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Originally, Hinkley was created solely for the purpose of becoming a railroad stop in the later 19th century and it was also known as a small farming community. Afterwards, Hinkley soon became a small desert town that's objectively known for its scandalous groundwater contamination situation. This contamination situation caused health issues for many citizens residing within the town and has led to a legal case that resulted in a multi million dollar settlement. The town was soon depicted in a film called "Erin Brockovich" later in the 2000s.

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Walkerton is a small town situated by the Saugeen River.
With a population of about 5,000 people, most inhabitants at Walkerton, ON are above the low income cut-off, or the income a person must earn to be considered to be part of the low income group. However, majority are below the 2016 median income of $70,336 per year.

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On May 17, 2000, lab results show Walkerton’s tap water is contaminated with E. coli. However, The Public Utilities Commission did not inform the Ministry of the Environment. In a town of about 5000 people, 2300 got sick and 7 died from drinking tainted water.

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Both towns, Walkerton and Hinkley have went through a lot of troubles. In Hinkley, chromium affected the town's primary water source, which later led to health issues like cancer over a long period of time. In Walkerton, E. coli affected the town's primary water supply, which led to multiple deaths and hundreds of illnesses.

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Due to the discharge of hexavalent chromium from a natural gas compressor station, the station  became the primary source of contamination in Hinkley. PG&E used chromium-6 into ponds, which allowed toxic substance into the groundwater that soon served as Hinkley's primary source of drinking water. This revealed that PG&E's monitoring of operations were not effective and were overlooked.
Because of this, the chromium-6 contamination situation persisted for an extended period of time and just like Walkerton, citizens from Hinkley experienced various forms of health issues, like cancer.

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There are multiple reasons of how the water contamination began but a few are government cuts to services, lack of monitoring of chlorine residual daily, lack of supervision from the MOE, and lack of time & funding.
Not only that, but certain individuals and groups were to blame for the contamination in Walkerton, ON. For example, the "Cable brothers," they had falsified reports, log sheets, and failed to disinfect the town's drinking-water properly.

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Another example is how the Ministry of Environment(MOE) didn't have an inspection regime & failed to provide guidelines and resources to the Walkerton PUC. They're also in charge to make decisions to cut the number of inspectors, which caused inconsistency in monitoring the water contamination in Walkerton.

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Just like in the Erin Brockovich movie, victims of the contamination experienced health issues like the one family who all suffered from cancer or even Donna Jenson, who was a resident in Hinkley that develops breast cancer as a result of the contamination in Hinkley, CA.
Overall, due to PG&E's improper waste disposal practices, residents from Hinkley suffer from their daily source of water that is contaminated with chronium-6.

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The Ongoing Action of the Responsible Parties Throughout the Contamination

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The Ongoing Action of the Responsible Parties Throughout the Contamination

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The Ongoing Action of the Responsible Parties Throughout the Contamination

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The Ongoing Action of the Responsible Parties Throughout the Contamination

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Ongoing actions such as emergency response, public awareness initiatives, investigations, and legal proceedings, were taken to address the situation in Walkerton and to determine and implement measures to prevent possible incidents in the future. For example, MOE conducted inquiries which is now known as the "Walkerton Inquiry," which figures out why the tragedy happened and how to prevent it. The PUC created emergency measures to disinfect the water supply and reduce further risks to public health. Soon after, PUC worked on improving the water treatment system and implemented new regimes and protocols to prevent future incidents of illness.

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Another example is how the Cable Brothers were found guilty and the legal proceedings held them accountable for their actions and the distraught they had caused within families residing in Walkerton.
All things considered, there is proper conductions in the monitoring of the water system in Walkerton and ever since, Walkerton has a lot more clean water for its residents thanks to the help from the PUC, MOE and the people from Walkerton.

