Photo Caption: Residents for Clean Air and Water and Southwest Organizing Project hold a demonstration in front of the Intel factory in Rio Rancho, N.M.,. circa 1999. (Courtesy Corrales Comment) This story of Intel-related air pollution is of interest to me, mostly because I grew up in the town of Corrales, New Mexico.
I'm unpersuaded as yet that they a major menace on their hands, even though six of the eight incidences of pulmonary fibrosis were apparently located near the plant (where is that map they speak of online?). There's just so many ways to get pulmonary fibrosis!
Indeed, I may be vulnerable to pulmonary fibrosis, and may even get asbestosis for all my troubles. I remember, in high school, buying a portable hair dryer that had asbestos insulation in it. I pointed the hair dryer at my face on cold winter days, just for the warmth. If you pointed the hair dryer at a black cloth, you could catch enough asbestos dust to inspect. And when I returned the hair dryer to J.C. Penney's in 1975, in a nationwide product recall, they whisked that baby away in a flash. Lots of that asbestos is still in my lungs, waiting to cause trouble as I enter old age, and lots of people had the same sort of experiences. No need to wait for Intel to make trouble!
Associating disease with environmental exposure is exceedingly difficult, because people move around so much, and there is a lot of noise in the medical data. To get unambiguous results you need serious impacts. The impacts here may not be big enough and intense enough to escape debate. In fact, I hope the data are never so clear as to be unambiguous (because that would mean lots of sick people!)
Nevertheless, I will watch this matter with interest. Intel emits other air pollutants too. Heck, I might even be something like a control rat for the folks in Corrales: I grew up there, but moved away in 1980, before Intel's emissions were significant:
Located just north of Albuquerque, N.M., Corrales is a quaint village of about 7,300 residents that has dozens of eclectic shops, restaurants and art galleries.
Just to the west, in Rio Rancho, sits a massive computer chip manufacturing operation owned by Intel Corp., one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world.
...Locals have complained of bad odors emanating from the fabs and report disturbing symptoms such as headaches and coughing, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and even seizures, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta, which has studied possible health impacts of the site.
And some believe a chemical used in the factories -- hexamethyldisilazane -- is giving people a fatal lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis after it is burned by thermal oxidizers and released into the air.
"It turns into crystalline silica," says Barbara Rockwell, a resident of nearby Placitas who wrote a book about the environmental impact of the Intel plant titled "Boiling Frogs: Intel vs. The Village."
...Rockwell and others have counted eight cases of pulmonary fibrosis in Corrales they claim were caused by crystalline silica emissions from the Intel plants. Half of those diagnosed with the disease have already died, including a former village councilman who blamed Intel for the disease.
...The report cast serious doubt on whether Intel's thermal oxidizers actually spew out crystalline silica, since the stacks operate at 1,385 degrees Fahrenheit on average, which is about 100 degrees lower than is required to make the dangerous material.
"We strongly believe that Intel's air emissions are not causing adverse health effects," said Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy. "We will continue to work with the community and government agencies to monitor odor complaints and other concerns and seek mutually agreeable solutions."
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