It has become clear that Apple built a secret silicon testing facility in a residential area and illegally disposed of waste, causing health damage to nearby residents



Ashley M. Jovic, who was exposed to a mysterious industrial chemical at her home in 2020 and was in dire straits for life, reported the incident to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which investigated the matter and discovered that the cause was chemicals released from a top-secret silicon testing facility built by Apple next to her home.

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Apple's Secret Silicon Fab at 3250 Scott Blvd - Ashley M. Gjovik
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In 2020, Jovic moved to an apartment in Santa Clara, California, where he was exposed to industrial chemicals and became seriously ill at home. He then discovered that there was an Apple office next to his house, and after investigating the office, city records revealed that Apple was manufacturing semiconductors there.




Below are architectural plans for Apple's Santa Clara office that Jovic found among documents released by the city.




According to the architectural plans, a research lab is set up in one corner of the office, including a 'corrosive gas storage facility' and an 'acid wet laboratory.'




And 'corrosive gas storage' and 'acid wet laboratories' were located within striking distance of thousands of homes.




Although the building plans detailed these facilities, they never explained their existence in real life. However, satellite images showed features that could be seen in the 'corrosive gas storage facility' and 'acid wet laboratory,' including 'acid waste tanks' and 'acid neutralization pits.'




Jovic pointed out that Apple is evading regulations by installing these facilities in locations that cannot be seen from the outside. After summarizing these findings, Jovic reported them to the EPA. The EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Division conducted a total of three on-site inspections of Apple's manufacturing facilities in August 2023 and January 2024. As a result, the EPA summarized in its investigation report that Apple has committed at least 19 violations ofRCRA , a waste management law in the United States.




According to the investigation report, the EPA's inspection was originally meant to be unannounced to give Apple no opportunity to conceal its facilities, but the city's hazardous materials department provided information to Apple, so the EPA's visit to Apple's offices was met by members of the company's environmental, health and safety team.




Nevertheless, the EPA found multiple violations during its inspection of Apple's offices, including 'illegal disposal of hazardous waste,' 'illegal transportation of hazardous waste,' 'illegal dumping of hazardous waste into the air outside the facility,' and 'unattended chemical stockpiles over weekends.'




For example, Apple has a 1,700-gallon (about 7,700 liters) chemical storage facility above ground to handle flammable solvent waste, but the chemicals stored there are clearly hazardous waste. In fact, although the storage facility is labeled 'hazardous waste,' Apple unilaterally declares that 'what is stored there is not hazardous waste' and denies handling hazardous waste. Of course, Apple does not have a license to handle hazardous waste.




In addition, the EPA concluded that Apple had illegally disposed of hazardous waste, but Apple continues to insist that the waste it was handling was not hazardous. It has been revealed that the waste that Apple claims was not hazardous contained the organic solvent NMP . Although NMP is said to have low toxicity, it is said that if a certain amount is ingested into the body, it can have adverse effects on the central nervous system, bone marrow, liver, testes, kidneys, and adrenal glands.




It was also revealed that hazardous substances were being illegally discharged from a chemical storage facility at Apple's offices, where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and solvent exhausts were all being combined and released outdoors without being filtered to remove harmful substances.




Because Apple did not monitor its solvent emissions or obtain a permit for them, it is unclear how much harmful fumes were released outdoors. To make matters worse, Apple reports that it used a temporary portable calibrated gas detector to monitor the gas in the air 'only once' between 2020 and 2023.




It was also revealed that Apple had not replaced carbon filters designed to suppress hazardous waste for five years, rendering the filters completely ineffective. According to the EPA, when Apple replaced the carbon filters in 2020, it claimed that 'solvent-soaked charcoal is not hazardous waste,' and disposed of the waste illegally.




In addition, the EPA found that Apple had installed numerous small tanks of hazardous waste in its offices without authorization, including tanks containing highly flammable and corrosive chemicals. Apple responded by saying that it had never handled hazardous waste, had only poured water into the tanks, and had never tested them for non-hazardous waste.




In addition, EPA inspectors found containers of corrosive liquid chemicals stored with the caps removed in Apple's chemical storage facility. When the EPA asked, 'Apple, why are the containers open?' Apple responded, 'By opening the caps, the vapors escape and the containers don't explode.'




Apple's chemical storage facility had 30 containers of corrosive liquids and 12 containers of flammable liquids stacked against the wall, but the labels on the containers were hidden, so the EPA had to investigate them on its own.




The company's offices were open 24/7, but were left unmanned on weekends and there was no proper monitoring of the waste. After Jovic discovered Apple was illegally handling hazardous waste, Apple stopped conducting weekly inspections of its facilities.




It has also been revealed that Apple has been releasing waste emissions from its laboratories into the atmosphere without filtering out harmful substances, and that exhaust from solvent treatment tanks was being released directly into the atmosphere from its offices, though it was passing through untested carbon boxes, without Apple having the proper permits to do so.




In addition, Mr. Jovic has made the investigation report sent by the EPA available to the public, which can be viewed below.




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