BUSINESS
January 24, 2001 | P.J. HUFFSTUTTER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
In a blow to a high-tech industry that has long portrayed itself as a "clean" manufacturer, IBM Corp. settled a lawsuit with two former employees who claimed that exposure to toxic fumes at one of the computer giant's plants caused their son's birth defects.
BUSINESS
December 2, 1996 | From Reuters
The semiconductor industry makes 220 billion chips a year. It uses hundreds of millions of gallons of water and produces tons of toxic gases and hazardous solid and chemical wastes each day. As a result, Silicon Valley has more hazardous waste sites--28--eligible for federal cleanup funding "than any comparable area in the United States," according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
NEWS
April 14, 1988 | HENRY WEINSTEIN, Times Labor Writer
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Wednesday that it is launching a special pilot inspection program to evaluate job safety protection programs in California's semiconductor manufacturing industry. OSHA spokesman Joe Kirkbride said such a pilot inspection program is "unique in the nation."
NEWS
August 9, 2001 | P.J. HUFFSTUTTER, p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com
They live in the closet like ghosts of simpler times. Dead monitors. Obsolete PCs. Fried printers. A lot of junk has collected after 20 years of the PC. As the Digital Age spawns an ever-changing need for smarter and more powerful technology, the environment is being choked with a flood of electronic gear and the harmful chemicals hidden inside them. In 1998 alone, about 21 million personal computers became obsolete in the United States, studies show. Of that number, only 11%--about 2.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 14, 2000 | JOHNATHON E. BRIGGS and DAVID HALDANE, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
At 18, Kenny Melendez already has years of experience with computers. Ever since the age of 5, he said, they have been his ambition and his passion. So he was more than pleased eight months ago when he landed a job as lead salesman and technician at Goodwill Computer Works, a 3-year-old computer recycling program run by Goodwill Industries in Santa Ana. "It's great," Melendez said of the store, which sells donated and refurbished computer systems for $250 to $795.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 14, 2000 | JOHNATHON E. BRIGGS, TIMES STAFF WRITER
After his 4 1/2-year stint with the Navy ended in 1991, David Campbell considered working for the Department of Defense as a weapons analyst. But today, the veteran employs his technical skills and environmental awareness to defend California from a different kind of high-tech threat: electronic junk.