Erin Brockovich Page #11

EXT. UCLA CAMPUS - DAY

Erin and Dr. Frankel continue walking.

ERIN:

Harmful, like -- how? What would you

get?

FRANKEL:

With repeated exposure to toxic levels --

God, anything, really -- from chronic

headaches and nosebleeds to

respiratory disease, liver failure,

heart failure, reproductive failure,

bone or organ deterioration -- plus,

of course, any type of cancer.

He rattles it off coolly. Just facts. Erin's stunned.

ERIN:

So that stuff -- it kills people.

FRANKEL:

Oh, yeah. Definitely. Highly toxic,

highly carcinogenic. Bad, bad stuff.

ERIN:

What's it used for?

FRANKEL:

A rust inhibitor. See, the utility

plants run these piston engines to

compress the gas, the engines get

hot, you gotta run water through

them -- chromium's in the water to

prevent corrosion...

ERIN:

Well, how do I find out what kind of

chromium they use in Hinkley?

FRANKEL:

Have you been to their water board?

ERIN:

Hunh-uh. What's that?

FRANKEL:

Every county has one. They keep

records of anything water-related

within their jurisdiction. You should

be able to find something there.

ERIN:

County water board. All righty,

thanks.

FRANKEL:

Good luck.

(beat)

Oh -- I wouldn't advertise what you're

looking for if I were you...

incriminating records have a way of

disappearing when people smell

trouble.

EXT. LAHOTAN REGIONAL WATER BOARD - DAY

A small building on a small street baking under the desert

sun. Anybody with any sense is inside, out of the heat.

Erin's Hyundai pulls up and stops in a cloud of dust. Erin

hops out, checks her reflection in the side-view mirror,

then heads into the building.

INT. LAHOTAN REGIONAL WATER BOARD - DAY

Drab, government-issue. ROSS, the bored desk clerk is thumbing

his way through ROAD & TRACK. Just as he stops to stare at a

motor oil ad in which a buxom blonde is straddling the hood

of a car, the huge door opens and Erin enters.

ERIN:

Whew! Goddamn, that's a heavy door.

Ross looks up. It's like the girl from the ad walked right

off the page. He jumps up, to help her with the door.

ROSS:

Oh, hey -- lemme give you a hand

there.

ERIN:

Thank you very much. Aren't you a

gentleman? Mr...

ROSS:

Ross.

ERIN:

Ross. Real pleased to meet you. I'm

Erin.

She smiles. He can't believe his luck.

ROSS:

Erin. Cool. What can I do for you,

Erin?

ERIN:

Well, believe it or not, I am on the

prowl for some water records.

ROSS:

(with a laugh)

You come to the right place.

ERIN:

(laughing along)

I guess I did.

ROSS:

You just tell me what you want to

look at and I'll be glad to dig 'em

out for you.

ERIN:

I wish I knew. It's for my boss.

He's fighting his water bill, and he

wants me to find all manner of bills

from all kinds of places. The easiest

thing would probably be if I just

squeezed back there with you and

poked around myself. Would that be

okay?

ROSS:

Heck, yeah. Come on back. Just gonna

need you to sign in here --

He hands her a pen. He reads over her shoulder as she signs

her name -- Erin Pattee Brockovich.

ROSS:

Pattee? That your middle name?

ERIN:

Nope. Maiden.

ROSS:

(disappointed)

You're married.

ERIN:

Not anymore.

She smiles and winks at him, then goes around the counter

with him and looks at the stacks and stacks of files.

ERIN:

Well. Here goes nothing.

She heads down an aisle, reading the spines of the files.

They're all town names -- Barstow, Victorville, Oro Grande,

Helendale -- in no particular order. Finally, Erin spots one

that says Hinkley. She pulls it down.

IN THE FILE:

are pages and pages of Xeroxed memoranda, letters, charts,

graphs, handwritten notes. All shoved in willy-nilly.

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