"
"
Technology brings knowledge.
Sometimes that knowledge can
completely freak us out and
make us feel helpless. The
problems are so big, yet we're
just one person. What can I
possibly do to create positive
change?
Healthy Indoors 59
Plant) Superfund Site (Motoro-
la 52nd Street Site) was added
to the National Priorities List
(NPL) in 1989. The former Mo-
torola 52nd Street Plant (now
operated by ON Semiconduc-
tor) is a 90-acre semiconductor
manufacturing plant located on
McDowell Road, in a residen-
tial and commercial area. In
1982, Motorola discovered that
a 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-
TCA) underground storage
tank was leaking at their facili-
ty. Further investigations deter-
mined that the soil and ground-
water is contaminated with a
variety of chlorinated solvents
which are volatile organic com-
pounds (VOC) that were used
in Motorola's semiconductor
manufacturing operations. Mo-
torola is conducting investiga-
tions and cleanup activities of
this contamination.
In June of 2012, I found out
from a reporter friend who cov-
ers environmental stories that
the Balsz Elementary School
District Board was going to
vote on allowing water from the
Motorola treatment facility to
be piped under an elementary
school, which would then dis-
charge into a canal behind the
playground that isn't a source
of drinking water. She informed
me that the majority of school
board members were in favor
of the proposal, which would
pay the district $20,000 per
Miss Sustainable
Continued from previous page
