Current Environmental Work of Erin Brockovich

While I have branched out to many other areas to help people, Environmental work has always been close to my heart as a way to help many individual people when they find themselves in a battle with a huge Corporation that is causing them harm. The only way to prevail in these battles is to group together and I am best at gathering people together to find ways to get help and resources to help individuals get justice when they are being harmed.

Brain Tumors in Cameron, Missouri

CAMERON, Mo. - There is a new twist in the Cameron, Missouri cancer clusters and activist, Erin Brockovich. Families of cancer patients are now suing a hide tanning plant 37 miles away in St. Joseph. The lawsuit was filed in Clinton County Wednesday morning. Kansas City attorney Brian Madden told FOX 4 that Erin Brockovich is working with their firm in the case. Brockovich is expected to release results from her investigation Wednesday night during a town hall meeting in Cameron. The lawsuit alleges that Prime Tanning in St. Joseph, Missouri gave farmers sludge to use as fertilizer. The sludge contained a toxic chemical "hexavalent chromium" classified as a human cancer causing agent from 1983 through early 2009. William Kemper whose wife died from a brain tumor is one of the plaintiffs. Janet Lasher who was diagnosed with lung cancer is the second plaintiff. Brockovich spoke with residents last October after the EPA said there was no connection with dozens of cases of brain tumors. Those tests involved Rockwell Industries just outside of Cameron. The lawsuit claims Prime Tanning, which was purchased by National Beef Leathers in March, told the government that the sludge did not contain the toxic chemical, which was the same involved in the Brockovich case made famous in a movie in 2000.

Acreage cancer cluster fears in West Palm Beach

Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. and environmental advocate Erin Brockovich would like to update the public on a stepped-up inquiry into a potential "Cancer Cluster" in a rural suburb of West Palm Beach, Florida. State and county health officials have launched a Level II investigation in the The Acreage community after finding a potentially higher rate of cancer there in their initial research. "We are currently in the midst of assessing toxic substances in The Acreage, and how such substances have affected the health and welfare of area families," said Weitz & Luxenberg environmental lawyer Lemuel Srolovic.

TVA Coal Ash Spill in Knoxville, TN

KINGSTON, Tenn. -- Arsenic levels more than 100 times the acceptable amount have been found in a river near a massive coal ash spill in East Tennessee, federal environmental officials said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released data Friday showing total arsenic levels in one sample were 149 times the maximum acceptable level. The water sample from the Emory River near the spill site also showed a total concentration of lead five times above normal and slightly elevated total levels of beryllium, cadmium and chromium. Meanwhile, samples taken near the Kingston water treatment plant -- which is upstream from the spill site -- were found to be within the federal limits, except for thallium, which was found at levels three times the maximum limit, according to the EPA data. The EPA has said previously that water samples from near the spill were above federal maximums for contaminants, but hadn't released the data until Friday. Laura Niles, an EPA spokeswoman, said Friday these metals are routinely filtered out of drinking water during the water treatment process. A retention pond burst at the Kingston Steam Plant on Dec. 22, spreading more than a billion gallons of fly ash mixed with water over roughly 300 acres of Roane County and into the Emory River. The deluge destroyed three homes and damaged 42 parcels of land, but there were no serious injuries. At a news conference Friday, Kingston Mayor Troy Beets drank a cup of water that he said came from his tap at home, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.

Explosive Contamination in Pompton Lakes, NJ

The environmental lawyers of Weitz & Luxenberg PC would like to alert the public to a candid community meeting that took place with Walter Mugdan, a director with the Environmental Protection Agency, and that covered the environmental contamination and health concerns wrought by a former explosives manufacturing plant in the Upper Ringwood neighborhood in New Jersey. As reported by the The Record newspaper on March 27, 2009, Mugdan admitted, “We blew it . . . we thought we did a good job and had a good cleanup, but we didn’t.” Reportedly, Pompton Lakes, NJ Councilman Edward Meakem was at that very meeting in support of the Upper Ringwood residents. In fact, Meakem’s own hometown is now contending with a similar problem. “It’s the same thing over all the country,” he said, according to the Record. “These corporations leave pollution behind and no one is making sure they are cleaning it up.” As with the contamination in Ringwood, indoor air sampling tests taken in Pompton Lakes reveal vapors from Tetrachloroethene (PCE), used often in the textile industry and as a component of aerosol dry-cleaning products, and Tricholorethene (TCE), used as a solvent for cleaning metal parts, are rising from the ground into nearly 400 homes. The pollution originated from DuPont’s former explosives manufacturing plant that operated in the borough for 92 years. “Innocent families of Pompton Lakes are now contending with industrial vapor intrusion in their own homes and many residents fear they have become sick from the contamination,” said Robin Greenwald, head of the Environmental Toxic Torts Unit at Weitz & Luxenberg. She added, “The people in the community need and deserve to have their voices heard, and right now DuPont and the agencies responsible for policing pollution aren't listening.”

Contaminated Water in Fennville, Michigan

FENNVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - Nationally known environmental activist Erin Brockovich is getting involved in the cause of Allegan County residents who say a local food plant is contaminating their well water. Brockovich was made famous in a 2000 Hollywood movie about her life. Actress Julia Roberts won an Oscar portraying Brockovich who successfully fought a gas and electric company that was polluting and making people sick. In an e-mail to 24 Hour News 8, Brockovich confirms she and her team are working on the case of contaminated wells in the Fennville area and gathering documents regarding chemicals discharged by nearby vegetable plant Birds Eye Foods. 24 Hour News 8 reported last summer that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is investigating higher than acceptable levels of arsenic and manganese in some water wells. Birds Eye Foods does not discharge arsenic and manganese. However, it does discharge organic material, sugar, salt, and nutrients, and the DEQ says those deplete the oxygen in the groundwater, thereby allowing the heavy metals to enter. Because Birds Eye doesn't directly put arsenic and manganese in the ground, the company says it doesn't feel responsible. Brockovich informed 24 Hour News 8 she is planning a community meeting in West Michigan in the near future.

Midland, Texas Water Sullied

Brockovich said the area with the bad water is residential, and her team is working to identify all the homes that have problems and getting filters on their water supplies. But she said the process is becoming "very daunting, very quickly" because there are more homes affected than originally believed. And what does Brockovich say is in the water? A substance she knows all-too-well: hexavalent chromium. The same substance, also known as chromium-6, is what Brockovich found in the water in Hinkley, Calif. Brockovich is now known for leading that investigation, which Julia Roberts made famous nine years ago with her Academy award-winning portrayal of Brockovich in the film named after Brockovich. "I never thought I'd see another Hinkley, California," Brockovich told CBS News in Midland, “but I’m afraid I might be wrong." Hexavalent Chromium, Brockovich said, is now being found in significant amounts in the water of over 40 homes in Midland. "The only difference between here and Hinkley," Brockovich said, "is that I saw higher levels here than I saw in Hinkley." Midland resident Kay Saythre knew something was wrong, and asked Brockovich to investigate. "We didn’t really understand why the water was yellow when we filled the pool," Saythre said. That's when Saythre and her neighbors learned their water is contaminated. Saythre’s next door neighbor, Sheldon Johnson, and his wife are experiencing health problems. They have both been diagnosed with kidney problems. "It’s kind of odd that two members of the same household basically have the same problem," Johnson said. Both Saythre and Johnson now have state-monitored filters on their water supply.