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You
are Invited Saturday, August 30th
ACME will be screening the Steven Soderbergh film, Erin
Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts.
Saturday, August 30th. Doors open at 7:00pm,
film starts at Dusk.
Our last
Movie Night at ACME was very informative. We screened the Jane Fonda, Michael
Douglas film, THE CHINA SYNDROME. This film is loosely based on the SSFL Sodium
Reactor Meltdown in 1959, yet many people associate it more with the Three Mile
Island (TMI) incident as they occurred in the same year. The fact is THE CHINA
SYNDROME was filmed the year before the TMI incident with a release date of
March 16th, 1979. The incident at TMI began on March 28th,
1979. Truly a story of Life imitates Art. In the year 2006 researchers
concluded that the incident at the SSFL in 1959 released up to 240 times the
amount of radiation than TMI. The San Fernando Valley is now home to the Worst
Nuclear Disaster on U.S. Soil.
Erin Brockovich’s own words…
…After being seriously injured in a traffic accident
in Reno, my kids and I moved back to Southern California where I hired Jim
Vititoe of Masry
& Vititoe
to handle my auto accident case in 1991. Not long after my case was resolved, I
was hired to work at the law firm as a file clerk. While organizing papers in a
pro bono real estate case, I found medical records in the file that caught my
eye. After getting permission from one of the firm's principals, Ed Masry, I
began to research the matter.
My investigation eventually established that the
health of countless people who lived in and around Hinkley, California, in the
1960's, 70's and 80's had been severely compromised by exposure to toxic
Chromium 6. The Chromium 6 had leaked into the groundwater from the nearby
Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Compressor Station. In 1996, as a result of
the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spearheaded by me and Ed Masry,
the giant utility paid the largest toxic tort injury settlement in U.S.
history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents.
My investigating inspired the hit movie "Erin
Brockovich", which highlighted my legal triumph and personal challenges.
Released in March 2000 by Universal Studios, it starred JULIA ROBERTS as
myself. The movie's great success led to numerous awards and nominations, including
5 Academy Award nominations and one win. Steven Soderbergh was nominated for an
Oscar for “Best Director,” and Julia Roberts won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and
a BAFTA Award for “Best Actress” for her portrayal of me.
One thing that links ACME to Erin Brockovich is after her
victory with PG & E, Erin and Masry & Vititoe took on the Santa Susana
Field Laboratory. We
celebrate her tenacity and sheer will that led to so many victories and are
left inspired to finish the job here at the SSFL.
We hope you will join us.
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