What is anderson v cryovac?

Anderson v Cryovac was a landmark case that was filed in 1982 in the United States. The case was brought by Woburn residents against the W.R. Grace & Co. and its subsidiary Cryovac, alleging that the companies had knowingly polluted the environment by discharging hazardous chemicals into the groundwater of the town. The plaintiffs claimed that this pollution caused leukemia in several children living in that area. The case was made famous by the book and movie "A Civil Action", which chronicled the efforts of the plaintiffs' lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, to prove the companies' culpability. After years of litigation, the case was settled out of court for $8 million and the companies were required to clean up the contamination. The case became a landmark for environmental law, and it established the principle that companies can be held liable for environmental harm caused by their activities.