Erin Brockovich, environmental activist and inspiration for the Academy Award-winning movie “Erin Brockovich” (2000), spent the day in Bloomington Tuesday. She hosted a lecture in collaboration with the IU School of Public Health.
Community members, students and faculty filled Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union to hear Brockovich discuss her journey as an environmental activist, the importance of community and water pollution.
The lecture was part of the series “The Power of One,” which was established by Ruth Clifford Engs, a retired IU Department of Applied Health Science professor. The goal of the series is to present the link between the environment and health.
Brockovich shared her story of exposing Pacific Gas and Electric’s water contamination in Hinkley, California, the focus of the movie where she was portrayed by Julia Roberts. During Tuesday’s event, she encouraged people to get involved in their communities’ issues and to not give up.
“The difference you will make will be significant,” Brockovich said.
The second half of the lecture focused on the website Brockovich created called Community Healthbook. The website allows people to self -report environmental issues they are experiencing and see what others in their towns are facing.
Two land issues were reported in Bloomington, according to the website, though the map does not list any more specifics or when these cases were reported.
The website also allows community members to submit photos. She displayed some of these on the screen during the lecture. The photos, from all over the United States, showed bathtubs filled with brown water, yellow water running out of sinks and bottles filled with orange water.
Nearly 2,000 water reports have been made to Community Healthbook, one of which was made in a residential area near Lake Monroe.
“99.99% of the time it is one person that starts all the commotion,” Brockovich said, “and it’s one pissed off mom.”
Brockovich spent some time teaching the basics of water pollution to the audience. She said she hopes the public can better understand when water is dangerous and when it is not.
Over the last several years, the Bloomington community has, at times, noticed that occasionally there is a brown tint, smell and bad taste to the water. The city has acknowledged the issue and assures the public it is not dangerous and that discoloration is often linked to seasonal changes. It is brought by harmless microorganisms produced by changing temperatures in the town’s freshwater source, according to an Indiana Public Media article.
There was only time for one question from the audience at the end of the lecture. A pediatrician living 90 miles from Bloomington shared her story of working with pollution in southern Indiana for the last 15 years.
“This needs attention,” the pediatrician said.
“When lies start in the environment,” Brockovich said. “You must fight.”
