For immediate release:
January 20, 2003
For more information contact: Kyle Yamasaki, 408-287-6707 x 314
WHAT: Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition is urging community residents to attend the U.S. EPA's open house to learn about the newly discovered health hazards posed by exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent used by the semiconductor industry.
WHERE: Mountain View Community Center, 201 South Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, CA,
WHEN: Wednesday: January 22, 2003, 4:00 PM - 9:30 PM
4:00 PM - 6:30 PM - Informational poster board session. EPA staff will be available to answer questions in an "open house" format
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM - Presentations followed by question and answer session.
SVTC staff will be present at the meeting.
VISUALS: Color maps of the polluted areas will be at the hearing
BACKGROUND: Over the past 30 years, hundreds of toxic chemicals have been used by the semiconductor industry, where irresponsible handling of the chemicals has resulted in severely contaminated groundwater in the Silicon Valley. As a result, Silicon Valley, CA has more Superfund sites than any other area of the United States. Most of these sites were directly caused by the processes of producing silicon wafers and electronic components, or by related industries (equipment manufacturers, chemical suppliers and waste disposal.
While much of the manufacturing is no longer occurring at these sites in Mountain View, clean-up of the contaminated groundwater is currently underway. New research from the EPA shows that one of the chemicals, trichloroethylene (TCE) may be more toxic than originally believed. EPA is now warning residents that TCE, a volatile chemical, may be posing health risks by evaporating and seeping into people's homes, offices and into outdoor air.
"We have been raising our concerns to the EPA about these high-tech chemicals for many years" said Ted Smith, Executive Director and Founder of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "We first alerted EPA about TCE seeping into people's homes near the AMD chip plant in Sunnyvale more than 10 years ago. TCE has been listed on California's Prop 65 list for many years. We urge EPA to take swift action to prevent health problems in the neighborhoods."
"The high levels of TCE raise new concerns because of the higher health risk for susceptible populations like infants, children and people with chronic disease who are living in the Mountain View area," said Kyle Yamasaki, a Mountain View resident and Community Educator for the Health and Environmental Justice Project of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "It is important for community members to come to this meeting, to ask questions and to insist that steps be taken to protect the community's health."
For more information, visit: http://www.svtc.org/index.html
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