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The first 6 years of her life Ellie enjoyed
fresh air and sunshine and no toxic particulates in the air.
Then Intel built its chip manufacturing plant at the top of
the hill, about 1/4 mile northwest. For the last 12
years both Ellie and Roberta have been exposed to whatever
chemical emissions came out of Intel's stacks and blew toward
the southeast.
Prevailing wind patterns have changed the
last several years and now, more and more, they blow from
Intel toward the people directly east and southeast of
the plant. The quantity and duration of emissions have
increased since the expansion of Fab 11-X in October of 2002.
Ellie suffered a seizure and mini stroke in
July, 2002. She changed from a perpetually active dog
who loved to run on the acre she enjoyed to a dog who wasn't
always sure which way her legs actually would actually go.
But she was happy, and adjusted her movements to a much slower
pace. When she suffered another seizure late in January,
Roberta decided to release Ellie from this earthly life the
end of January, 2004.
A post-mortem showed that Ellie had a
type of lung cancer not usually found in dogs. Intel uses
silica in the chip manufacturing process which makes one
wonder if breathing silica into her lungs was responsible for
the type of adenocarcinoma she had.
An analysis of her lung tissue was tested
for many of the chemical compounds the FTIR monitors had
been detecting. Her level for three of them was well
above the detection level of 10 parts per billion (ppb).
N-Hexane was 18 ppb; Ethylbenzene was 14 ppb; and Toluene was
50 ppb.
If these chemicals were found in Ellie's
lung tissue, might they also be in the bodies of other animals
and humans who daily and nightly have to breathe the air
polluted with them?
When will the residents living in the
shadow of Intel's emission stacks have their health, safety
and welfare protected by the regulatory agency whose mission
it is to do that?
When will the governing bodies and State
Agencies responsible for setting the limits for pollution, and
enforcing them, do just that so everyone knows that the
industrial emissions getting into the atmosphere are safe for
humans and animals?
Every day when I drive into my driveway and
there is no Ellie inside the fence to greet me, I silently
bless her and thank her for the gift of her tissue which
revealed these chemicals to us. I pray it may help in
the process of getting Intel to clean up their emissions.
"
Roberta King, Corrales, New Mexico
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