended?
The Limited Series Worked Closely With The Real-Life Mothers
Toxic Townwas created with help from the real-life Corby mothers themselves, specifically Susan McIntyre (Jodie Whittaker), Tracey Taylor (Aimee Lou Wood), and Maggie Mahon (Claudia Jessie). All three women remain alive and well in real life, and several of the mothers from Corby remain friends to this day. Although it was a truly tragic event, this was an incredible victory for the mothers, and, asToxic Townshowed in its final scenes, the news was met with significant fanfare in town.
The story of Corby is a truly riveting one that highlights the perseverance, dedication, and love exhibited by all the mothers involved in the lawsuit. Without their determination, the truth of this event may never have come to light. AsToxic Townshows, these mothers were heroic in their efforts, and this incredible true story and its triumphant outcome prove it.
