Erin Brockovich and The Legal Battle Against Pg&e

The movie Erin Brockovich was a true story about the water pollution in the town of Hinkley in the Mojave Desert of California. Toxins from chromium-six were released into the

local water of this town because of the local PG&E. Before leaking this chromium into the system, the company promoted the chemical and claimed that it would actually benefit the citizens, which was an utter lie. In truth it was a deadly chemical in which PG&E was practically killing Hinkley’s very own citizens slowly, without them even being aware.

The movie consisted of a woman named Erin Brockovich who landed a job with a local law firm through dispersity. She had an incredibly strong personality, easily most known by her attitude and willingness to speak her mind. While working at the local firm she had been working on a case concerning the town of Hinkley and it’s water sources, while doing this project she discovered a well hidden secret, which was that chromium-six was being released into the water in the city. Chromium-six is very toxic and because of that local citizens were commonly being infected with illnesses that previously had no explanation. Erin creates a case with her boss against the company, involving the citizens who are affected the most by the toxins. They work together to fight again PG&E and eventually win the case, though not easily. After the arguments are done, $400 million of damages were reimbursed to the citizens who had suffered and had to pay medical damages.

The movie showed the manipulative industry for what it truly is, all around us people are being taken advantage of by big time companies. People aren’t aware of what is actually in the water we consume, or many things for that matter. To become more aware of what we take in everyday and know every little ingredient is the way it should be, and the truth is that with water, shouldn’t that be the only ingredient anyway?

Erin discovered this case on her own while doing her regular work of looking over files, she saw something strange about it though and proceeded to investigate deeper. It seems that she became so involved not only because, yes, it was a big deal, but because she is not the kind of person that stands for anyone lying. She believes in justice and that the people of Hinkley should be credited for what they are, PEOPLE. PG&E was indirectly poisoning families, and not even beginning to take responsibility for it. As a worker at a firm, and as a good hearted person, Erin got involved as soon as she had the opportunity- and without her things may have never been taken care of.

Hexavalent chromium was the toxic poison that was being put in the water. Though some chromium types are safe at certain levels of exposure, for this one it was not the case. For the chromium that was contaminating the groundwater, it was very high in its oxidation levels. Being 6+ is what makes it carcinogenic, which PG&E was fully aware of. The side effects of its exposure are potentially dangerous, doing as much as causing ovarian cancer, kidney problems, and other major issues within the human body.

Because of her strong personality, Erin was many times able to get what she wanted. It wasn’t because she would complain, but because she never backed down when she knew she was right. She was persistent and sassy, she swore often, which had its pros and its cons. Her swearing so often gave her a persona of being not very respectful, but in truth she held her head strong and because of her loud voice it was many times what made people remember what she said, or even bother to listen at all.

PG&E definitely didn’t show any concern for the safety and health of the people within Hinkley. They knowingly put chromium in the water, even with the possibility of people being hurt from it. Nowadays businesses are all about money, money, and more money. Everything comes back to what makes the most profit, whether harmful to others or not. PG&E proved to be no different by acting as inhumane as they were.

When the cases were over and the people of Hinkley were given money, which they so rightly deserved. These people were having to pay for all the medical damages which they didn’t even know what the cause of it was. PG&E reassessed their idea of management and location and moved on. Because of this case, PG&E was attacked by other areas and soon were finally paying the people back. After the cases were complete, the cancer levels in that area were transformed completely for the better, leaving the families in the city much safer and healthier.

Things need to change. People can’t be taken advantage of like they are everyday, with companies winning big and being money hungry to no end. Not only are people materialistic enough as it is, finding profit in whatever they can, but now they are hurting others in the process. When peoples lives are at risk, that is when it becomes completely immoral. This is no way for companies to be acting, when in fact if they were in the shoes of those they were taking advantage of, they would want to fight just as much.