Summer, 1997
New Study Exposes High-Tech Water Exploitation
by Carlos Plazola and Leslie Byster
Since its birth fifteen years ago, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has been working to protect the Valley's groundwater. In celebration of this, and in recognition of the recently published book, Sacred Waters: Life Blood of Mother Earth, SVTC is organizing two events: a community forum on June 27 and an Environmental Health and Justice Festival on June 28.
A Collaborative Report from the Grassroots
To study and challenge the impacts of high-tech development and to attain sustainable development and responsible manufacturing, two networks, Campaign for Responsible Technology (CRT), a national project of SVTC,the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (SNEEJ), and the came together in 1991 to strengthen the work of four local organizations: SVTC, People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources in Texas, the SouthWest Organizing Project in New Mexico and Tonatierra in Arizona. The results of the discussions between CRT and SNEEJ, led to the formation of the Electronics Industry Good Neighbor Campaign (EIGNC) in 1992.
One of the most signficicant accomplishments of the EIGNC is the release of the milestone report, Sacred Waters. The report focuses specifically on the impacts of high-tech electronics manufacturing on the water resources and infrastructure of four key high-tech communities where the four local organizations are based: Silicon Valley, CA; Austin, TX; Albuquerque, NM; and Phoenix, AZ.
The study documents massive water pollution and water resource depletion by a veritable "who's who" of high-tech giants, including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Fairchild, Hewlett-Packard, Raytheon, Teledyne, National Semiconductor, TRW, Motorola and others. It documents and challenges the billions of dollars of corporate welfare subsidies given to some of the wealthiest corporations in the world. The report also examines the impact that industry's massive water use has on the existing cultures, environment and livelihood of the region.
Contrary to industry public relations, manufacturing of computers and their components is anything but a "clean industry". Silicon Valley has experienced a series of environmental tragedies associated with the computer industry. Today, Santa Clara County has 29 Superfund sites, more than any other county in the US. Nearly 80% of these were caused by the high-tech electronics industry.
Over the past 20 years, as California strengthened environmental and labor regulations to clean up the industry's mess in response to community concerns, corporations have sought out other Southwestern sites with weaker environmental and workplace regulations as new technology growth centers.
"As the electronics industry is expanding out of Silicon Valley, into America's Southwest and the rest of world it has become the world's largest and fastest growing industrial sector. This report is meant to sound the alarm for communities courting the computer industry as the key to economic security," said Ted Smith, SVTC Executive Director.
Carlos Plazola is SVTC Program Assistant and Leslie Byster is SVTC Program Director
Return to Newsletter Archive
