A new mini-series based on the Corby scandal in which a negligent council repeatedly exposed residents to toxic waste, is available to watch on Netflix.
“Toxic Town” dramatises the events in the Midlands town between the mid 80s and 2010 when a settlement was reached.
The case revolved around the negligence of Corby Borough Council in transporting a huge amount of toxic waste from a former British Steel site through residential areas in open lorries with up to 200 such trips made in a day.
It was not long before it was noticed that a significant number of babies were being born with upper-limb deformities. Toxic Town tells the story of the mothers who battled for justice for their children.
The case was particularly notable as being the first in the world to establish a link between atmospheric toxic waste and birth defects. Other, similar cases had involved water-borne pollutants.
The Netflix show is a four part series that follows events throughout the case.
- Episode 1 takes place in 1995, when two women in the same hospital give birth to disabled babies on the same day.
- Episode 2 takes place in 1999, as Susan McIntyre (played by Jodie Whittaker) begins to suspect the baby’s physical differences may be connected
- Episode 3 takes place in 2002. As the mothers’ start to build their case against the council.
- Episode 4 takes place in 2009, As the case is heard in the High Court.
In the original case, the judge found that the council had allowed toxic waste to disperse into the atmosphere, saying that: ‘There was an extended period in which Corby Borough Council was extensively negligent in its control and management of the sites which they acquired from British Steel and otherwise used.
‘That negligence… led to the extensive dispersal of contaminated mud and dust over public areas of Corby and into and over private homes, with the result that the contaminants could realistically have caused the types of birth defects of which complaint has been made by the claimants.’