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Ongoing actions such as the monitoring of cleanup efforts, public health efforts, and legal settlement & compensation has largely helped Hinkley become a more flourishing town post-groundwater contamination. For starters, PG&E addressed the situation by providing clean water to affected residents and settled with the affected community members in a legal case. Both in the movie & in real life, Hinkley residents benefited from this case because they had the chance to get compensated for being involved in Walkerton's unfortunate incident.

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Another example is how the EPA involved themselves in monitoring the cleanup efforts in Hinkley. They established and created standards for chromium-6 which help prevent further health risks similar to Walkerton. There was also efforts to clean the contaminated groundwater in Hinkley. An example of an activity is the installation of treatment systems to reduce or completely remove chromium-6 levels from the water supply.

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Overall, even though there are measures to help prevent the groundwater contamination in Hinkley, residents of the town are still speculate and are unsure if their daily drinking water is completely safe. This incident not only left a mark on the citizens of Hinkley but also on the town's economic and environmental growth.

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The effects of the contamination on the community (including human impact)

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The effects of the contamination on the community (including human impact)

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The effects of the contamination on the community (including human impact)

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The effects of the contamination on the community (including human impact)

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Residents are afraid of the water contamination resurfacing and creating a disturbance in their drinking water.
After two decades of working on maintaining drinkable water, workers take protocols more lightly that could form a continuation of Walkerton's previous water tragedy.

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Similar to Walkerton, residents of Hinkley are still afraid of polluted water even after 15 years. Some residents still question if PQ&E's actions actually made a difference and if it's 100% completely fixed. Some residents are tensed at the knowledge that even though the state-designed level is not at a life-threatening level, they're still afraid that there's any chromium-6 showing up in the first place.

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Although Walkerton is a small town, people don't forget how sick they can become due to the toxicity of the water they used to drink. Some members of community feels as though the water should be left alone since it's currently clean and if they were to change it, a second round of the Walkerton incident may resurface.

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However, there has been cases where even though the chromium-6 is at a low level, there can still be symptoms of health risks even at low levels. Overall, residents are worrying about the water tragedy resurfacing and affecting them all over again. Reassuringly, PG&E continues to monitor and help prevent any health risks in  the small town called Hinkley.

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The Walkerton Judicial Inquiry, which is led by Dennis O'Conner investigated the cases of the Walkerton tragedy and made recommendations to prevent similar situations in the future.

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Similar to Walkerton, many residents from Hinkley filed lawsuits against PG&E for releasing chromium-6 into the groundwater. They wanted compensation for damages caused by the water contamination tragedy, including health issues and emotional distress within their communities and families.

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Criminal charges were also brought against operators responsible for PUC, aka Stan & Frank Koebel. They were charged for criminal negligence for death and bodily harm. These were based by their failure to correctly operate and maintain the water treatment system and also because they falsified reports.

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Lawsuits were continuously filed against those responsible for the Walkerton tragedy, including the Walkerton PUC and the Cable Brothers.
Residents did this to seek compensation from dealing with health issues and their suffering.

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PG&E accounted for a settlement up to $333 million, which became one of the largest settlements in the U.S. at the time. This was meant to help compensate victims of the tragedy and provide future health care costs and medical monitoring.
Not only that but there were also various agencies that helped monitor remediation activities and confirming the effectiveness of the cleanup process.

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In Hinkley, legal actions were made with a settlement of $333 million. These were meant to compensate residents of Hinkley to help support medical monitoring. In Walkerton, criminal charges against Stan & Koebel, who were operators of the water treatment system. They were found guilty of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and death. This tragedy also led to the creation of the Walkerton Judicial Inquiry, which made recommendations for preventive measures. This Inquiry improved education and regulations regarding water safety.

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It's not easy to determine which contamination area suffered the most or was the most severe since both areas had similar consequences and compensation. Also the fact that resolution can vary based on the number of affected individuals, legal actions pursued, and preventive measures. So, in my opinion, I believe that both areas suffered unfortunate events and they both deserve the compensation they are receiving.