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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.<ref name="Mcgraw Hill">[http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.au/html/9780071383790.html "Take It From Me: Life's a Struggle But You Can Win."] Retrieved December 1, 2009.</ref>
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.<ref name="Mcgraw Hill">[http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.au/html/9780071383790.html "Take It From Me: Life's a Struggle But You Can Win."] Retrieved December 1, 2009.</ref>
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==Arrest==
Erin Brockovich was arrested on June 7, 2013, in [[Lake Mead, Nevada]], for operating a boat while intoxicated. According to the game wardens who observed her and took her into custody, she tested above the .08 blood alcohol level.<ref>{{cite news|title=Erin Brockovich arrested for boating while intoxicated|url=http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/06/09/Erin-Brockovich-arrested-for-boating-while-intoxicated/1491370815674/|accessdate=June 9, 2013|newspaper=UPI|date=June 9, 2013}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 03:03, 1 September 2013

This article is about the individual. For the film of the same name, see Erin Brockovich (film).
Erin Brockovich
Brockovich in 2012
Born
Erin Pattee

(1961-06-22) June 22, 1961 (age 63)
Lawrence, Kansas, United States
Occupation(s)President, Brockovich Research & Consulting[1]
Spouse(s)Shawn Brown (m. 1982-1987)
Steven Brockovich (m. 1989-1990)
Eric L. Ellis (m. 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]

Early life

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. She won Miss Pacific Coast in 1981. She has lived in California since 1982.

Pacific Gas and Electric litigation

Main article: Hinkley groundwater contamination

The case alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium (also written as "chromium VI", "Cr-VI" or "Cr-6") 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 2 by 1 mile (3.2 by 1.6 km).[6] The case was settled in 1996 for US$333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in US history. Brockovich's law firm received 133.6 million dollars of this settlement, and Brockovich herself received a two million dollar bonus from the action. However, Brockovich's law firm held onto the money for over six months, and after several threats for lawsuits, they finally paid out.[7] The firm also billed $10 million for undetailed expenses which is in violation of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct.[8]

A study released in 2010 by the California Cancer Registry showed that cancer rates in Hinkley "remained unremarkable from 1988 to 2008."[9] 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."[9] However, a June 2013 Mother Jones magazine article claimed that the Center for Public Integrity had "debunked" that study, and some others by the same researcher.[10]

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.[11] California's Public Health Goal (PHG), circa 2011, for hexavalent chromium is 0.02ppb.[12]

Other litigation

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 was 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.[13] 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.[14] In May 2007, the School District announced that it was to be paid $450,000 as reimbursement for legal expenses.[15]

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.[16]

In June 2009, Brockovich began investigating a case of contaminated water in Midland, Texas.[17] "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.[17] Brockovich said "The only difference between here and Hinkley, is that I saw higher levels here than I saw in Hinkley."[17]

In March 2013, Brockovich met with residents of Bayou Corne Louisiana, in Assumption Parish of South Louisiana where a large sinkhole is growing as a result of underground waste storage from Texas Brine Inc.[18] The residents are under mandatory evacuation as the hole grows and swallows more of the swampland, emitting methane and other gases, some possibly infiltrating 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.

Awards

Movies

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.

Brockovich has a more extensive role in the 2012 documentary Last Call at the Oasis, which focuses not only on water pollution but also on the overall state of water scarcity as it relates to water policy in the United States.[20]

Book

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.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Erin Brockovich Biography". Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  2. ^ "Girardi & Keese Law Firm" (PDF).
  3. ^ Maddaus, Gene (September 22, 2009). "Erin Brockovich goes after Shell Oil in Carson". Daily Breeze.
  4. ^ McDonough, Molly (September 26, 2008). "Erin Brockovich Signs On With NYC Law Firm". ABA Journal.
  5. ^ "Erin Brockovich Shines". Shine Lawyers.
  6. ^ PG&E Hinkley Chromium Cleanup California Environmental Protection Agency, 9/10/08
  7. ^ Sharp, Kathleen. ""Erin Brockovich": The Real Story". www.salon.com. Salon Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  8. ^ American, Bar Association. "BILLING FOR PROFESSIONAL FEES, DISBURSEMENTS AND OTHER EXPENSES" (PDF). ABA Comm. on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Formal Op. 93-379 American Bar Association. American Bar Association. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  9. ^ a b Schwartz, Naoki (2010-12-13) Survey shows unremarkable cancer rate in CA town, Boston Globe Dec 13, 2010
  10. ^ http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/05/erin-brockovich-hinkley-california-junk-science
  11. ^ PG&E Background Study
  12. ^ Baes, Michael (July 29, 2011). "Final Technical Support Document on Public Health Goal for Hexavalent Chromium in Drinking Water". Water. Oakland, CA: California Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved April 23, 2012. The PHG [Public Health Goal] for hexavalent chromium is established at 0.02 parts per billion (ppb).
  13. ^ Beverly Hills Mystery People Magazine. May 19, 2003, Accessed May 30, 2009.
  14. ^ "More Brockovich Claims Tossed." Balance. Civil Justice Association of California. Third Quarter 2007, p.2.
  15. ^ Justice Served as City of Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills Unified School District Receive Reimbursement in Oil Well Litigation, CJAC press release, Oct 9, 2007.
  16. ^ Lawsuit alleges fertilizer was contaminated around Cameron, Mo.
  17. ^ a b c "Brockovich: Midland, Texas Water Sullied." CBS News. June 10, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009.
  18. ^ "Erin Brockovich advises Assumption Parish residents on sinkhole issue" The Times-Picayune. March 10, 2013. Accessed March 11, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c Erin Brockovich Awards. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  20. ^ Turan, Kenneth (May 4, 2012). "Movie review: 'Last Call at the Oasis' smartly sounds alarm on water". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California: Tribune Company. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  21. ^ "Take It From Me: Life's a Struggle But You Can Win." Retrieved December 1, 2009.
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