‘Erin Brockovich’ – Interview:

9 August, 2024 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 7 categories

In the ABC News 20/20 Special, Erin Brockovich returns to Hinkley, California after 10 years and relives the historic class action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric for the contamination of the local water supply with Chromium 6, that resulted in a settlement of $336 million, the highest payout in US history in 1996. Photo Credit: ABC News

The Real Rebel: The Erin Brockovich Story…

The story of Hinkley, California inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich directed by Steven Soderbergh and shot the real Erin Brockovich to stardom, and she has continued to crusade for access to safe water after being so instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving Hinkley groundwater contamination for attorney Ed Masry in 1993.

Satellite image of Hinkley, Barstow and Harper Lake, California. From 1952 to 1966, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) dumped about 370 million gallons (1,400 million litres) of chromium-tainted wastewater into unlined wastewater spreading ponds around the town of Hinkley, California, located in the Mojave Desert about 120 miles north-northeast of Los Angeles. PG&E used chromium 6, or hexavalent chromium (a cheap and efficient rust suppressor), in its compressor station for natural-gas transmission pipelines. Hexavalent-chromium compounds are genotoxic carcinogens. In 1993, legal clerk Erin Brockovich began an investigation into the health impacts of the contamination. A class-action lawsuit about the contamination was settled in 1996 on July 2 for $333 million (around $634 million in 2023). In 2008, PG&E settled the last of the cases involved with the Hinkley claims. Since then, the town's population has dwindled to the point that in 2016 The New York Times described Hinkley as having slowly become a ghost town. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Written by Susannah Grant, Produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher, Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, with Cinematography by Ed Lachman, and Edited by Anne V. Coates, with Music by Thomas Newman, Production companies: Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Jersey Films, Distributed by Universal Pictures (North America), Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (International)(2000)

Steven Soderbergh directing "Erin Brockovich" (2000) Photo by Getty Images/Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

Erin Brockovich-Ellis during "Erin Brockovich" Premiere at Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California, United States. Photo by SGranitz/WireImage

Attorney Ed Masry (cq) and Erin Brockovich (cq) speak before a state senate committee hearing held at Burbank City Hall on Chromium 6 in the public water supply. Photo by Boris Yaro/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Erin Brockovich poses for a portrait with Attorney Ed Masry April 3, 2000 in Agoura Hills, CA. Brockovich, whose investigative work as a research assistant helped Masry win a $330 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric. Photo by Ann Summa/Liaison

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at 300 Lakeside Drive, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield and northern Santa Barbara County, almost to the Oregon and Nevada state lines. Overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E is the leading subsidiary of the holding company PG&E Corporation, which has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion as of February 23, 2024. PG&E was established on October 10, 1905 from the merger and consolidation of predecessor utility companies, and by 1984 was the United States' "largest electric utility business". PG&E is one of six regulated, investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) in California; the other five are PacifiCorp, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Bear Valley Electric, and Liberty Utilities. In 2018 and 2019, the company received widespread media attention when investigations by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) assigned the company primary blame for two separate devastating wildfires in California. The formal finding of liability led to losses in federal bankruptcy court. On January 14, 2019, PG&E announced its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to its liability for the catastrophic 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California. The company hoped to come out of bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, and was successful on Saturday, June 20, 2020, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued the final approval of the plan for PG&E to exit bankruptcy.

Ed Masry attends the world premiere of "Erin Brockovich" on March 14, 2000 at Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California. Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

From 1952 to 1966, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) dumped about 370 million gallons (1,400 million litres) of chromium-tainted wastewater into unlined wastewater spreading ponds around the town of Hinkley, California, located in the Mojave Desert about 120 miles north-northeast of Los Angeles. PG&E used chromium 6, or hexavalent chromium (a cheap and efficient rust suppressor), in its compressor station for natural-gas transmission pipelines. Hexavalent-chromium compounds are genotoxic carcinogens. In 1993, legal clerk Erin Brockovich began an investigation into the health impacts of the contamination. A class-action lawsuit about the contamination was settled in 1996 on July 2 for $333 million (around $634 million in 2023). In 2008, PG&E settled the last of the cases involved with the Hinkley claims. Since then, the town's population has dwindled to the point that in 2016 The New York Times described Hinkley as having slowly become a ghost town. Photo Credit: Google Images

Since the 1950s, utility company PG&E has operated a natural gas pumping station in Hinkley, a small southern California community in the Mojave Desert. Until 1966, the company used a chemical called chromium 6 to prevent rust. The toxic chemical eventually seeped into Hinkley’s water supply. In 1993, Erin Brockovich, a divorced, unemployed single mother, became an activist for clean water after she spoke out against PG&E.

