| Erin Brockovich | |
|---|---|
Brockovich in 2007 |
|
| Born | June 22, 1960 Lawrence, Kansas, United States |
| Occupation | President, Brockovich Research & Consulting[1] |
| Spouse | Shawn Brown (m. 1982–1987) Steven Brockovich (m. 1989–1990) Eric L. Ellis (1999-present) |
Erin Brockovich-Ellis (born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, or any legal education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993. Since the release of the film that shares her story and name, she has hosted Challenge America with Erin Brockovich on ABC and Final Justice on Zone Reality. She is the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting, a consulting firm. She is currently working as a consultant for Girardi & Keese,[2][3] the New York law firm Weitz & Luxenberg,[4] which has a focus on personal injury claims for asbestos exposure, and Shine Lawyers in Australia.[5]
Contents |
She was born Erin Pattee in Lawrence, Kansas, to Frank Pattee, an industrial engineer and Betty Jo O'Neal-Pattee, a journalist. She attended Lawrence High School then Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and graduated with an Associate in Applied Arts Degree from Wades Business College in Dallas, Texas. She worked as a management trainee for Kmart in 1981 but quit after a few months and entered a beauty pageant. After winning Miss Pacific Coast in 1981, she gave up pageant life. She has lived in California since 1982.
Brockovich received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and was Commencement Speaker at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on May 5, 2008 .[1] She also received an honorary Bachelor's degree from Jones International University and an honorary JD from Lewis & Clark Law School in Oregon.
The case alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium(VI), in the southern California town of Hinkley. At the center of the case was a facility called the Hinkley Compressor Station, part of a natural gas pipeline connecting to the San Francisco Bay Area and constructed in 1952. Between 1952 and 1966, PG&E used hexavalent chromium to fight corrosion in the cooling tower. The wastewater dissolved the hexavalent chromium from the cooling towers and was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater percolated into the groundwater, affecting an area near the plant approximately two miles long and nearly a mile wide.[6] The case was settled in 1996 for US$333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in US history.
A study released in 2010 by the California Cancer Registry showed that cancer rates in Hinkley "remained unremarkable from 1988 to 2008."[7] An epidemiologist involved in the study said that "the 196 cases of cancer reported during the most recent survey of 1996 through 2008 were less than what he would expect based on demographics and the regional rate of cancer."[7] However, considering the survey spanned a time period of 22 to 32 years after PG&E’s discontinued use of hexavalent chromium, it is unknown how many cancer cases were not included in the study due to the relocation of families or the untimely deaths of afflicted residents of Hinkley.
Average Cr-6 levels in Hinkley were recorded as 1.19ppb with a peak of 3.09ppb. The PG&E Topock Compressor Station averaged 7.8ppb and peaks at 31.8ppb based on the PG&E Background Study.[8] The proposed California health goal for hexavalent chromium is of 0.06ppb.[9]
Working with Thousand Oaks, California-based lawyer Edward L. Masry, Brockovich went on to participate in other anti-pollution lawsuits. One accuses Whitman Corporation of chromium contamination in Willits, California. Another lawsuit, which lists 1,200 plaintiffs, alleges contamination near PG&E's Kettleman Hills Compressor Station in Kings County, California, along the same pipeline as the Hinkley site. The Kettleman suit settled for $335 million in 2006. After experiencing problems with mold contamination in her own home in the Conejo Valley, Brockovich became a prominent activist and educator in this area as well.
Brockovich and Masry filed suit against the Beverly Hills Unified School District in 2003, in which the district was accused of harming the health and safety of its students by allowing a contractor to operate a cluster of oil wells on campus.[10] Brockovich and Masry alleged that 300 cancer cases were linked to the oil wells. Subsequent testing and epidemiological investigation failed to corroborate substantial link, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Wendell Mortimer granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs.[11] In May 2007, the School District announced that it was to be paid $450,000 as reimbursement for legal expenses.[12]
Brockovich assisted in the filing of a lawsuit against Prime Tanning Corp. of St. Joseph, Missouri in April 2009. The lawsuit claims that waste sludge from the production of leather, containing high levels of hexavalent chromium, was distributed to farmers in northwest Missouri to use as fertilizer on their fields. It is believed to be a potential cause of an abnormally high number of brain tumors (70 since 1996) around the town of Cameron, Missouri, which is currently being investigated by the EPA.[13]
In June 2009, Brockovich began investigating a case of contaminated water in Midland, Texas.[14] "Significant amounts" of hexavalent chromium were found in the water of more than 40 homes in the area, some of which have now been fitted with state-monitored filters on their water supply.[14] Brockovich said "The only difference between here and Hinkley, is that I saw higher levels here than I saw in Hinkley."[14]
Brockovich's book entitled Take It From Me: Life's a Struggle But You Can Win was published in October 2001, and was on the NYT Business Bestseller's List.[15]
Brockovich's work in bringing litigation against Pacific Gas and Electric is the focus of the 2000 feature film, Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts in the title role. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Roberts won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia R.