석유 회사와 법률사무소 일개 직원 간의 소송을 둘러싼 숨막히는 반전을 과학적 추론과 여주인공의 독특한 개성에 근거해 실제보다 더 멋지게 그려냈다고 평가 받는 줄리아 로버츠 주연, 스티브 소더버그 감독의 영화 "Erin Brockovich: ! 그 2 탄이라도 나올 모양이다. 헐리우드 영화말고 실제 에린 브로코비치에 의해 준비 중이라는데 ! 이제는 영화와 소송의 승리 덕분에 해당 법률회사의 중역이 된 에린 브로코비치가 로스앤젤레스에 위치한 한 고등학교를 상대로 지난 번 PG&E (석유회사)와 했던 유사한 소송을 준비 중이며, 이제 시사 주간지 Time의 저명한 컬럼니스트 레온 자르오프(Leon Jaroff)는 에린의 이번 소송은 과학적 근거가 희박하며 그녀가 주장하는 석유 및 석유 관련 생산품 때문에 해당 고교 졸업생 300여명이 암(cancer)에 걸렸다는 것은 어불성설이라고 조목 조목 반박하고 있다. 차분히 감상하세요 ~ ^^

(Time의 7월 11일자 기사로 레온의 Skeptical Eye라는 섹션 안에 구성된 흥미진진한 기사입니다. )

사진 위: 에린 브로코비치로 분한 줄리아 로버츠
사진 하: 캘리포니아 주에 사는 진짜 에린 브로코비치

Erin Brockovich's Junk Science

Her new suit against oil companies and Beverly Hills has little scientific grounding

Friday, Jul. 11, 2003
Erin Brockovich's latest crusade, against several oil companies and the city and school district of Beverly Hills, California, is as misguided as the one chronicled in the movie that made her famous. With Ed Masry, head of the law firm in which she serves as research director, Brockovich charges that fumes from active oil wells under the campus of Beverly Hills High School have caused inordinate levels of cancer and other disorders among the school's graduates. In June, the firm brought suit on behalf of 21 of those graduates against the oil companies that have, in succession, owned and operated the wells since the 1970s. Last week they also announced legal action against the city and the school district. Suits are still pending on behalf of additional graduates with different kinds of cancers and other ailments. Though there's no evidence the oil wells have caused the problems Brockovich claims, her track record shows she just might triumph in Beverly Hills.

The Beverly Hills cancer scare erupted in February, after Brockovich's firm alerted the local CBS-TV affiliate that she'd soon be filing suit. The resulting two-part TV series caused widespread concern, if not panic, among Beverly Hills high school students, parents and graduates. Six hundred people attended a meeting hosted by Brockovich at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel to recruit potential litigants, who were asked to fill out questionnaires to document their illnesses. Armed with these data, Brockovich charged that emissions of benzene, toluene n-hexane and other substances on the high school campus have caused 300 cases of cancer among those who graduated between 1977 and 1996. Though lacking any valid epidemiological study, she insists that this number represents a highly elevated rate in comparison with expected cancer rates in the general population. "I have 300 cancers staring me in the face and an oil production facility underneath the school," Brockovich told The Economist. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two fit together."

It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this is junk science. School officials dispute the numbers Brockovich is throwing about. They say 216 claims have been filed against the school district, and only 94 of them involve cancers. And what about those specific cancers — Hodgkin's Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and thyroid cancer — listed in the initial suit filed against the oil companies by the Brockovich firm? As the University of Southern California medical school's Cancer Surveillance Program flatly states, "Known causes of these cancers are not petroleum or petroleum products."

Further undermining Brockovich's charges, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, responsible for testing and ensuring air quality in the region, has reported that, "To date, monitoring at the high school area has not shown readings of benzene, hexane and other air toxic levels that are considered abnormal." A private testing company, hired by the oil company currently operating the wells, reached the same conclusion. And the Brockovich firm has not provided any evidence of a valid epidemiological study — which it does not have the expertise to conduct — to support its charges that rates of cancer and other illnesses are higher among Beverly Hills High school graduates than among other residents of the Los Angeles basin. Epidemiologists say a valid study would identify each graduate's ethnicity, diet, smoking habits, employment, family history, place of birth and changes in residency of each graduate, any or all of which might be factors contributing to illness. That's far more comprehensive than the Brockovich firm's approach. They also point to studies showing that the rates of cancer and other disorders in Beverly Hills are no different from those in the greater Los Angeles basin and note furthermore that more than a third of Americans, no matter where they live, eventually develop cancer.

