how much was the settlement in hnkley california

What was the settlement for the Hinkley case?

Two years later, it settled the last of the Hinkley claims for $20 million. That year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to research by the National Toxicology Program on the development of cancerous tumors in mice and rats who had consumed heavy doses of chromium 6.

What was the settlement for Erin Brockovich?

The 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich" was based on a 1996 case that ended with a $333 million settlement on behalf of more than 600 Hinkley residents. Two years ago, PG&E agreed to pay $295 million to settle other lawsuits involving about 1,100 people.

How much did PG&E pay to settle Hinkley case?

Two years ago, PG&E agreed to pay $295 million to settle other lawsuits involving about 1,100 people. The final lawsuit was filed about seven years ago. "It wasn't just the people who lived by the (PG&E) plant who were affected but everyone living in Hinkley," said Stephen Wainer, an attorney for the defendants.

What happened to Hinkley after the Brockovich case?

For the residents of Hinkley, the story continues. Almost three decades after the lawsuit, Brockovich revisited the neighborhood and met with residents who say they are still suffering the effects of the contamination. Erin Brockovich pictured at an event for the movie "Erin Brockovich."

How much did each Hinkley residents get?

Walker said she knew Hinkley residents who received as little as $10,000 from the settlement — and one that received $2.5 million.

How much did Hinkley residents get from PG&E?

A pipe is one of the few signs that houses once stood on the property where Pacific Gas & Electric bought and razed them after the company was found to have polluted the ground water with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium for 30 years.

How much was Erin Brockovich bonus check?

Brockovich was disheartened by the whole process, not least because Jorge had already brought a $3m palimony suit against her after they broke up, which she settled with a "one-time, so-long-Charlie bonus in the form of a $40,000 cheque".

How much did Ed Masry get?

The case was settled in 1996 for $333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in American history. The case was adapted for the successful 2000 film Erin Brockovich, with Albert Finney portraying Masry.

What happened to the Hinkley settlement?

A class-action lawsuit about the contamination was settled in 1996 for $333 million. In 2008, PG&E settled the last of the cases involved with the Hinkley claims. Since then, the town's population has dwindled to the point that in 2016 The New York Times described Hinkley as having slowly become a ghost town.

How much was the PG&E settlement?

a $55mPacific Gas & Electric agrees to a $55m settlement over 2 wildfires : NPR. Pacific Gas & Electric agrees to a $55m settlement over 2 wildfires Pacific Gas & Electric also agreed to submit to five years of oversight. The company didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement.

How much money did Erin Brockovich get from the settlement?

Masry & Vititoe, the law firm for which Brockovich was a legal clerk, received $133.6 million of that settlement, and Brockovich received $2.5 million as part of her fee.

Is Hinkley CA still contaminated?

“At some point in the next few years we're going to get some closure,” Banks said. But today there's little left in Hinkley beyond some scattered homes and acres of alfalfa and other grasses, planted to help clean the contamination. “You had a great community out here and now it's gone,” said resident Roger Killian.

Does Erin Brockovich still work for Ed Masry?

Brockovich, who still works for Masry as his research director, testified in the Van Nuys courtroom of Judge Stanley Weisberg that two key pieces of evidence offered by Cohen's lawyer did not strike her as sexual harassment.

How much did the lawyers make in Erin Brockovich?

Under their agreement with with Ed Masry (who is played in the film by Albert Finney) and two other law firms, the lawyers received 40 per cent of the settlement, or $133m.

Did Erin and George stay together?

Erin and Jorge did break up, but he did not leave her life. He was hired as a full time live-in nanny for Erin's children for several years, paid for by the law firm so that she would have more time to devote to her work.

Did Erin Brockovich get sick?

1. In real life Brockovich herself became ill from the hexavalent chromium. Although not seen in the film, Erin Brockovich was actually hospitalised because of ingesting the hexavalent chromium.

Did PG & E pay Hinkley?

Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the nation's largest investor-owned utility, agreed Tuesday to pay $333 million to residents of the tiny desert community of Hinkley, Calif., who blamed cancers and other diseases on contaminated water leaking from a gas pumping station.

How much money did Erin Brockovich win for her clients?

