Erin Brockovich speaks at GVSU

Erin Brockovich ¿ the activist whose struggle to expose environmental pollution was chronicled in the Oscar-winning film that bears her name ¿ will speak at Grand Valley State University on Saturday, February 1.

Brockovich will be appearing as part of Grand Valley's Leadership Summit. The annual event promotes civic engagement, and helps students from across the Midwest develop leadership skills. Her talk will focus on her story and how one person can make a difference in our communities and in the lives of others.

The speech is Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m. in Grand Valley's Fieldhouse Arena. Doors open at 7:30. Tickets are available by calling Grand Valley Event Services at (616) 331-2350. Grand Valley students receive 2 free tickets by showing a valid GVSU ID. Non-GVSU participants may call the above number to buy tickets for $7.

Brockovich was a law office file clerk and divorced mother of three when she spearheaded a direct action lawsuit that resulted in the largest legal settlement in U.S. history. Soon after being hired at the law firm of Ed Masry, her curiosity was piqued by medical records she found in a file on a pro bono real estate case. Her solo investigation, backed by Masry, found that Pacific Gas and Electric had exposed the residents of Hinkley, California, to toxic Chromium 6, which had leaked into the groundwater from unlined holding ponds, and had lied to them about the risks.

In 1996, PG&E was forced to pay $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents, many of whom had become seriously ill. The story of her investigation and triumph were dramatized in the hit movie Erin Brockovich, which won Julia Roberts a best actress Academy Award.

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.