Yet Masry and Brockovich are pressing on, still aglow from their legal and financial triumph celebrated in the movie. That victory has gone largely unchallenged, except by columnist and author Michael Fumento who, as early as 2000, documented some of the firm's questionable tactics. The suit, on behalf of Hinkley, California residents, focused on an ionized form of chromium called chromium-6, a rust inhibitor that was carelessly dumped by the giant utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, and seeped into the groundwater used by the town's residents. In bringing suit against PG&E, Brockovich's law firm charged that chromium-6, in addition to causing cancer, was responsible for disorders ranging from rashes and nosebleeds to lupus, miscarriage and Crohn's Disease in 600 of Hinkley's residents. The case eventually went to arbitration, and a panel of judges awarded residents a settlement of $333 million dollars, 40 percent of which went to the lawyers. For her efforts Brockovich received a two million dollar bonus.

And what are the facts? There is no doubt that PG&E irresponsibly dumped chromium-6, and that the substance is a carcinogen. When inhaled regularly over long periods of time, it can cause cancer of the lung and the septum. But current studies show that, ingested in the trace amount found in Hinkley's water, or in food, it's harmless. According to a 1998 Environmental Protection Agency report on chromium-6, "No data were located in the available literature that suggested that it is carcinogenic by the oral route of exposure."

Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Chemistry and Society, explains why. The difference, he says, "is that ingested chromium-6 encounters hydrochloric acid in the stomach's gastric juices, and is converted to chromium-3, which is innocuous." Anyway, he points out, "no single toxin causes the wide array of conditions that afflict Hinkley residents."

Critic Fumento hasn't let up. In a column syndicated by Scripps Howard last March, he took a penetrating look at the Beverly Hills furor. "Can you believe a California high school has suffered a shark attack?" he began. "How so? These sharks wear suits. Their names: paralegal Erin Brockovich and Attorney Ed Masry."

Time Magazine by Leon Jaroff
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실제 Erin Brockovich-Ellis (애칭) 소개

The youngest child of Frank and Betty Jo Pattee (he was an industrial engineer, she was a journalist), Erin Brockovich grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. After graduating from Lawrence High School in 1978, Erin spent one year at Kansas State University, then transferred to a business college in Dallas, Texas, where she earned her Associate in Applied Arts degree. She recently received an honorary degree of Master of Arts, Business Communication from Jones International University.
In 1981, Erin took a job as a management trainee for K-Mart in Orange, California. She left after a few months to take a job at Fluor Engineers and Constructors to work and study to become an electrical design engineer. While working at this job, she tried her luck in the beauty pageant world. Although she met with almost immediate success, winning the title of Miss Pacific Coast, she dropped off the circuit the following year and married restaurant manager Shawn Brown.

Shawn and Erin moved back to Kansas where over the course of four years Erin gave birth to her two older children, Matthew and Katie Brown. Eventually the family settled in Reno, Nevada. In 1987, she and Shawn divorced. Now a single mom with two children to support, Erin became a secretary at E.F. Hutton, a Reno brokerage. There she met stockbroker Steven Brockovich whom she married in 1989.

Though it produced her youngest child, daughter Elizabeth, Erin's marriage to Steven Brockovich ended. They were divorced in 1990, and again Erin was forced to fend for herself, this time with three children to feed and clothe.

After being seriously injured in a traffic accident in Reno, Erin Brockovich moved back to Southern California with her children. In 1991, she hired Jim Vititoe of Masry & Vititoe to handle her car accident case. It was not long after her case was resolved that she was hired to work at the law firm as a file clerk. While organizing papers in a pro bono real estate case, she found medical records in the file that piqued her curiosity. After getting permission from one of the firm's principals, Ed Masry, she began to research the matter.

Erin's solo 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 devastated 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 Erin Brockovich 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.

The story of Erin's investigation, legal triumph and personal challenges were dramatized in the hit movie "Erin Brockovich". Released in March 2000 by Universal Studios, it starred JULIA ROBERTS as Erin and ALBERT FINNEY as Edward Masry. The movie received 5 academy award nominations. Julia received a Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich.

No longer a file clerk, Erin Brockovich now serves as Director of Research at Masry and Vititoe, where she is currently involved in other major environmental lawsuits. Remarried in 1999 to actor Eric Ellis, she lives with her husband and children in Agoura Hills, California.

