Legal clerk and environmental activist,
Erin Brockovich, was portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar winning film bearing her name. She discussed how she won her epic battle against Pacific Gas & Electric, and how she continues to challenge corporations around the country to help average Americans in their fight for toxin-free environments.
The case against PG&E involved contaminated ground water in Hinkley, CA, and the movie portrayed the situation with about 95% accuracy, she detailed. A number of the cases she's subsequently worked on have dealt with contaminated well water. Some 30 million Americans get their water from wells, but there is currently no system for monitoring their safety, she noted.
Among the sites/cases, she's currently working on are Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where thousands have been poisoned by a tainted water supply; Beverly Hills High School where some 450 kids came down with cancer, thought to be related to toxic gases emitted from an oil production facility underneath the school; and a 'cancer cluster' in a rural section of West Palm Beach, FL possibly related to pesticides seeping into the ground water. Brockovich announced that she is working with Google to create a cancer cluster map, highlighting locations where specific types of cancer are unusually high in number.
She also talked about her suspense novels
Rock Bottom and
Hot Water, in which she's created a character similar to herself who deals with environmental investigations. By telling a story that has truth in it in an entertaining fictional format, she hopes to ignite and inspire her readers to take action in their own communities. Brockovich said she fields many emails and queries from people who approach her about worker's comp and whistle-blower issues, environmental problems, pharmaceutical and disease issues, as well as corruption in government, and international concerns.
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