it was first hollowed out by in the 1990s the pacific gas and electric company (pg&e), which had been buying up local properties for decades, only for many more residents to flee after the organization was proven to have contaminated groundwater with hexavalent chromium now the town of hinkley, california   a mojave desert community famous for being 'saved' by erin brockovich and then immortalized in steven soderberg's oscar winning film    has been all but deserted after the movie was released in 2000, pg&e   who paid out $333 million in an out of court settlement   never halted its crusade to obtain land rights for most of the town, and last year stopped delivering bottled water to the few locals that remained, after tests in the area showed the chromium levels were below the maximum as a result, hinkley has sadly started to grind to a halt closed for business: hinkley, the the mojave desert community whose toxic chromium contamination was portrayed in the movie 'erin brockovich', has already lost its post office and will now lose its only gas station and convenience store  shutting down: hinkley's business has been dwindling as the community struggled with concerns over the cancer causing chromium 6 in well water here, ali abu hantash, owner of hinkley market & gas, sits and waits for customers to enter his general store in hinkley, calif the store will close in the coming weeks  deserted: hinkley, an unincorporated community in the mojave desert, in san bernardino county, california, 14 miles northwest of barstow, suffered greatly from its only school shutting down  according to vice, pg&e  continued their buy out to reduce the risk of any more lawsuits in march this year, the hinkley post office closed postal officials say they will be looking for a new location for the hinkley post office, which had been at the same location since 1958 the number of street deliveries in hinkley has dropped by nearly 38 percent — from 504 in 2012 to 321 in 2015, us postal service spokeswoman eva m jackson told the san bernardino sun newspaper huge hit: erin brockovich, starring julia roberts, was released on march 17, 2000, and grossed $281 million on its opening weekend it went on to make $1266 million in north america and $1307 million worldwide  rented boxes dropped 76 percent, from 321 to 75, during the same period, she said during the 1950s and 1960s, pg&e used chromium 6 to kill algae and protect the metal at its hinkley natural gas pumping station decades later, residents blamed their illnesses on a plume of contaminated groundwater that is 8 miles long and 2 miles wide the utility reached a $333 million settlement with residents in a case portrayed in the hit 2000 film 'erin brockovich,' starring julia roberts iconic: albert finney and julia roberts walk down the main street of hinkley in a scene from erin brockovich  business at the convenience store — the hinkley market — collapsed after the nearby hinkley elementary school closed in june 2013, the newspaper said the school shut down because of dwindling enrollment the market and gas station   the only store and place to get gas   will close at the end of april the store was bought out by pg&e 'it's another blow to the community,' lester white, a longtime community advocate, said of the loss of the town's only storefront no hollywood ending: hinkley has been decimated by the toxic water that has infected the area the decades  empty: pg&e have been buying up homes in hinkley for years just to knock them down and leave the land  ruins: some of the homes have been left sitting, rotting away locals say the town is nothing like what it used to be, but a few farms still remain  the land parcel containing the gas station, market and post office is owned by barstow resident tawfig a musitef, who could not be reached for comment according to brenda mcilvain, owner of riley's place, a roadside dive bar, the town was once 'full of such nice people' 'but i don't think hinkley will ever be like it used to be,' she told vice pg&e spokesman jeff smith told the sun that the company is in negotiations to buy the parcel pg&e has been buying residential properties in hinkley for decades as people seek to relocate
pg&e $333 million hinkley years later this month the pacific gas and electric company
the pacific gas and electric company (pg&e) continued buying up homes in hinkley for years after their $333 million lawsuit payout  many locals took the offers and others fled the toxic water  the homes have been knocked down or left as they are  hexavalent chromium contaminated the groundwater, causing numerous cancers and illnesses to residents over time  the local post office and school recently closed from lack of business  the convenience store and sole gas station set to shut later this month  only a few farms remain in hinkley 