Apple Settles With EPA After Hazardous Waste Violations at California Facility

[MacRumors]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Apple over claims of hazardous waste management at a semiconductor facility in Santa Clara, California.

Apple has addressed the hazardous waste management and air emissions issues, and is now in compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, according to the EPA.

The EPA investigated Apple's facility after receiving a complaint about it, discovering that Apple had not properly labeled hazardous waste containers or controlled air emissions from a solvent waste tank, among other violations.

Apple fixed the waste management issues and installed a device to control air emissions. Apple is also paying a $261,283 penalty.

The facility is located next to apartment buildings in Santa Clara, and at least one resident complained of falling ill due to the emissions. Earlier this month, Apple spokesperson Sean Redding told SFGATE that Apple is committed to environmental protection. "The issues posed no risks to the environment and were quickly resolved, and we remain deeply committed to protecting the environment everywhere we operate," Redding said.

Article Link: Apple Settles With EPA After Hazardous Waste Violations at California Facility

 

[germanbeer007]

Apple is also paying a $261,283 penalty.

There was a post on X showing that Tim Cook added $700m market cap every single day since he took over.

 

[moabal]

Octavia Spencer as "Mother Nature" is rolling her eyes.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

So THIS is why Tim gave Trump an award.

He might want to ask for it back since they got caught.

 

[now i see it]

"and we remain deeply committed to protecting the environment everywhere we operate,"

Especially when we get sued by the EPA

 

[Jack Burton]

Do better if you are gonna put out stuff like this

 

[Steve686]

To ever think any company in the world is ever a true angel, hilarious.

 

[SPUY767]

"and we remain deeply committed to protecting the environment everywhere we operate,"

Especially when we get sued by the EPA

I'd like to point out that getting sued by the EPA doesn't mean you did anything wrong as the laws are very vague and depending on who interprets them, they can mean vastly different things. I had the EPA visit me in 2017 for collecting rainwater for irrigation of a small garden because I was interfering with the river on the border of my property by capturing ~50 gallons of rainwater running off the roof.

 

[t0rqx]

Octavia Spencer as "Mother Nature" is rolling her eyes.

She found out. Got NDA'ed by Tim Cook. She went to EPA. Apple gave EPA cash. End of story.

 

[coolfactor]

To ever think any company in the world is ever a true angel, hilarious.

That suggests that Apple, as a company, originally endorsed the violations, when it was more likely a group at arm's length from company oversight. It's a shame that it happened in the first place, and let's hope that the *people* directly responsible were dealt with, too.

 

[Return Zero]

I'm 100% for environmental protection, but I work in the utilities industry, and can confidently say that a sizable portion of EPA regulations are such poorly-written hogwash that they just end up just getting pencil-whipped anyway, even by the most ethical companies out there. The number of times I've had to listen to CEMS vs. PEMS debates and how quickly fines start to accrue when the system glitches out even for a short duration is astounding. I feel like I've generated more excess CO2 just getting worked up at these meetings than the systems themselves are even helping to monitor.

 

[firewood]

The picture is of the Apple Park spaceship, but the problem site is several miles North in Santa Clara.

Little known fact: The heath club at Apple Park is very near a spot in the parking lot of the old Hewlett Packard complex that required clean up from a toxic spill from HP's old semiconductor research lab on that same site.

 

[Agent007]

A female PoC promoting environmentalism and body positivity at the same time.

Virtue signals were on sale, 4-for-1.

 

[ScooterComputer]

Oh, FFS… say her name, MacRumors:

The pressure from the EPA and BAAQMD stems from tips, part of a spree of complaints about the fab site from former Apple employee Ashley Gjøvik, who moved into one of the adjacent apartments in 2020 only to fall badly ill with indications of chemical poisoning, she told SFGATE.

Also… hmmmmm… why does "EPA" and "Apple" ring a bell? Just… can't… put my finger on it…

 

[Darth Tulhu]

A female PoC promoting environmentalism and body positivity at the same time.

Virtue signals were on sale, 4-for-1.

View attachment 2580711

That's definitely one way to look at it.

Sounds like you run Enterprise Linux as your main OS.

Thanks for letting us know.

 

[JackHinkle]

Wow. Is this the same Apple Inc. that said:

“At Apple, every team holds environment as a core value,” says Sarah Chandler, Apple’s vice president of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation.

Impossible!!!

 

[cjboffoli97]

To ever think any company in the world is ever a true angel, hilarious.

What's hilarious is the kind of binary notion that any complex corporation, that does business in 100 countries, ought to be viewed as an angel or a devil. And that you can never have any employees make mistakes or bad calls.

 

[bLackjackj]

The picture is of the Apple Park spaceship, but the problem site is several miles North in Santa Clara.

Don’t blame Macrumors, Apple itself has put the building out there as the face of Apple Inc.

 

[bLackjackj]

The issues posed no risks to the environment and were quickly resolved, and we remain deeply committed to protecting the environment

Yeh, forget the people getting sick over it Lol,..it’s all about the environment.

 

[Blackstick]

$261k?

For Apple that's an invisible fine. Like you or me paying a nickel to park downtown.

 

[jonnysods]

Do better if you are gonna put out stuff like this

View attachment 2580706

Wasn't she at the apple campus during an exec meeting too? Good thing she didn't look in the barrels out back and see the hazardous waste.

 

[hbt15]

I'd like to point out that getting sued by the EPA doesn't mean you did anything wrong as the laws are very vague and depending on who interprets them, they can mean vastly different things. I had the EPA visit me in 2017 for collecting rainwater for irrigation of a small garden because I was interfering with the river on the border of my property by capturing ~50 gallons of rainwater running off the roof.

Comparing yourself, a layman who SHOULD know next to nothing about this stuff is an incredible defense of Apple who has the money, and an army of the best lawyers on the planet to ensure they don't make these mistakes. There is absolutely no excuse for this from a company of their stature, and you should not be giving them one.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

A female PoC promoting environmentalism and body positivity at the same time.

Virtue signals were on sale, 4-for-1.

View attachment 2580711

It takes so little for some people to be so triggered. All that because someone posted a screengrab of Octavia Spencer in an ad.

Amazing how some people see the world.

 

[kenta_]

So that’s how you become carbon neutral 🤔

 

[SFjohn]

A female PoC promoting environmentalism and body positivity at the same time.

Virtue signals were on sale, 4-for-1.

View attachment 2580711

Well Mother Nature is so big it provides us all gravity, perhaps it’s not virtue signaling but allegory. 😉