🧵 In 2020, I nearly died from mysterious industrial chemical exposure at my apartment. Later, I discovered my employer was dumping toxic waste into our windows from their Skunkworks semiconductor fab next-door. I tipped off US EPA, who then raided them in 2023. EPA sent me the report on Friday. 💀 ⬇️
US EPA Enforcement & Compliance conducted 3 onsite inspections of Apple's fab facility in 8/2023 + 1/2024. US EPA noted at least *19* potential violations of the RCRA hazardous waste statute. Read the report:
via Proton drive.proton.me/urls/KPZ6E31...
or via Dropbox www.dropbox.com/home/Apple_I...
After discovering what Apple did, I then spent three months requesting records & digging through regulatory filings to learn more - which then led me to file a complaint to US EPA in June 2023.
I met with EPA investigators, answered questions, & sent them everything I gathered.
I told US EPA I didn't want my whistleblowing about the fab to be anonymous, and instead, that if EPA shows up onsite to inspect the plant, when they do, please have the EPA cops tell Apple: "Ashley says hi."
It looks like EPA did what I asked. 🔥
The inspection was supposed to be unannounced so EPA surprises the inspected party who has no chance to cover up issues before EPA gets inside. However city HazMat tipped off Apple & EPA was greeted by Apple's EH&S team. Note: what EPA found was AFTER Apple had time to clean up.
TLDR; EPA discovered that Apple was:
- illegally treating hazardous waste
- illegally transporting hazardous waste
- illegally dumping hazardous waste into the ambient air outside the facility (into the apartment windows)
- leaving stockpiles of chemicals unattended on weekends
Illegal treatment: Apple set up a 1700 gallon aboveground chemical storage tank to treat their ignitable solvent waste. The chemicals are clearly haz waste. The tank was even marked haz waste. But Apple had no permits for it because they unilaterally declared it wasn't haz waste.
DOD Inspector General emphasized keeping me anonymous. I responded, "Since I've been raising these issues through the chain-of-command, they are going to have a pretty good idea that it's me."
I eventually concluded that the rules for making whistleblowers identity officially anonymous serve more to keep whistleblowers from contacting each other for support than to keep the powerful from knowing whom to retaliate against.
Yup. Especially if it’s a skunkworks fab because they don’t want anyone knowing it’s a fab.
Which means even corporate H&S (generally very good at Apple, by most accounts) is kept in the dark about how they run things.
Until something like this happens.
I worked for a company that was dumping semiconductor processing waste in the parking lot. Someone tried to raise the issue but I don't know if she got anywhere.
