As far back as 20 years ago, the ground water and soil of Silicon Valley were found to contain harmful pollutants which were later discovered to have leaked out of the underground storage facilities of local firms. Even now, 29 locations in Silicon Valley remain on the US Environmental Protection Agency's pollution watch list.
早在大約二十年前，矽谷地區的地下水和土壤就被發現遭有害廢棄物汙染，後來發現是廠商的地下儲存槽洩漏，直到現在矽谷地區仍有二十九個被美國環保署列管的汙染場址。