Brockovich became instrumental in building a case against PG&E, alleging the company contaminated the town's drinking water. In 1996, the case was settled for $333 million -- the largest ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit at the time.

How much was the Kettleman Hills settlement?

$335 millionWhen we won those folks $333 million, Julia Roberts made a movie about it: “Erin Brockovich.” I later went on to fight PG&E for damages caused by its Kettleman Hills Compressor Station in Kings County, and residents there settled for $335 million.

How many plaintiffs were involved in the class action lawsuit against PG&E?

Two lawsuits claiming to be on behalf of nearly 200 plaintiffs have been filed, alleging that Pacific Gas & Electric equipment caused the Dixie Fire, a wildfire that began July 13 and became the second-largest wildfire in California history.

How much was Erin Brockovich's case worth?

After many arguments, the case was referred to arbitration with maximum damages of $400 million.

How much did PG&E pay for the Chromium lawsuit?

In 2006, PG&E agreed to pay $295 million to settle cases involving another 1,100 people statewide for hexavalent chromium-related claims.

How much did the Hinkley case cost?

Two years later, it settled the last of the Hinkley claims for $20 million. That year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to research by the National Toxicology Program on the development of cancerous tumors in mice and rats who had consumed heavy doses of chromium 6.

How many acres did PG&E clean up?

According to Sullivan, PG&E cleaned up 54 acres (22 ha); however, it would take another 40 years before they were done. PG&E built a concrete barrier about a half-mile long to contain the plume, pumped ethanol into the ground to convert chromium 6 to chromium 3, and planted acres of alfalfa.

Why is the water in the cooling towers considered a carcinogen?

Between 1952 and 1966, the water in the cooling towers contained hexavalent chromium —now recognized as a carcinogen —to prevent rust in the machinery. The water was stored between uses in unlined ponds, which allowed it to percolate into the groundwater. This led to groundwater pollution, affecting soil and contaminating water wells near the compressor station with a plume originally about 2 miles (3.2 km) long and nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. By 2013, the plume was 6 miles (9.7 km) long and nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) wide.

Where is PG&E dumping?

From 1952 to 1966, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) dumped about 370 million gallons (1,400 million litres) of chromium -tainted wastewater into unlined wastewater spreading ponds around the town of Hinkley, California, located in the Mojave Desert (about 120 miles north-northeast of Los Angeles ).

How much did Pacific Gas and Electric pay for the lawsuit?

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will pay $20 million to settle the last lawsuit that claimed it was responsible for poisoning water in a Calif. town, as depicted in the movie "Erin Brockovich.".

How much was the Erin Brockovich case worth?

The 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich" was based on a 1996 case that ended with a $333 million settlement on behalf of more than 600 Hinkley residents.

When did the Erin Brockovich case end?

The settlement was the latest involving a series of suits that claimed PG&E contamination sickened hundreds of people in Kings, Riverside and San Bernardino counties from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. The 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich" was based on a 1996 case that ended with a $333 million settlement on behalf of more than 600 Hinkley residents.

Who oversees the Hinkley cleanup?

She started calling neighbors and looked up files at the Lahontan Water Quality Control Board website , which oversees the Hinkley cleanup.

Why is Hinkley water bad?

Hinkley’s water problems date back to the use of chromium-6 to protect the metal and kill algae in cooling towers at that station . The power company would periodically dump the contents into an unlined pond, a not uncommon practice in that era before the cancer-causing properties of chromium-6 were known.

Why did Brockovich leave Hinkley?

Brockovich left Hinkley in 1997 feeling justice had been done. It was a story Hollywood played up. Unemployed-single-mom-turned-legal-assistant almost single-handedly forces giant California power company to pay millions for years of polluting local water with a substance linked to cancer.

What did Spasojevich notice about Katie?

One day, Spasojevich noticed that the horse looked drawn-in, and by pinching her skin, she determined Katie was dehydrated.

When was Sparkletts water delivered?

Sparkletts bottled water provided by PG&E sits on a driveway after being delivered to a home in Hinkley on Thursday, March 7, 2013. Many residents participate PG&E’s water program, which provides Culligan and Sparkletts bottled water on a bi-monthly basis for cooking and drinking as an alternative to using contaminated ground water. (Rachel Luna / Staff Photographer)

Why does Reanna Banks want to leave the show?

