Unsafe Procedures at PG&E:                                         

The issue raised in this controversy is in regards to the practices of the Hinkley Compressor Station. The station operates just like thousands of other facilities with cooling towers around the world.  However, PG&E station in Hinkley performed unsafe procedures that were not part of the other station's operations. The gas compression generates heat and therefore, the gas and the compressors have to be cooled with circulating water.  This circulating water must pass through the cooling towers and in doing so causes rapid corrosion. In order to prevent this corrosion PG&E added a “corrosion inhibitor” to the cooling water since the opening of the plant. Chromium VI was the inhibitor used in the Hinkley plant. The plant discharged the water containing chromium VI into unlined ponds located at the compressor station. This was PG&E’s most damaging mistake. They neglected the proper disposal techniques of this toxin and therefore, put the population of Hinkley at an extreme risk for exposure to this carcinogenic toxin. Not only did the station dispose of this dangerous toxin in an unsafe way they also sprayed the contaminated wastewater into the air which left residue on the soil. Once the water dried the soil was free to blow in the wind where it could be inhaled by the people and animals that lived in Hinkley.  (Erin Brockovich ... [updated 1999])

PG&E's hazardous disposal of water containing chromium VI led to the avoidable contamination of Hinkley's water supply. The exposure occurred because the chemical was placed in unlined ponds where it was now free to travel from the ponds to the groundwater. Once it was in the aquifer that supplied Hinkley residents with all their water, the toxic material moved into the town wells (Erin Brockovich ... [updated 1999]). Due to the exposure to the toxin the residents of Hinkley suffered from a variety of symptoms including nose bleeds, different forms of cancer, miscarriages, and spinal deterioration (Fumento 2000). Chromuim VI caused many adverse health effects in residents of the town.  Chromium causes its damage through the absorption of the toxin into human cells. The tetrahedral chromate ion can use the same pathway into cells as a similar ion, tetrahedral phosphate (PO43-). Once chromium VI enters the cell, intermidate Cr(V), Cr(IV) ions, oxygen, and organic radicals are generated. This causes DNA damage including DNA strand breaks, Cr-DNA adducts, and DNA-protein cross-links (Rayner). It is evident that chromium VI has dangerous effects when it enters a cell of human. PG&E knew that they were releasing abnormal amounts of this toxin into the water supply and did nothing to stop it.  Therefore, they are to blame for misinforming the community and causing many of the negative health effects.

The Injustice:

The injustice occurred in this case due to the inability of PG&E to inform the residents of Hinkley about their exposure to chromium VI even though they were aware of the problem. Internal documents reveled evidence that the level of chromium IV in the water was 20-24 ppm which is four hundred times the legal limit in California (Lasalandra and McCluskey 2004). These documents were dated back to the 1960s. This proves that PG&E knew about the problem decades before the suit was filed against them but did nothing to stop the contamination or to inform the people about the potential risks. The companies only response to the residents concerns about swimming in their pools, bathing in their homes or watering their plants, and giving water to their animals was to “avoid drinking your well water, but it is safe to use for all other domestic purposes such as bathing and watering animals and plants”(Erin Brockovich ... [updated 1999]).  As you can see, the PG&E company misinformed the residents of Hinkley and misguided them to using the water. 

Case Study 1