29 Most Toxic Places On Earth

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Hinkley, California

Source: https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

The residents of Hinkley, an unincorporated community in California, sued Pacific Gas and Electric Company for dumping 370 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the region’s groundwater. The company used chromium 6 or hexavalent chromium, a cheap rust suppressor that kept their pipelines free of rust and algae, despite knowing that the compound is a genotoxic carcinogen. The legal clerk and environmental activist, Erin Brockovich, investigated the number of illnesses linked to hexavalent chromium. Even though the lawsuit was settled in 1996 for $333 million, residents were still concerned about the risks of water contamination and relocated, and property values plummeted. The community’s school closed in 2013, and the post office shut down in 2015. The town’s population continues to dwindle, and in 2016, The New York Times described Hinkley as gradually becoming a ghost town.