Movie: Erin Brockovich
Summary of the movie: Erin Brockovich is struggling to make ends meet as a single mother with three children when she meets attorney Ed Masry and convinces him to give her a job in his firm. When filing the paperwork for a real-estate case, she decides to investigate further because the owners of the property have some unusual health issues. After much research, she discovers that these health problems are due to the presence of chromium in the area’s groundwater and that this is affecting the health of the whole community. She finds herself with a massive case against the large corporation that is causing the chromium pollution and works tirelessly to unite the community in an effort to stop the corporation and get the people the compensation they deserve.
While you watch the movie, listen for the answers to the following questions:
1. Where does the movie take place?
2. Who is Ed Masry?
3. What is the name of the company that is polluting the water?
4. What are examples of health problems that the people of Hinkley experience?
5. What is causing the people of Hinkley to get sick (be specific!)?
6. Explain how the ground water in Hinkley got contaminated.
7. Explain the Judge Simmons’ decision in the case between the people of Hinkley and PG & E.
8. What is the community’s response to the idea of arbitration (instead of a trial by jury)?
9. What was the judge’s final decision? (How much money does the community get?)
The Real Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich-Ellis(born on June 22, 1960) is an Americanlegal clerkandenvironmental activist, who, despite the lack of a formal education in the law, in 1993 was instrumental in building a case against thePacific Gas and Electric Company(PG&E) ofCalifornia. She is currently the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting, a consulting firm.
Working withEdward L. Masry, a lawyer based inThousand Oaks, California, Brockovich went on to participate in other anti-pollution lawsuits. One of those accuses the Whitman Corporation of chromium contamination inWillits, California. Another lawsuit, which lists 1,200plaintiffs, alleges contamination near PG&E's Kettleman Hills compressor station inKings County, California, along the same pipeline as the Hinkley site. The Kettleman suit was settled for $335 million in 2006. After experiencing problems with mold contamination in her own home in theConejo Valley, Brockovich became a prominent activist and educator in this area as well.
Brockovich and Masry filed suit against theBeverly Hills Unified School Districtin 2003, in which the district was accused of harming the health and safety of its students by allowing a contractor to operate acluster of oil wellson campus. Brockovich and Masry alleged that 300 cancer cases were linked to the oil wells. Subsequent testing and epidemiological investigation failed to corroborate substantial link, andLos Angeles CountySuperior Court Judge Wendell Mortimer granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs.In May 2007, the School District announced that it was to be paid $450,000 as reimbursement for legal expenses.
Brockovich assisted in the filing of a lawsuit against Prime Tanning Corp. ofSt. Joseph, Missouriin 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 ofCameron, Missouri, which is currently being investigated by the EPA.
In June 2009 Brockovich began investigating a case of contaminated water inMidland, Texas."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.Brockovich said "The only difference between here and Hinkley is that I saw higher levels here than I saw in Hinkley."
In March 2013 Brockovich met with residents ofBayou Corne,Louisiana, inAssumption Parishin south Louisiana where alarge sinkholeis growing as a result of underground waste storage from Texas Brine Inc.The residents are under mandatory evacuation as the hole grows and swallows more of the swampland, emitting methane and other gases, some possibly infiltrating into the groundwater and the air. The residents have been told their area is unlivable. She and her legal team have met with hundreds of the residents.