0 Likes
A 400' aerial view overlooking the sparse Hinckley, California. In 2010 the population was estimated at 1,692 however the area has been described as slowly turning into a ghost town. From 1952 to 1966, PG&E dumped roughly 370 million gallons of chromium-tainted wastewater into spreading ponds around the town. The hexavalent chromium was found in the well-water & was creating cancer-causing effects on the population to which legal clerk Erin Brockovich began investigating the health impacts in 1993. This led to a direct-action lawsuit of $333 million in 1996, the largest so far in US history. By 2013, PG&E had spent $750 million on remediation. The movie Erin Brockovich is based on this health investigation event. Also of note, from the year 2000, about 26.7% of the towns population reported having a disability, about 8% higher than the national average.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinkley_groundwater_contamination
...