There’s a name to associate with fighting for fairness and fighting to protect the environment. For people’s health and for clean water. The battle still goes on and Erin Brockovich is still in the middle of it. It’s a true story without a happy ending – yet. Very appropriate for World Water Day and Earth Hour. One person can do a lot. Read More

Say the name Erin Brockovich and you think, strong, tough, stubborn and sexy. Erin is all that and definitely more. She is a modern-day “David” who loves a good brawl with today’s “Goliaths.” She thrives on being the voice for those who don’t know how to yell. She is a rebel. She is a fighter. She is a mother. She is a woman. She is you and me.

It’s been 12 years since Julia Roberts starred in the Oscar-winning tour de force “Erin Brockovich”. The film turned an unknown legal researcher into a 20th century icon by showcasing how her dogged persistence was the impelling force behind the largest medical settlement lawsuit in history. Since then, Erin hasn’t been resting on her laurels… she continues to fight hard and win big!

This gutsy broad doesn’t apologize for who she is. She has always loved going head to head with the big boys and was never intimated by their bravado. She learned how to come out on top from her tight-knit mid-western family in Lawrence, Kansas. Erin was the youngest child of an industrial engineer father and journalist mother. Her parents always believed that she could do anything she set her mind to if she learned to focus her amazing energy.

After a few years roaming around at various colleges, Erin decided that she wanted to be a California girl. She first landed a job as a management trainee for K-Mart but when that didn’t make her swagger, she decided to study electrical engineering. But that wasn’t enough for the Kansas beauty… on a fluke, she entered the Miss Pacific Coast beauty pageant… and, not surprising, won the title.

When she realized that beauty pageants weren’t her thing, Erin, her husband and two children settled in Reno, Nevada. After divorcing, the single mother became a secretary at a brokerage firm where she met and married her second husband. But that marriage was short lived and the now mother of three was solo again.

Up until this point, Erin was the average divorced single mother trying to make a living… until she crossed paths with lawyer, Ed Masry, and changed the course of both their lives.

After being seriously injured in a traffic accident in Reno, Erin moved back to California’s San Fernando Valley, and hired Masry & Vititoe to represent her. They won a small settlement but she still needed work so she got a job at their law firm as a file clerk, it was while organizing papers on a pro bono real estate case that Erin first found medical records that would explode into the largest direct action lawsuit in US history.

Erin’s exhaustive investigation uncovered that Pacific Gas & Electric had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley’s Water for over 30 years. It was because of Erin’s unwavering tenacity that PG & E had been exposed for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water. This poison affected the health of the population of Hinkley. In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spear-headed by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents.

The story and eventual film helped make the “Erin Brockovich” a household name. Over time, Erin realized that she could use her notoriety to spread positive messages of personal empowerment and to encourage others to stand up and make a difference.

Then, for three seasons, Erin hosted the Lifetime series, “Final Justice With Erin Brockovich”. The show celebrated everyday women who triumphed when faced with overwhelming adversity.Erin Brockovich has conquered all forms of media… Her first TV project was ABC’s 2001 special “Challenge America With Erin Brockovich” where she helped motivate and organize the rebuilding of a dilapidated park in downtown Manhattan. This show is best described as “Extreme Make-Over Home Edition” on steroids.

Erin then dominated the world of publishing with her New York Times Business best-seller, “Take It From Me. Life’s A Struggle, But You Can Win”.

Because of her fighting spirit, Erin has become the champion of countless women and men. She is this generations, “Dear Abby” and in fact receives thousands of “Dear Erin” letters and emails each year from people who are begging for help and support in their own personal struggles. Erin proudly answers every one of them.

As President of Brockovich Research & Consulting, she is currently involved in numerous environmental projects worldwide.

Erin is one of the most requested speakers on the international lecture circuit and travels the world for personal appearances.

Erin Brockovich is a true American hero who’s icon status and “stick-to-it-iveness” only fuels her determination to expose injustice and lend her voice to those who do not have one.

She has requests for her help in ground water contamination complaints in every state of the US, Australia and other international hot spots. She is currently working on cases in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri.

Erin lives in Southern California with her husband, three children and 5 Pomeranians and admits to one guilty pleasure… shopping!

When KMBC broke the story about a cluster of brain tumors in Cameron, it drew national attention. One of those taking notice was well-known environmental activist Erin Brockovich.

Watertown, New York

People living near the toxic waste site caused by the New York Brake factory have long believed that the pollution in the area has caused them health problems.

In 2012, two community members of Watertown invited Erin to investigate their concerns. In particular, Andrew Williams, who suffers neurological problems and his former neighbor, Scott Barker.

Mr Barker attributes their illnesses caused by contamination in Kelsey Creek, which they played in as children growing up on Watertown’s East Division Street. “While driving down to my house, I noticed – I asked him about his symptoms of what he was experiencing, and I noticed that they were the same as mine. And I was thinking in my mind what we had in common, and I turned to him: ‘I wonder if it had anything to do with the creek in back of our house?’”

The New York Air Brake site is already on the federal Superfund list, for cleanup of toxic waste.

In August, 2012, Robert Bowcock, an environmental investigator who works closely with Erin, attended the Community Meeting and spoke to a packed house of several hundred people at the North Side Improvement League.

Former workers of the New York Brake Company recalled dumping the industrial solvent tricholoethylene (TCE) into or near the creek. TCE is known to cause neurological damage.

“One of the biggest concerns that I’ve had since I’ve been introduced to this particular case of pollution is the absolute lack of information in the public record. I have never seen so much concealment of information as I have in Watertown.” Mr Bowcock said.

Erin is presently working on the matter with Mr Bowcock and a team of lawyers.

Source: www.brockovich.com