Now the REAL Erin Brockovich takes to the big screen in a bid to persuade 'complacent' Americans that water safety matters

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: | Updated:

Erin Brockovich is on another crusade to rid America of polluted water.

A decade after her namesake film came out, in which she was played by Julia Roberts, the real Ms Brockovich returns to the big screen in a new documentary.

The 51-year-old activist believes the US has become too 'complacent' about water safety, something she hopes will change after the 100-minute film Last Call at the Oasis.

Environmental activist: Erin Brockovich, 51, believes the US has become too 'complacent' about water safety, something she hopes will change after her new film Last Call at the Oasis

Environmental activist: Erin Brockovich, 51, believes the US has become too 'complacent' about water safety

Ms Brockovich is among various environmental experts cited in the documentary, which explores challenges related to the planet's dwindling and increasingly polluted water supply.

Despite the Oscar-winning film made about the successful case she brought against Pacific Gas & Electric two decades ago, she says these water issues still fail to receive enough attention.

She explained: 'I think that there's complacency and apathy throughout our country, and we think the Environmental Protection Agency is going to come and save our butts on these types of problems'.

She continued: [The EPA] are very absent for a whole host of reasons. We have been completely failed. Then a film comes out or there's some convergence and people realize: "Oh (expletive), this is in my backyard."'

Champion of clean water: Erin Brockovich's efforts to sue Pacific Gas & Electric for polluting the water supply of a California town were adapted for the silver screen in 2000's Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning title-role

Champion of clean water: Julia Robert's played Erin Brockovich in her namesake film about her case against Pacific Gas & Electric

Powerful: Ms Brockovich says the world has become too comfortable with pointing the blame at somebody else

Powerful: Ms Brockovich (featured in a still from the film) says the world has become too comfortable with pointing the blame at somebody else

Ms Brockovich believes these issue are more daunting today than when she first began her work in 1991.

She said: 'We're using water quantities that exceed the capacity for it to renew itself.

'But for me, the biggest concern is why the EPA and these other agencies that were put in place for oversight haven't cleaned it up?' she said in frustration.

She added: 'All this contamination still sits in the ground, that could have been cleaned up 20 years ago, that could have prevented an aquifer from being destroyed, that could have prevented another community from coming down with disease, and we've done nothing.'

Last Call at the Oasis: Ms Brockovich is among various environmental experts cited in the documentary, which explores challenges related to the planet's dwindling and increasingly polluted water supply

Last Call at the Oasis: Ms Brockovich explores challenges related to the planet's dwindling and increasingly polluted water supply in the documentary

Ms Brockovich says the world has become too comfortable with pointing the blame at somebody else.

'Then they point it back at that person and the issue gets forgotten, and then things never get cleaned up,' she explained.

Just because we are 'everyday folks' doesn't mean we can't help, she says.

'Don't get so complacent that you think someone else has got your back. We need to get back to our communities and each other and begin to be our own heroes and rescue ourselves,' she said.

'Get involved. Be aware. Respect the earth that has made us and sustained us all along, which is your greatest investment.'

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