Erin has been with Masry & Vititoe for ten years and has spearheaded other cases:

Another Chromium 6 case against PG&E for groundwater contamination in Kettleman, California;
A TCE groundwater contamination against Lockheed Martin in Redlands, California; A DBCP and EDB groundwater contamination against Dole and Delmonte Foods in Oahu, Hawaii;
Groundwater contamination against Aerojet in Sacramento, California;
Chromium 6 case against Betz/Dearborn (settled) and numerous other cases in California, New Hampshire, New York, West Virginia, and other states. Masry & Vititoe is also pursuing multiple MTBE litigations against oil companies.
Erin Brockovich has received a number of awards and honors for her work with the environment:
Subject of the hit movie "Erin Brockovich" starring Julia Roberts
Consumer Advocate of the Year" - Consumer Attorneys of California
County of Los Angeles - Courageous and Unflagging efforts for work in Hinkley
"Profile in Courage" Award from Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association
"Scales of Justice" Award from Court TV
Justice Armand Arabian Law and Media Award - San Fernando Valley Bar
"Presidential Award of Merit" Consumer Attorneys of California
California Legislature - Assembly Resolution No. 1621 for her personal commitment to insuring the environment is free of toxic pollution
"Special Citizen Award" for noble efforts in protecting children. The Children's Health Environmental Coalition
"Walk the Talk" Award from Heal the Bay
"Champion of Justice" Award from the Civil Justice Foundation of ATLA
City of Barstow - Proclamation of "Erin Brockovich Day"
President's Award - Oregon Trial Lawyers Association
Mothers & Shakers Award - Redbook Magazine
"Consumer Advocate of the Year" - Themis Capital Corporation
Glendale Kiwanis Club - Dedication To Helping Others Fight Injustice
"Best Use of Public Records" - First Amendment Beacon
The Debbie Cole Award - Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
"Lifesaver Award" - Lymphoma Research Foundation of America
The Rochelle Hoffman Woman of Significance Award - Temple Adat Ari El
"Champions of Children" Award - Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
"Women of Action Award - Woman of the Year" - Israel Cancer Research Fund
National Jewish Fund - Environmental Excellence
Erin Brockovich has written a book, with Marc Eliot, entitled "Take It From Me, Life's a Struggle But You Can Win" and published by McGraw-Hill. It is currently in bookstores worldwide. She continues to lecture around the country on personal responsibility and motivation in overcoming adversity. She hosted the ABC special "Challenge America" in December 2001 and now hosts her own Lifetime television show called Final Justice, airing Fridays at 8 pm on the Lifetime Television Network. It deals with women who have taken life experiences, challenged the legal system and made it better for others that follow.

http://www.masryvititoe.com/erin_brockovich.shtml
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에린의 소송을 강하게 반박하고 나선 시사주간지 Time의 필진, Jaroff는 누구?

Jaroff joined Time Inc. in New York as an editorial trainee for LIFE magazine in 1951 and became a LIFE reporter later that year. In 1954 he became a LIFE correspondent, first in Detroit and then in Chicago. In 1958 he moved to TIME magazine and remained in the Chicago bureau as a correspondent, with a brief stint in Los Angeles, until he was named Detroit bureau chief in December 1960.

In 1964 Jaroff returned to New York as a contributing editor of TIME in the Business section. In 1966 he was made an associate editor and became TIME's chief science writer, writing all TIME cover stories of the U.S. space and moon landing program through 1969. In 1970 he was appointed a senior editor and, as such, edited nearly all of TIME's back-of-the-book sections including Sports, Science, Behavior, The Sexes, Medicine and Environment.


TIME science articles written or edited by Jaroff have won a number of awards. His stories on black holes and Richard Leakey won first prize and honorable mention, respectively, from American Association for the Advancement of Science for the best science stories in 1978. A 1975 cover story on the brain and a 1988 cover story on viruses won top journalism awards from the American Medical Association. His 1991 cover "Allergies" won the top award from the American College of Alergy and Immunology.

In April 1980, Jaroff became the founding managing editor of DISCOVER, the newsmagazine of science. During his more than four years at the helm of DISCOVER, articles edited by Jaroff won the American Institute of Physics Award twice. He is also author of The New Genetics (Whittle Communications; 1991) which is about the Human Genome Project and its impact on medicine.


A native of Detroit, Jaroff graduated in 1950 with degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics from the University of Michigan, where he was managing editor of the Michigan Daily. Following graduation, he worked briefly for the technical magazine Material & Methods before joining Time Inc.


Jaroff and his wife, Mary Kay Moran, live in East Hampton, N.Y., and Manhattan.