Shrinking Hinkley: 'Erin Brockovich' town set to lose only market, gas station, post office

In this March 7, 2013 photo, Ali Abu Hantash, owner of Hinkley Market & Gas, sits and waits for customers to enter his general store in Hinkley, Calif. The Mojave Desert community whose toxic chromium contamination was portrayed in the movie "Erin Brockovich" is set to lose its post office, plus its only gas station and convenience store. Hinkley's population has been dwindling for years as the community struggled with concerns over the cancer-causing chromium-6 in well water. (AP Photo/The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Rachel Luna) MANDATORY CREDIT

March 19, 2015 - 12:53 PM

HINKLEY, Calif. - A Mojave Desert community whose toxic chromium contamination was portrayed in the movie "Erin Brockovich" is set to lose its post office, plus its only gas station and convenience store.

Although postal officials say they will be looking for a new location, the Hinkley Post Office, which has been at the same location since 1958, will close Friday.

The number of street deliveries in Hinkley has dropped by nearly 38 per cent — from 504 in 2012 to 321 in 2015, U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Eva M. Jackson told the San Bernardino Sun newspaper for a story Wednesday (http://bit.ly/19D1Q3a ). Rented boxes have dropped 76 per cent, from 321 to 75, during the same period, she said.

Hinkley's population has been dwindling for years as the community struggled with concerns over the cancer-causing chromium-6 in well water.

During the 1950s and 1960s, PG&E used chromium-6 to kill algae and protect the metal at its Hinkley natural gas pumping station. Decades later, residents blamed their illnesses on a growing plume of contaminated groundwater.

The utility reached a $333 million settlement with residents in a case portrayed in the hit 2000 film "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts.

Business at the convenience store — the Hinkley Market — collapsed after the nearby Hinkley Elementary School closed in June 2013, the newspaper said. The school shut down because of dwindling enrolment. The market and gas station will close at the end of April.

"It's another blow to the community," said Lester White, a longtime community advocate, of the loss of the town's only storefront.

The land parcel containing the gas station, market and post office is owned by Barstow resident Tawfig A. Musitef, who could not be reached for comment.

PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith told the Sun that the company is in negotiations to buy the parcel. "Not all the 'i's have been dotted and the 't's crossed," but we are working toward a sale," Smith said.

PG&E has been buying residential properties in Hinkley for decades as people seek to relocate.

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Information from: The Sun, http://www.sbsun.com