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US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

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Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#31

Post by ohmyiv »

insaneirish wrote: post #20

[flagged]

I dont think anyone here thinks it is a conspiracy. And I'm sure everyone here expects apple to take proper responsibility.

But whataboutism about other companies doesn't hide the fact that there were/are violations.

This isn't gonna kill apple, don't worry nor will it permanently tarnish their reputation you're so worried about. But it is a big deal when they do spout green initiatives then get busted for stuff like this. Notice some of those dates? How absent does corporate have to be to allow stuff like this? Months and months on end with no real inspections?

If Apple was as green as they say, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. They would understand these types of messes. So while the main cause may fall on some of the daily employees, where was management? Why weren't they doing their job as responsible environmental stewards as their image upholds?

Again, IMO this isn't _that_ big of a deal so long as they stop those practices and get their stuff together. No amount of handwaving/whataboutisms is going to change this. Just accept that they got busted messing up and move on. Don't try to play it off and minimize stuff.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#32

Post by doe_eyes »

langsoul-com wrote: post #10

From the thread TLDR; EPA discovered that Apple was: - illegally treating hazardous waste - illegally transporting hazardous waste to disposal facilities - illegally dumping hazardous waste into the ambient air outside the facility (into the apartment windows) - leaving stockpiles of extremely dangerous chemicals unattended on weekends

I read the report, and while the practices are inexcusably shoddy, I am struggling to see anything to substantiate the poster's core claim that Apple was handling "extremely dangerous" chemicals at the site and that they could've harmed a person living a good distance away.

For example, violation #6 appears to be about a tank holding diluted solvents such as isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and NMP. And the violation is that they labeled it as "CA-133" waste while it should be also labeled as "D001" waste because it's flammable. That's shitty, but I don't see how that could've poisoned someone from afar. You don't want to huff these solvents, but they are common and have modest toxicity.

Or, take violation #2: a bucket labeled "adhesive liquids and tape", which should've been closed but wasn't. Violation #3 is that a bucket labeled "silicone" has been on the site for more than 90 days. And on, and on.

Don't get me wrong, if you're operating in a location like that, you should do everything by the book, so I hope Apple gets in enough trouble to notice - but I see a pretty sharp disconnect between the Mastodon thread and the report.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#33

Post by vlovich123 »

hanniabu wrote: post #24
vlovich123 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they were accidentally tipped off about the inspection when it should have been a complete surprise. I feel like stuff like this should be capable of piercing the corporate veil so that people involved could be criminally prosecuted. As-is, Apple is incentivized to just keep this kind of behavior in their ranks because it’s just the cost of doing business as they usually get away with this kind of stuff.

I worked at a Colgate manufacturing plant and we were given about a week heads up when the FDA would come do an inspection, we would know the exact day about 3 days before, and we would have about a 4hr heads up when they'll arrive. The way the plant operates normally and when they're there is night and day. We will shut down lines and clean for whole shifts leading up to it and when they're there we'll double the st…

According to the mastodon post this situation is a bit different because it was a (whistleblower?) complaint and thus it was supposed to be a surprise vs typically announced inspections.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#35

Post by insaneirish »

ohmyiv wrote: post #31
insaneirish wrote: post #20

[flagged]

I dont think anyone here thinks it is a conspiracy. And I'm sure everyone here expects apple to take proper responsibility. But whataboutism about other companies doesn't hide the fact that there were/are violations. This isn't gonna kill apple, don't worry nor will it permanently tarnish their reputation you're so worried about. But it is a big deal when they do spout green initiatives then get busted for stuff like…

> Just accept that they got busted messing up and move on. Don't try to play it off and minimize stuff.

I'm actually not minimizing it. I'm simply pointing out that if this is the industry at its best, then yeesh, what is it at its worst?

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#36

Post by walterbell »

vlovich123 wrote: post #33
hanniabu wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a Colgate manufacturing plant and we were given about a week heads up when the FDA would come do an inspection, we would know the exact day about 3 days before, and we would have about a 4hr heads up when they'll arrive. The way the plant operates normally and when they're there is night and day. We will shut down lines and clean for whole shifts leading up to it and when they're there we'll double the st…

According to the mastodon post this situation is a bit different because it was a (whistleblower?) complaint and thus it was supposed to be a surprise vs typically announced inspections.

How many inspectors use Apple devices?

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#37

Post by insaneirish »

doe_eyes wrote: post #32
langsoul-com wrote: post #10

From the thread TLDR; EPA discovered that Apple was: - illegally treating hazardous waste - illegally transporting hazardous waste to disposal facilities - illegally dumping hazardous waste into the ambient air outside the facility (into the apartment windows) - leaving stockpiles of extremely dangerous chemicals unattended on weekends

I read the report, and while the practices are inexcusably shoddy, I am struggling to see anything to substantiate the poster's core claim that Apple was handling "extremely dangerous" chemicals at the site and that they could've harmed a person living a good distance away. For example, violation #6 appears to be about a tank holding diluted solvents such as isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and NMP. And the violation is t…

Bingo.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#38

Post by insaneirish »

killjoywashere wrote: post #28

This is in Santa Clara, probably quite close to many HN regulars https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 I personally wonder if this is why I have been occasionally smelling weird chemical odors from time to time. I live about 7 miles away, so probably not, but maybe.

Let's go with "definitely not", given the amount of other things that could be within a 7 mile radius of your location.

The blog paints this as some secret lair of nefarious experiments. It actually refers to the facility as a "Secret Silicon Fab" which is quite the logical leap. I would suspect they're etching PCBs, perhaps? One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to come with grandiose claims, your foundation should be solid and not hypothetical.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#39

Post by Reason077 »

insaneirish wrote: post #38
killjoywashere wrote: post #28

This is in Santa Clara, probably quite close to many HN regulars https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 I personally wonder if this is why I have been occasionally smelling weird chemical odors from time to time. I live about 7 miles away, so probably not, but maybe.

Let's go with "definitely not", given the amount of other things that could be within a 7 mile radius of your location. The blog paints this as some secret lair of nefarious experiments. It actually refers to the facility as a "Secret Silicon Fab" which is quite the logical leap. I would suspect they're etching PCBs, perhaps? One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab. I'm sorry, but if you're going to come with g…

> "One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab."

Why do you say that? Yes, the EPA report seems to be redacted to obscure what they're actually doing there. But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab.

Re: US EPA Enforcement and Compliance on Apple Fabrication

#40

Post by insaneirish »

Reason077 wrote: post #39
insaneirish wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's go with "definitely not", given the amount of other things that could be within a 7 mile radius of your location. The blog paints this as some secret lair of nefarious experiments. It actually refers to the facility as a "Secret Silicon Fab" which is quite the logical leap. I would suspect they're etching PCBs, perhaps? One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab. I'm sorry, but if you're going to come with g…

> "One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab." Why do you say that? Yes, the EPA report seems to be redacted to obscure what they're actually doing there. But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab.

> Why do you say that?

Mainly because Apple's custom silicon could not even be prototyped in a small scale facility. It'd likely be in Taiwan.

> But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab.

I apologize if I missed them. Please highlight. Curious of the credentials of the folks reporting such a thing, as well.

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