Portland — Intel’s failure to report its fluoride emissions in Washington County to the state for years was an “inadvertent oversight,” a company spokeswoman said Friday in a written statement.
The chip-making company has been emitting fluoride since 1978 but only recently added the pollutant to an air quality permit application with the state. Company spokeswoman Chelsea Hossaini said in a statement to The Oregonian that the company notified the state’s Department of Environmental Quality about the omission in 2012.
The statement also said an Intel analysis showed the fluoride levels would have been below significant state emissions levels. But the company declined to provide a tonnage per year in emissions, which determines whether an emission is significant. Hossaini said the company had no further comment.
The admission comes as Intel is applying for a new air quality permit in Washington County that will increase its volatile organic compounds limit and add greenhouse gases and fluoride to its current permit. A public hearing for the new permit will be held Monday in Hillsboro, Ore.
