We are joined now by Erin Brockovich herself
She is perhaps best known as the namesake behind the film Erin Brockovich
which actress Julia Roberts won an Oscar for in 2000
But of course Erin is famous in her own right
she was behind one of the largest direct action lawsuits in the US.
Her research and determination helped uncover widespread contamination
in the small American town of Hinkley.
She's just returned from Oakey though - Erin, thankyou so much for joining us first of all
Let me ask - why you? What can you bring to the small town of Oakey that's on the other side of the world?
Because what's happening on the other side of the world is happening here.
We're heavily involved in the United States right now in the exact same thing Oakey is facing
and that is PFOA groundwater contamination.
And it can wreak havoc on the environment and the health and welfare of people.
I did visit Oakey last year, I came back this year.
Things have not gotten better - they're actually starting to get worse.
We had a community meeting and it's caught attention - it's about time
because they have a situation brewing that needs to be addressed.
We just saw a range of maladies in Oakey, and I'm wondering,
what evidence is there that you can draw a straight line between
the chemicals that we're talking about, and the illnesses that humans are facing in that town?
This is an issue that we're always facing in the United States, and we have 88,000 chemicals
on the market, so when reports come out, and they're peer reviewed studies
that cause our EPA to make a movement - which they did with the PFOA -
they drastically reduced the level
And there's now these health advisories.
There are good peer reviewed studies that have a causal link between
PFOA and testicular cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer,
we know it's very disruptive during pregnancies and in fetuses,
can cause skeletal issues, can cause thyroid issues,
we know kidney disease, and ultimately liver disease.
This chemical has been used around the world, we know that, but do you know
of any other Australian towns where it's also being used?
We have a little bit of a problem very close to Sydney in Williamstown
there's also 30-60 other potential locations within Australia alone.
Thirty to sixty?
30 - 60 that have PFOA contamination, so it could be a nationwide problem.
Right now you're in the process of launching the early stages of a class action lawsuit
I'm curious for you, what does fair compensation look like?
Oh my gosh. That is almost an impossible question to answer.
I've been doing this - dare I date myself - for 25 years,
and when you have a situation that destorys farmland,
their livelihood, and jeopardises their future health,
it's so difficult to equate giving somebody money to give that back.
I don't know that you can.
Do they get moved? What will happen to the land?
What happens to their livelihood?
Are all the bores closed down? Is anybody still getting this water?
If so we need to find them a water source immediately.
Livestock should not be drinking this water,
they should not be being washed down in this water,
and they are.
And secondly, the children. It's important to understand PFOA
bioaccumulates, it resists biodegration in the environment
so it's almost impossible to remove it.
And once it's in your body
it has a twenty year half-life.
So you have children out there with levels with PFOA in their blood
a hundred times ehat we would expect to see at a national level.
If there's a 20 year half-life on this,
what is their future?
Do you see any similarities between Oakey and Hinkley?
The case that you're perhaps the most famous for?
Absolutely. And when I began my work in Hinkley I thought it was a one-off.
Boy, were we wrong.
It isn't just a problem throughout the United States,
it is a problem at a global level
and we really need to begin to look at our practices
of how we're disposing of waste, we cannot use our
water supply as a dumping ground.
We're going to have to look at technology on how we do that
how we clean up the mess that we have made.
We have to understand at a global level
we destroy this planet, we destroy this environment,
we are destroying ourselves.
And we've got to work together
whether it be solicitors, communities, with government, and with companies
on how we're going to address this really serious issue.
We can no longer afford to disassociate our health and wellbeing from our environment.
Just a quick question - how have conversations with health gone - have they been receptive?
These siutations don't just come up.
Somebody has known something, somewhere
and for fear, or greed, we don't say things, and it gets pushed to the side.
There's got to be a united front here
because it is important to all of us - our water and our health.
So I encourage this community to stay united
There's plenty of blame to go around, but if we sit and do that we're going to go nowhere.
You have a problem on your hands. It's going to blow up into a national problem.
It's our duty to protect the health and the welfare of these people,
their property, their land, and their water.
Watch this space! Thank you so much for joining us.