The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the STEEP Superfund Research Program presented a screening of the documentary film The Devil We Know on October 16. The screening was co-hosted by Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Association for Preservation of Cape Cod, and Barnstable Clean Water Coalition.

The Devil We Know, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig and featured at this year’s prestigious Sundance Film Festival, chronicles one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time. The film tells the story of a group of citizens in West Virginia as they take on a powerful corporation following the discovery that it had knowingly dumped a class of toxic chemical called PFASs into the drinking water supply.

These same chemicals have also been found on Cape Cod. STEEP, a five-year research project launched last year, is focused on understanding PFASs and the environmental and human health impacts of these drinking water contaminants, including here on Cape Cod. Following the film, there was a panel discussion with STEEP researchers that gave the local community the opportunity to share their questions and concerns.

STEEP (Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs) is a partnership of the University of Rhode Island; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health; and Silent Spring Institute. STEEP is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Superfund Research Program. For more information, visit: web.uri.edu/steep