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Silicon Valley Composite image of GeoTracker map showing toxic waste sites. Geotracker uses Google images.
Silicon Valley Toxic Waste Sites Map
Category: Sunnyvale
Apple’s Stewart 1 Building is TRW Nuclear Site, Nuclear Worker Site
TRW Microwave was registered with the State of California’s Department of Health with a Radiological Materials License and here is a list of their isotopes they received :
PM-147 Promethium 147 (half life 2.6234 y) which goes through Beta Decay to become Samarium 147 (half life of 1.062278031456×1011 y) which emits an alpha particle to become stable Neodymium 143
TL-204 Thallium 204, yes the deadly poison, (half life) decay7s in two ways, one is a beta particle to Lead 204 which is a long term alpha particle emitter and the other is by electron capture to Mercury 204 which then emits 2 beta particles to become radioactive Lead 204 which although is considered stable it emits an alpha particle to become Mercury 200.
CD-109 Cadmium has a half life of 462 days so the use of this isotope has to be very specific to be ordered for TRW. All of these isotopes are By Product meaning they were made in a nuclear reactor.
SR-90 Strontium 90 half life of 28.9 years is one of the isotopes that are the result of nuclear explosions or nuclear reactors. It goes through beta decay to become Yttrium 90 which has a half life of 2.662037037037 days to become Ziconium 90. Strontium 90 is one of the worst isotopes for contamination as it has a long half life and it along with Cesium 137 and Cobalt 60 are what people fear in fallout from a nuclear explosion.
| Isotope | Name | Radiation | Half life |
| PM- 147 | Promethium 147 | Beta | 2.6234 y |
| TL- 204 | Thallium 204 | Beta, e and then 2 beta | 3.773465246068 y |
| CD 109 | Cadmium 109 | e | 462 days |
| Sr-90 | Strontium 90 | beta | 28.9 y |
The report below does not give amounts but a quick search reports many companies including Teledyne in Palo Alto receiving another list of isotopes and unfortunately the State of California is terrible at keeping records of radio-isotopes and their transfers. There is a whole list of sites and I will be posting those under separate articles.
Silicon Valley was Nuclear Valley before it was Silicon Valley, it was the nuclear industry with its need for precision equipment that fueled the creation of these companies.
This is TRW’s heath and Safety Manual. Note on page 16 the list of isotopes used
Apple Stewart 1 on 3 Superfund sites located under 4 schools and 2 daycare centers and over 100 residences in Sunnyvale California
Apple In Sunnyvale and there are four schools and two daycares on this site which are against the rules for TCE exposure protocol which is to not have any children under the age of 21 to be exposed to these chemicals, no daycare, no adult care. This site has housing on it.
EPA Superfund Page:
The TRW Microwave, Inc. (Building 825) site is one of three sites contributing contamination to a groundwater plume in Sunnyvale, California. Former microwave manufacturing and semiconductor processing activities contaminated groundwater and soil with volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The former TRW Microwave Superfund Site (TRW Site), part of the “Triple Site” in Sunnyvale, California, is located at 825 Stewart Drive and neighbors multiple other sites, including: the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Buildings 901/902 Thompson Place Superfund Site (AMD 901/902 Site), the AMD 915 De Guigne Drive Superfund Site (AMD 915 Site), the Philips Semiconductors Site (Philips Site; formerly Signetics Inc.), which includes the properties at 811 Arques Avenue, 440 North Wolfe Road, and facilities along Stewart Drive, and the Mohawk Laboratories Site. A groundwater plume composed of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethene (TCE), extends from these sites more than a mile north in Sunnyvale to beyond Highway 101.
The TRW Site, together with three other operable units (OUs), was covered by a 1991 Record of Decision for the Triple Site, all located in Sunnyvale. The four OUs for the Triple Site are as follows:
(1) The AMD 901/902 Site OU;
(2) The Philips Site OU;
(3) The TRW Site OU; and
(4) The Companies Offsite Operable Unit (OOU), a commingled plume of contaminants which originated from the other three operable units (and has contributions from other sites in the area).
At the time of adoption of the 1991 Record of Decision, the OOU was defined as a 100-acre area, downgradient and north of the Triple Site in an area bounded by the Sunnyvale East Drainage Channel on the west and Santa Paula Ave. on the east, and as the area inside a 5 micrograms per liter (µg/L) contour for trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater. Over 400 residences and at least 4 schools are present within the OOU.
The TRW Site was occupied by Aertech Industries from 1968 until it was sold to TRW Inc (TRW) in 1974. In 1987, TRW sold the facility to FEI Microwave, Inc. In 1993, FEI Microwave stopped production and in 1995 the site was acquired by Stewart Associates and leased to research and development companies until 2001. The exterior of the building was remodeled between 2001 and 2003, including demolition of part of the existing structure and construction of a new two-story building. In December 2002, TRW merged with Northrop Grumman. In 2004, the property was purchased by Pacific Landmark, and then by Hines in 2014 and then GI Partners, the current owner, in 2016. During these changes in site ownership, TRW and then Northrop Grumman retained responsibility for site cleanup.
The primary activity at the TRW Site was assembling and testing microwave components until semiconductor processing began in 1970. Primarily solvents and small quantities of acids were used in the assembly areas for semiconductors. Solvents, acids, and heavy metals were used in the fabrication areas and plating shop. The paint shop used paints and solvents.
Acid rinse water generated by the assembly processes was neutralized on-site and discharged to the City of Sunnyvale sewer system. An underground ammonia gas acid neutralization system was installed when the facility first opened. Floor drains and acid sinks in the plating shop were connected to buried plumbing that carried acid waste to the neutralization system. This system was closed in 1986, and the underground piping was sealed. The system was replaced with three aboveground tanks. Spent solvents were stored in one of four on-site underground tanks. After 1982, solvents were stored in drums and transported off-site.
Trw Microwave, Inc (Building 825) from Toxic Sites website explains the TCE contamination goes up past the highway.
The Chemical Legacy of Old Silicon Valley showing the Toxic Plumes, areas of groundwater contamination in Silicon Valley
NBC Bay Area Video on the Toxic waste sites all over Silicon Valley. They had an interactive map but they took it down from their website.
Original article: NBC map showing the hundreds of sites on a map so you can see if you are affected by the pollution of Silicon Valley. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/brchannel/Map-The-Chemical-Legacy-of-Silicon-Valley-258950021.html From this map you can see that Apple and Google Headquarters are located on 2 superfund sites each where the polution is TCE Trichloroethylene where there are restrictions that require no person under the age of 21 can occupy any building built on the properties.
There is Kaiser Permanente building for Children and Adult psychiatric care built right on top of the street address of three sites and two of them are under Apple which is across the street. Note the tabs to show the daycare facilities that are on the purple areas that are mapped out to show the pollution.
The Map Article was taken down by NBC Bay Area.
Disaster Area 
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