PG&E may buy Hinkley homes above toxic plume

HINKLEY, Calif. The utility told residents that it is expanding its property purchase program because the 2.5-mile long, 1-mile wide plume of chromium is spreading.

The /*Mojave Desert*/ farming town was made famous in the 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich," the story of an attorney's court fight over groundwater contamination from chromium, which has been linked to cancer.

PG&E wound up paying more than $330 million to Hinkley residents in that case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.