News | Sacred Waters: Life-Blood of Mother Earth

"Over the past 20 years, as California strengthened environmental and labor regulations to clean up the industry's mess, corporations have sought out other southwestern sites as new technology growth centers. This 'toxic flight' now puts Austin, Albuquerque and Phoenix in the environmental cross-hairs of this highly polluting industry. The process of computer manufacturing requires huge quantities of water, and produces a steady stream of toxic waste. An inventory list of chemicals used and discarded for any given company often shows dozens of pages of highly toxic chemicals that have been shown to damage the central nervous system, reproductive system and cardiovascular system of humans, as well as cause cancer. Many of the new manufacturing sites are now located in poorer communities of color, where people have little or no power to withstand the clout of multinational computer giants.

The high tech electronics industry, as it currently functions, has proven itself to be a highly unsustainable industry, especially in the desert environment of the Southwest. Besides the massive amounts of chemicals used, the process of chip manufacturing requires massive amounts of water -- millions of gallons per day in the newest chip plants! On average, the production of each six-inch silicon wafer uses the following resources:

2,275 gallons of deionized water
3,200 cubic feet of bulk gases
22 cubic feet of hazardous gases
20 pounds of chemicals
285 kilowatt hours of electrical power.

In addition, vast amounts of groundwater reserves are contaminated in the chip-making process. In Arizona, for example, about 25-30% of the groundwater beneath and around Phoenix has been contaminated resulting in 15 mile long toxic plume - 70% of this by the high tech electronics industry. The explosion of high tech development in the Southwest means that the region's already sparse water supplies must meet the needs of one the world's fastest-growing - and thirstiest - industries."