A group of Southwestern environmentalists that arrived in California this week brought with them some unusual baggage - jars full of polluted water. The groups want the water put on display at San Jose's soon-to-reopen Tech Museum of Innovation to draw attention to the negative environmental impacts they say high-tech companies have brought to their communities.
The group also came armed with a comprehensive report, "Sacred Waters: Life Blood of Mother Earth," that details "high-tech water resource exploitation," water usage, toxic emission, and pollution statistics in Phoenix, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Austin, Texas - the new tech centers of the West. Among the offenders is chip giant Intel, which, according to the report, uses 4 million to 4.5 million gallons of water per day in an Albuquerque plant, and injects the water into the acquifer after it has been used to clean silicon wafers. Environmentalists claim that such practices are widespread, and not only exploit precious water resources in arid parts of the country, but also contaminate drinking-water sources.
"In Phoenix, the underground water has been contaminated to a degree that they've had to cap all the wells for a 15-mile stretch [beneath and around the city], and scientists say we can't drink it for another 75 to 80 years," said Salvador Reza, a Phoenix resident and environmentalist who made the trip to San Jose. "These companies have the know-how to do in-house recycling, but refuse to spend the money."
The Southwest Network for Environmental & Economic Justice in Albuquerque, the Tonatierra Community Development Institute in Phoenix, People in Defense of Earth and Her Resources in Austin, and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition jointly submitted a letter to the Tech Museum asking that it include their report and several other artifacts as exhibits. They also have asked the museum to expand its mission statement to include: "to tell the whole story of high-tech development, good and bad, including past and present environmental negative impacts."
Toxic emissions are another focus of the report, which claims that chemicals used in high-tech production processes and related toxic waste have been shown to cause damage to the central nervous system, reproductive system, and cardiovascular system of humans, as well as to increase cancer risks.
The groups want to put pressure on the high-tech industry to begin practicing more responsible water-use policies, and integrate new technologies and materials that reduce toxic emissions and water pollution. One of the recommended technological solutions for semiconductor plants - which are viewed as some of the biggest environmental polluters - are closed-loop water-use systems, which reinject water back into the manufacturing processes. But those, too, have problems, say some of the companies accused by the coalition.
"We've looked at closed-loop systems, but the amount of energy used and other things detrimental to the environment outweighs the benefits," said Howard High, a spokesman for Intel in Santa Clara, California. "The water we release is absolutely safe for drinking and is cleaner than the water when it comes in."
High explained that water is purified in Intel's plants through a reverse osmosis process, and any potentially dangerous materials are neutralized before the water is re-released into the aquifer.
In Santa Clara County - the heart of Silicon Valley - the report says there are 29 Superfund sites, more than any other county in the US, and 20 of them were "directly caused by the processes of producing silicon wafers and other high-tech electronic components."
The report also provides information on the tax breaks and cheap water rates that high-tech companies are given in order to lure them to Southwestern cities.
In the area around Phoenix, where one of Intel's plants injects waste water into the acquifer, Reza said the company has refused to let environmental groups test its water emissions and simply asks, "how come they don't want to introduce it back into their processes if it's so clean?"
"I've relistened to some of [Jacques] Costeau's amazing statements this week about how water is the web of life, and what we do to it, we do to ourselves," said Ted Smith, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "On a pragmatic and spiritual level, the high-tech expansion is having enormous repercussions."
The question now is whether the Tech Museum - which counts among its founders and contributors the big companies of the Silicon Valley, including Intel - will honor the coalition's request to shed some light on the darker side of innovation. A museum spokesman would not give a specific answer. "The board of directors reviews every contribution and decides whether or not it fits in with the museum's mission, which is to inspire the tech innovators of tomorrow," said Miguel Salinas.
