
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.
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