My history day project is on, Erin Brockovich's encounter with Hinkley, California's water contamination due to the PG&E corporation. Brockovich encountered legal files which led her to explore cases in the same area. Soon enough, she had discovered the severity of the case at hand. Even in the face of adversity, Erin Brockovich never gave up in order to get justice for the small town in California. With this project I will prove how Erin Brockovich's research changed this town and PG&E significantly, and how her actions are still having an impact even over a decade later.
Erin Brockovich was born in 1960 in Lawrence, Kansas to an industrial engineer and a journalist, the youngest of three siblings. Brockovich grew up with the mind-set that …show more content…
Since PG&E owns the Hinkley Compresser Facility in Hinkley, the first place Brockovich looked for answers was the towns water plant records. Here she could get all the information she needed. After thorough evaluation through the hundreds of records that were provided, Brockovich found what she was looking for. Erin Brockovich had just found a cleanup and abatement order filed by court against PG&E. This Cleanup and Abatement Order (CAO) says “The CAO required the Discharger (PG&E) to complete a site investigation, to characterize the hydrogeology of the site, and to initiate cleanup and abatement of hexavalent chromium in the soil and groundwater. The site investigation delineated a zone of groundwater polluted with elevated hexavalent chromium (the "plume") extending downgradient from the initial discharge area at the Facility to approximately 1 1/2 miles north of, and off, the PG&E compressor Facility.” Reading this, Erin Brockovich now learned how serious this matter really was. Chromium 6 is a cancer causing chemical that can lead to death if a human is around it enough. Reading further, she also learns that the hexavalent chromium contamination started from work that was done by PG&E in the years of 1952 to 1964. Pacific Gas and Electric had dumped chromium 6 into unlined ponds, which ultimitaly leaked into Hinkleys groundwater starting the contamination.
Erin Brockovich was born in 1960 in Lawrence, Kansas to an industrial engineer and a journalist, the youngest of three siblings. Brockovich grew up with the mind-set that …show more content…
Since PG&E owns the Hinkley Compresser Facility in Hinkley, the first place Brockovich looked for answers was the towns water plant records. Here she could get all the information she needed. After thorough evaluation through the hundreds of records that were provided, Brockovich found what she was looking for. Erin Brockovich had just found a cleanup and abatement order filed by court against PG&E. This Cleanup and Abatement Order (CAO) says “The CAO required the Discharger (PG&E) to complete a site investigation, to characterize the hydrogeology of the site, and to initiate cleanup and abatement of hexavalent chromium in the soil and groundwater. The site investigation delineated a zone of groundwater polluted with elevated hexavalent chromium (the "plume") extending downgradient from the initial discharge area at the Facility to approximately 1 1/2 miles north of, and off, the PG&E compressor Facility.” Reading this, Erin Brockovich now learned how serious this matter really was. Chromium 6 is a cancer causing chemical that can lead to death if a human is around it enough. Reading further, she also learns that the hexavalent chromium contamination started from work that was done by PG&E in the years of 1952 to 1964. Pacific Gas and Electric had dumped chromium 6 into unlined ponds, which ultimitaly leaked into Hinkleys groundwater starting the contamination.