Time magazine reported that the incident resulted in a civil lawsuit against Corby in 2009, the first civil case in England that explored the link between airborne toxic waste and birth defects, according to Time. The case proved a plausible link between toxic waste mismanagement and some children of that town being born without limbs or other birth defects.

The four-part series, which premiered Thursday, follows three mothers subjected to the harmful dust daily, eventually finding themselves together in the hospital as their children undergo surgeries and treatments for health issues caused by the exposure, per Time. The women were also part of the class-action lawsuit mentioned in the show.

Here’s what viewers can expect from the real-life story of Toxic Town, including learning more about the women of Corby who were affected by the toxic dust, how they uncovered the truth, and what led to their monumental court victory.

How did toxic dust cause birth defects in the children from Corby?

Susan McIntyre (Jodie Whittaker), Tracey Taylor (Aimee Lou Wood) and Maggie Mahon (Claudia Jessie) all had children born with birth defects.

Whittaker’s son had a deformed hand, Jessie’s baby also had a physical abnormality and Tracey’s daughter was born with a two-chambered heart and died at four days old, according to Time and Netflix’s Tudum.

Whittaker received a phone call from a journalist who confirmed that there was a link between the toxic dust and several children from Corby who had disabilities. The news connected Whittaker with other mothers who had gone through similar situations with their babies.

“I was in hospital with lots of other mothers having babies, and some of them had babies that had problems with their limbs,” the real McIntyre said, recounting her experience, per Netflix. “And I’d say, ‘Oh, you’ll be all right,’ and I’d comfort them, and then four months later, the same thing happened to me. I had a baby with the exact same thing. And I did think that was strange.”

Whittaker and the other mothers learned from lawyer Des Collins (Rory Kinnear) that a mismanaged reclamation project had exposed them to toxic waste during pregnancy, leading to their children being born with limb deformities, according to Netflix.

What happened in the Corby lawsuit?

While the real McIntyre led the 2009 lawsuit, Taylor was excluded from the case. Although her child had died from a birth defect, the legal team thought that her daughter’s lack of limb-related differences would weaken their case against the town.

“When we were dropped as a case, it was upsetting,” Taylor told Netflix. “I still went to court, I gave my evidence, to help the other children, even though I was no longer a claimant.”

Meanwhile, Mahon’s son was born with a clubfoot, and her husband, Derek, worked at the controversial site but did not want to be part of the trial. However, her own testimony in court helped the claimants prove that the pollutant did not come from the water supply but through the air, per Netflix.

Although the case went back and forth between the claimant’s legal team and the council’s expert witnesses, the women eventually won the case. The council was found liable and had to pay the mothers and their children in a settlement of 14.6 million pounds, which is about $18,355,000 in U.S. dollars.

“We had to show we were strong independent women and prove what they did was wrong, and we were not going to be lied to,” Taylor told Netflix.