With so much talk about the
dollars and cents of the Foxconn
deal, we wondered what the
manufacturer of electronics and
LCD screens entails.
It's a far cry from rust belt
smoke stack-type industry.
Is it clean?
What by-products could result?
From there we turn to the
University of Michigan.
They pointed us to Peter
Adriaens, professor of civil
and environmental engineering.
He joins us from Ann Arbor,
and thanks so much for doing so.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> This Foxconn plant
will produce LCD screens, and
you say heavy metals are key
components of tech manufacturing
of this sort. How so?
>> Yes, so LCD screens are
liquid crystals that are encased
between two glass plates.
The liquid crystals
have organic solvents in them.
Then, back lighting is required
for a screen like that.
That has mercury in it,
and there's a power supply which
has heavy metals like cadmium,
chromium, zinc, and copper.
>> How would those
heavy metals be contained
or discarded?
>> During the manufacturing
process, the excess materials
that are not used in the
manufacturing would be stored
into waste bins or waste drums
and ultimately be processed.
>> What happens if they are
released into the soil or water
and is that a possibility?
>> That is definitely a distinct
possibility, and the waste
materials essentially are liquid
materials, and they usually get
burned down into a waste cake of
materials, so like a sludge
that has heavy metals in it.
The question is what Foxconn
plans on doing with that.
Is it going to get stored
in a storage facility?
Where are they going to take it?
Because leakage out of drums
is a fairly common occurrence.
>Are these dangerous pollutants?
>> It depends on which one you
are talking about.
The Benzene definitely has long-
term health effects including
birth defects, cancer and other
types of impacts, and heavy
metals, once they get into your
body and once they get
into the environmental ecosystem
are there to stay for
a very long time.
They are called bioaccumulative.
They accumulate in the body
and they stay pretty much for
the rest of your life.
Basically, you can't
get rid of them.
>> Can the water used
in the process be cleaned and
returned to the lake where it
will be drawn from?
>> There are definitely
processes by which you can try
to clean them in some sort of
cleanup standards where you can
clean the manufacturing waters
to the standard where they can
be discharged again, but I'm not
sure what processes are actually
in place, and the bill seems to
indicate there is no monitoring
required on the water quality.
>> Speaking of that,
there are these relaxations of
environmental rules in this
bill.
What is your overall reaction to
the relaxation of those rules in
this bill that is being ushered
through our Legislature?
>> Almost seems a little
excessive here, and I'm very
used to seeing what states do
to attract businesses--
anything from changing
zoning laws to what not.
I have never seen them relax the
environmental regulations on
the manufacturing operations.
Definitely they would be
required to do less than U.S.
operations in the same state.
>> Specific language
in the bill says our Department
of Natural Resources would not
require a permit for Foxconn to
do things including depositing
material, changing the course
of streams, and enlarging
a water body that connects
to a navigable waterway.
What does that mean to you?
>> In normal business operations
you have to seek permits, and
there's conditions around the
discharge, and it seems like
this bill is essentially
completely getting rid of
all state required legislative
permitting.
They argue the federal permits
apply, but essentially, they're
getting a free ride on all
the state permits.
It's very unusual.
>> You are saying
it's unusual, but what about
that fact that federal rules
would still apply?
Do those not protect the
citizens?
>> Federal rules definitely do
protect the citizens, but the
reason we have state specific
laws from the DNR is to adapt
the federal rules to the
location or geographic specific
conditions such as Wisconsin
having Great Lakes, the
different kinds of industries
that operate in the different
states.
So we need to adopt any kind of
rule to the local business and
industrial operations.
That's why we do need state laws
in addition to the federal laws.
>> All of this
discussion of heavy metals, and
other kinds of materials and
storage of those, should we be
concerned when you see the
language in this bill that is
going through the Legislature
and the relaxations in it?
>> I think there's definitely
cause for concern for a couple
of different reasons, and one
you look at Foxconn's record in
china, and definitely have been
major discharges both in air and
in water, and precautionary
principle would say yes, we do
need rules, and the second cause
for concern is it really opens
up and becomes a slippery slope
and opens up the opportunity of
other electronics manufacturing
industries or other industries
that even do a minor portion to
say look, there's a precedent,
and we do not need environmental
regulations, if you want to move
to the state of Wisconsin.
There's definitely cause for
concern.
>> Professor Peter
Adriaens, thank you for joining
us with your expertise.
>> Thank you very much.