After failing to disclose its fluoride emissions for decades, Intel has pledged to pursue a retroactive construction permit for its $3 billion research factory in Hillsboro, Ore., The Oregonian reports.
In a letter to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Intel says it will submit a retroactive Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit, covering, at a minimum, its fluoride and GHG emissions.
An environmental watchdog group has filed a notice of intent to sue Intel over alleged Clean Air Act violations involving the fluorides emissions but is negotiating a “Good Neighbor Agreement” that may avert a lawsuit, the newspaper says.
Despite the company’s air pollution controversy at home, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced during his 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show keynote address earlier this month that for the first time the minerals used in its microprocessor silicon and packages have not been sourced from conflict zones as concluded by either a third-party audit or direct validation by Intel’s supply chain organization.
Krzanich said the company has implemented a process within its supply chain to validate that the smelters that provide tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold used in microprocessor silicon and packages made in Intel factories are not inadvertently funding the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.