OntheWilderSide

Chip fabrication plant in Saratoga County draws protest

Anti-AMD Demonstration Planned for Saratoga Springs

On January 23rd, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation will be rolling out the red carpet for AMD at a “Meet the Community Day,” luncheon. But not everyone will be out to welcome the corporate giant. Saratoga Greens (aka Green Party) and a group of concerned citizens who are opposed to the siting of a chip fab plant in the county will hold a demonstration in front of the City Center at noon.

At a recent Comprehensive Review Board meeting in Saratoga Springs, Jack Kelly, Vice President of SEDC talked about the future impact of the AMD plant on the city. Besides saying that AMD was bringing two to three hundred families with them and that a majority of those people would probably look for housing in Saratoga Springs, he also talked about his organization’s long-term economic plans for upstate New York. “Over the next 25 years, we’d like to see 15 chip fab plants built from Kingston to Glens Falls ”said Kelly.

Barbara Trypaluk, Chairperson of the Greens, who is a member of Saratoga’s Comprehensive Review Board does not consider Kelly’s vision for upstate New York great news. “The thought of our predominantly rural Hudson Valley becoming another Silicon Valley is a sickening one. Environmentally, AMD has a shady history; in the 1990’s three of its sites in California were put on EPA’s superfund list after it was discovered that water-solvents and acid-neutralization liquids in two underground storage tanks had leaked into the groundwater. The clean-up for one of those sites took twelve years. In addition, no one knows what the long-term health effects of releasing nanoparticles into the air will be.”

Results of studies done on rats at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. have indicated that nanoparticles, or sub-miscroscopic particles, migrate directly into the animals’ organs. Since chip fab plants use a lot of toxic substances in the manufacturing process, this does not bode well for humans or any other living things in or near Luther Forest.

Trypaluk goes on to say that “ it’s time elected officials and economic planners took the people’s wishes into consideration and started pushing for indsutry that would help instead of harm the environment, such as the production of ethanol. Also, new industry should not be introduced to rural areas like the town of Malta that lack infrastructure. The AMD project is obviously the lynchpin of the $67 million countywide water system, which, so far hasn’t been able to procure a financial commitment from any of the towns. Even though AMD has been awarded a generous state funding package, water seems to be the wild card in this game.”

Recently, Senator Joe Bruno teased reporters with yet another impending development that he claims will boost the Capital Region’s economy. At an Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting, he said that there were things”simmering and cooking” – insinuating that some other corporation was seriously looking at building on a site not far from Albany. Senator Bruno likes to keep people guessing — about everything.

Contact Information: Barbara Trypaluk, 583-4487

thanks to Musings of a (Fairly) Young Contrarian for this release

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