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IBM, Semiconductor Manufacturing Facility
Proposal
Note: The following proposal reads "PROJECT XL FINAL PROJECT AGREEMENT" on the first page. This is not actually a "Final Project Agreement", but rather a proposal written in the format of a Final Project Agreement. The following Proposal information for IBM contains the Table of Contents and the Project Summary. The rest of the proposal is in pdf format. Please click on the icon below to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file
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Click to Download the proposed Final Project Agreement for IBM. (PDF 40 pages; 104K)
11/2/98
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IBM PROJECT XL
PROJECT XL FINAL PROJECT AGREEMENT
MANAGEMENT OF SEMICONDUCTOR RINSEWATERS FROM A COPPER PLATING PROCESS
submitted by the
IBM ESSEX JUNCTION SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING FACILITY
IBM FACILITY CONTACT:
Jay M. Dietrich
Mail Stop 966A
IBM
Essex Junction, VT 05452
Telephone: 802-769-4046
USEPA NEW ENGLAND CONTACT:
Attn: Mr. Chris Rascher
Office of Assistance and Pollution Prevention (SPP)
One Congress Street (10th floor)
Boston, Massachusetts 02203
Telephone: 617-656-9078
STATE OF VERMONT CONTACT:
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
Attn: Mr. Gary Gulka
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05671
Telephone: 802-241-3626
Table of Contents 2-4
I. Project Summary 5
II. Facility and Process Description 6
A. Facility Description 6
B. Manufacturing Description 6
1. Overall process description 6
2. Detailed Unit Process Description 7
b. Chamber Cleaning Process for Removal of Silicon 7
a. New Copper Metallization Step 7
c. Wastewater Treatment System 8
d. Sludge Disposal 8
III. Regulatory Flexibility 8
A. Introduction 8
B. Background 9
C. Proposed Regulatory Flexibility 9
1. Reassessment of the F006 listing 9
2. Impacts of Rinsewaters on Wastewater Concentrations and 10
Sludge Concentrations
a. Sludge Impacts 10
3. Alternative Regulatory Authority 11
b. Wastewater Discharge Impacts 11
IV. Environmental Benefits 12
A. Rationalization 12
B. Tier 1 and Tier 2 Environmental Assessments 13
1. Tier 1: Baseline data for the Copper Plating and Mechanical 13
Polishing Process
2. Tier 1: Baseline data for Global Warming Gas Emissions From 14
the Silicon Dioxide Chamber Clean Process4. Tier 2: Environmental Benefits, Copper Plating Process 15
3. Tier 1: Pollution Prevention Efforts Undertaken Over the Past 15
Three Years
a. Copper Additions to the Wastewater Influent, Effluent, and 15
Treatment Sludge
b. Energy Usage Reduction 18
c. Pollution Prevention Efforts in the Copper Plating Process 18
5. Tier 2: Environmental Benefits Global Warming Gas Emission 18
Reduction
a. Memorandum of Understanding 19
b. Alternate Chemistry for Silicon Dioxide Chamber Clean Process 19
V. Stakeholder Participation 21
VI. Cost Savings and Paperwork Reduction 22
VII. Project Goals and Success 22
A. Project Duration and Performance 22
B. Project Measurement and Reporting 23
VIII. Additional Considerations 24
A. Innovation/Multi-Media Pollution Prevention 24
B. Transferability 25
C. Project Feasibility 25
D. Shifting of Risk Burden 25
IX. Conclusion 25
Attachment A - Pollution Prevention work at Burlington 1994 - 1997
Attachment B - Sludge TCLP Analytical Data
Attachment C - Figures
I. PROJECT SUMMARY
This Project XL application seeks a site specific process exemption from the F006 listing for the copper plating process rinsewater. IBM Burlington has introduced a copper plating process to create electrical interconnections between device levels for new semiconductor technologies. This plating process will replace the aluminum Chemical Vapor Deposition process which is in use today for previous generation semiconductor device technologies. Addition of the 400 gallons per day of copper plating rinsewater (present generation rate, rising to approximately 4000 gallons per day in the year 2001) to the other process wastewaters generated at the Burlington Semiconductor Manufacturing facility (which are not regulated under RCRA) has required the site to classify the sludge generated by the wastewater treatment process as an F006 hazardous waste under the mixture rule.
Management of rinsewaters in a segregated treatment system to prevent mixing of the plating rinsewaters with the general treatment system influent will require an initial capital investment of $200-350 K and annual operating costs of 25-50 K/yr while minimally increasing the copper discharge to the receiving water. Given that IBM is not presently incurring any additional costs due to the classification of the wastewater treatment sludge as an F006 hazardous waste, there is no economic driver to install a segregated treatment system. The reclassification has, however, increased IBM's reported hazardous waste production by 167 % per year, from 2.25 M pounds to 5.99 M pounds (1997 actuals), and waste management costs by approximately $3.5 K/yr.
IBM believes that there is no environmental benefit or justification for classifying the sludge as an F006 waste because of the introduction of the copper plating rinsewaters and that a site specific process exemption should be considered. In order to achieve a significant environmental benefit on this project, IBM is asking that its voluntary effort to reduce global warming gas emissions through the introduction of an alternate process chemistry in the silicon dioxide chamber clean process be recognized as a significant environmental benefit. IBM is investing $2.0 M at its Burlington semiconductor manufacturing facility for the installation of process piping and gas cabinets to convert the chamber cleaning process from C2F6 to Nitrogen Trifluoride, resulting in a 40-60% reduction in global warming gas emissions, adjusted for production changes, against a 1995 baseline measurement. IBM is voluntarily taking this action well ahead of any regulatory requirements, the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between USEPA and the Semiconductor Industry Association, and actions taken by other semiconductor manufacturing companies.