The PG&E Pipeline Operations in the Hinkley District. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at 300 Lakeside Drive, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield and northern Santa Barbara County, almost to the Oregon and Nevada state lines. Overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E is the leading subsidiary of the holding company PG&E Corporation, which has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion as of February 23, 2024. PG&E was established on October 10, 1905 from the merger and consolidation of predecessor utility companies, and by 1984 was the United States' "largest electric utility business". PG&E is one of six regulated, investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) in California; the other five are PacifiCorp, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Bear Valley Electric, and Liberty Utilities. In 2018 and 2019, the company received widespread media attention when investigations by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) assigned the company primary blame for two separate devastating wildfires in California. The formal finding of liability led to losses in federal bankruptcy court. On January 14, 2019, PG&E announced its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to its liability for the catastrophic 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California. The company hoped to come out of bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, and was successful on Saturday, June 20, 2020, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued the final approval of the plan for PG&E to exit bankruptcy.

Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is any chemical compound that contains the element in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). It has been identified as carcinogenic, which is of concern since approximately 136,000 tonnes (150,000 tons) of hexavalent chromium were produced in 1985. Hexavalent chromium compounds can be carcinogens (IARC Group 1), especially if airborne and inhaled where they can cause lung cancer.

A pipe is one of the few signs that houses once stood on the property where Pacific Gas & Electric bought and razed them after the company was found to have polluted the ground water with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium for 30 years July 19, 2001 in the Mojave Desert town of Hinkley, CA, west of Barstow. Health officials are now testing the area for airborne chromium pollution. Health officials are now testing the area for airborne chromium pollution. The community''s pollution struggle inspired the movie "Erin Brockovich." Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Erin Brockovich quickly became known for her spunky personality and determination. Courtesy of Erin Brockovich

“Everywhere I was going in this little community, somebody had asthma, a complaint of a chronic cough, recurring bronchitis, recurring rashes, unusual joint aches, nosebleeds,” “It didn’t make sense, and so the more I ask questions … the more I started to piece the puzzle together.”

– Brockovich to 20/20 in the interview

In 1996, the case was settled for $333 million, the largest ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit at the time in United States History. In 2001, Julia Roberts won the Academy Award Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her portrayal of the relentless and determined Brockovich. The film ended with the historic settlement.

Residents of Hinkley filed a class action against PG&E, Anderson, et al. v. Pacific Gas and Electric (Superior Ct. for County of San Bernardino, Barstow Division, file BCV 00300). LeRoy A. Simmons was the judge. In 1993, Erin Brockovich (a legal clerk for lawyer Edward L. Masry) investigated an apparent cluster of illnesses in the community which were linked to hexavalent chromium. The case was referred to arbitration, with maximum damages of $400 million for more than 600 people. After arbitration for the first 40 people resulted in about $120 million, PG&E reassessed its position and decided to end arbitration and settle the case. It was settled in 1996 for $333 million, the largest settlement of a class action lawsuit in U.S. history at the time.

Julia Roberts wins the Academy Award Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her 2000 film "Erin Brockovich" at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001. Photo Credit: ABC/The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Actress Julia Roberts celebrates her Oscar win for Best Actress for her role in "Erin Brokovich" at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA, 25 March, 2001. Photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich in "Erin Brockovich" (2000) Photo by Getty Images/Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

Marg Helgenberger, and Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich" (2000) Photo by Getty Images/Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

“We’re still talking about this, and that movie came out 21 years ago. And it was almost before its time because it was about environmental pollution that we are in the throes of today,”

– Brockovich told ABC News

But while the film has been out over two decades and the case settled even longer, for the residents of Hinkley, the story continues. Almost three decades after the lawsuit, Brockovich revisited the neighborhood and met with residents who say they are still suffering the effects of the contamination.

Julia Roberts and Albert Finney in "Erin Brockovich" (2000) Photo by Getty Images/Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

Erin Brockovich out in the field at an unknown date. Courtesy of Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich pictured speaking with independent consultant Raudel Sanchez. Courtesy of ABC

Roberta Walker and Erin Brockovich pictured at an unknown date. Courtesy of Roberta Walker

Former Hinkley, California, resident Roberta Walker. Courtesy of ABC

Current resident Penny Harper of Hinkley, California. Courtesy of ABC

In part 1 of this ABC News 20/20 Special, Erin Brockovich revisits Hinkley and remembers the case that shot her to stardom and environmental activism, while ABC News journalists refresh viewers on the 1996 case of the Hinkley groundwater contamination spear headed by Brockovich that inspired the 2000 film.