Anderson at Al V. Pacific Gas

456 Words2 Pages
The cases of Anderson et al v. Pacific Gas and Electric and Jones v. Scotchwood are very similar yet have significant differences. Four decades after one of the world’s largest utility started dumping 370 million gallons of cancer-causing chemicals into unlined ponds in Hinkley, California, their actions were uncovered. There negligence caused many people and domestic animals in the high desert town of Hinkley to get sick. In the town of Scotchwood, the water pipes running throughout the town were deteriorating causing the parasite “Pindia” to contaminate the water. This parasite was not an immediate threat to healthy people of Scotchwood but to the people already sick with diseases causing weakened immune systems. Anderson et al v. Pacific Gas and Electric and Jones v. Scotchwood both dealt with cases having to do with water contamination causing harm to citizens. A big difference between the two is that Scotchwood did not do anything really negligent and tried to make all citizens of their town aware of the parasites in the water. Pacific Gas and Electric dumped all the chemicals secretly and illegally into ponds with full knowledge they were contaminating the water they were dumping into. PG&E dumped so many gallons of chemical waste into the water that the hexavalent chromium 6 levels were 10 times the legal limit in the water. Negligence is clear in the Anderson case but with Scotchwood it is a little different. Rick Jones, father of deceased Sam Jones, is suing Scotchwood for strict liability due to negligence. Scotchwood feels they were not negligent because they put in the newspaper, put on TV, and sent out mail warning citizens of the Pindia in the water. They tested the water, did not try and hide any information from the people, and even replaced the most deteriorating pipes. In conclusion, Anderson et al v. Pacific Gas and Electric and Jones v.
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