Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

An environmental group cited newly disclosed data on chemical use by the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry to press for tougher toxics regulations, fulfilling predictions that new federal disclosure rules will increase pressure for stricter environmental laws.

An environmental group cited newly disclosed data on chemical use by the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry to press for tougher toxics regulations, fulfilling predictions that new federal disclosure rules will increase pressure for stricter environmental laws.

If there's a new computer under your tree this morning, you might be looking at your trusty old model with a sense of nostalgia. Environmentalists, however, see it as a toxic time bomb. "Lead, cadmium, mercury, bromated flame retardants -- they are all used in making computers," said Ted Smith, founder of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a group that has been fighting for 21 years against the harm that electronics products and manufacturing can cause to the environment.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Mountains of broken TVs, obsolete computer monitors and outdated laptops that once piled up in California's garages, attics and basements have achieved a milestone. The state's electronic-waste recycling program has reached its 1 billionth pound of unwanted electronics. That's more than any other state has recycled — and amounts to roughly 20 million TVs and computers kept out of landfills. "In the six short years this program has been operating, California has really gotten on board with e-waste recycling," said Jeff Hunts, e-waste program manager for the state Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

After more than three years of haggling, environmentalists, firefighters and Silicon Valley computer makers have drafted an innovative set of criteria to stiffen and standardize regulation of toxic industrial gases. The Santa Clara County Intergovernmental Council, a regional planning body, last week enlisted local city attorneys to draft formal ordinance language based on the outline.