Reanna Banks, however, wants out — for her son, her own health and her husband’s.

How many acres did the actress buy from the plume?

She and her husband bought 10 acres far away from the plume and she was certain that after the legal settlement — and the movie — PG&E would contain it.

Who was responsible for the Hinkley leak?

In the ’90s she collected much of the nuts-and-bolts information about the chromium-6 leak that was attributed to Erin Brockovich in the movie adaptation of the town’s story. (Walker figured so prominently in the story of Hinkley that, in its dramatization, she says her actions were spread over five characters.)

What is Hinkley known for?

Hinkley is still best known as the “Erin Brockovich town.” In 1996 a group of residents famously won a massive direct-action arbitration against Pacific Gas and Electric with the help of Brockovich, a savvy single mom and Los Angeles legal clerk. The utility company was found liable for dumping hexavalent chromium (aka chromium-6), a carcinogen used to suppress rust formation at the Hinkley gas compressor station, into an unlined pond in the ’50s and ’60s. The chemical seeped into the town’s groundwater. PG&E hid the crisis and misled the community on the effects of that specific type of chromium and its possible connection to health problems in the town.

What was the chemical used to suppress rust formation at the Hinkley gas compressor station?

The utility company was found liable for dumping hexavalent chromium (aka chromium-6), a carcinogen used to suppress rust formation at the Hinkley gas compressor station, into an unlined pond in the ’50s and ’60s. The chemical seeped into the town’s groundwater.

What was the biggest payout ever awarded for a direct action lawsuit?

At the time it was settled, the Hinkley case was the largest payout ever awarded for a direct action lawsuit. Environmental advocates lauded the decision. And of course, the story became an Oscar-winning movie starring Julia Roberts. Grist thanks its sponsors.

Where did Penny Harper live?

Penny Harper moved part-time to Hinkley from Los Angeles in 1974, buying 10 acres of land as a “weekend retreat where there was no smog or traffic or people.” She would bring gallons of water back to L.A. from the well on her land. She was told the water didn’t have to be cleaned with the scores of various chemicals used at big city water treatment facilities. Once she found a decent job in the Hinkley area, she moved there full-time.

Who is Raudel Sanchez?

When it comes to the ongoing water cleanup, Raudel Sanchez is the man in the middle. As the project manager of Project Navigator, the environmental management and consulting firm hired to act as the remediation plan’s independent review panel, Sanchez’s job was originally to interface with community members and the now-defunct community advisory committee, made up of residents and PG&E representatives. Sanchez arrived in 2012, but it was the 2015 Cleanup and Abatement Order — made in response to the plume’s growth — that formalized Project Navigator. Sanchez’s remit is to facilitate clarity more than sympathy.

When was the PG&E settlement?

That was 1995 — a year before the settlement with PG&E.

Who is in charge of cleanup in Hinkley?

Independent consultant Raudel Sanchez is in charge of monitoring the cleanup efforts on behalf of Hinkley residents. PG&E funds Sanchez and his group as part of the settlement.

What did Brockovich say about the ghost town?

Brockovich added, “Everything's boarded. It's a ghost town. That's a good way to end a community in America and poison it and its people.”

How much did Michigan pay for the crisis?

I n August 2020 the state of Michigan agreed to pay victims of the crisis $600 million.

Where does Penny Harper live?

Harper said she bought 10 acres in Hinkley in 1974. She has lived on her land, now with her rescue dog Mars, who had drank the well water for years but has since switched to purified water. ABC. Current resident Penny Harper of Hinkley, California.

How much did Brockovich pay for the PG&E case?

In 1996, the case was settled for $333 million -- the largest ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit at the time.

How much did Roberta get from the settlement?

Roberta is not allowed to say how much she got from the $333 million dollar settlement that gave the screenwriters such a nice bow to wrap up the movie. It was, however, enough to allow her and her husband to build a new home on a hill overlooking Hinkley.

Is it a shame that we cannot be more confident about the water that flows into our homes?

It is a shame that we cannot be more confident about the water that flows into our homes. Regulators at the state and federal level say they have to weigh public health concerns against the economic realities of tougher drinking water standards.

Overview

History

Groundwater pollution

Plume

Cleanup

Debates

Film

See also