Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.07.2018, Page 13

municipality had been hit by two crises
within a few years. The U.S. military
base closed in 2006 and then the finan-
cial system collapsed in 2008. The base
had been the heart of the local econ-
omy since the 1950s, and it was hoped
that the facility would bring down the
highest unemployment rate in the
country. United Silicon started opera-
tions in November 2016, and shortly
thereafter residents began seeking
medical attention for chemical burns
in their respiratory systems. In addi-
tion to the immediate injuries, these
chemicals are carcinogens and linked
to other illnesses.
T h e c o m p a n y
a c k n o w l e d g e d
t h a t m i s t a k e s
had been made
and stated it was
fixing the issues.
It was character-
ized as a begin-
ners’ mistake.
Only two months
later, in Janu-
ary 2017, videos
recorded by work-
ers at the plant showed that the factory
was continuing to release pollutants,
always under the cover of night.
In March of 2017, the municipal
council called for the factory’s imme-
diate closure after test results showed
arsenic levels twenty times higher than
the environment agency’s upper limit.
United Silicon denied responsibil-
ity and suggested there was another
unspecified cause. The environment
agency rejected these claims and noted
that tests had been taken before and
after the plant started operating. The
environment minister at the time,
Björt Ólafsdóttir, ordered the factory
shut down in April 2017, shortly after
a small fire in the plant. Experts from
abroad were brought in to investigate.
The plant resumed operations several
weeks later under strict state supervi-
sion. This same scenario, including a
fire, was repeated in September 2017.
This plant remains shut down to this
day. Inspections revealed that while the
design of the facility was satisfactory,
its equipment was of very poor quality.
It was estimated to cost 3 billion ISK to
update the factory. The prolonged shut
down and high costs of retrofits caused
the board of United Silicon to file for
bankruptcy in January of this year.
Northern Exposure
The Reykjanesbær plant is not the
only Icelandic silicon facility to have
a negative environmental impact. The
only other plant so far, PCC BakkiSili-
con, near Húsavík in northern Iceland,
recently released unfiltered smoke
due to a computer error. Emergency
vents opened, bypassing the normal
filtering process. The furnaces are
meant to shut down when there is a
problem but failed to do so. The vents
were only open for fifteen minutes
and local monitoring stations showed
that air quality remained within the
standard range. This is not the first
time this has happened at the plant. In
a worrying admission, management
expects it will not be the last either.
PCC Bakki opened in the spring of
this year and, other than a few other
similar instances, has been produc-
ing silicon without complaint from
the local community. The small,
rural municipality, like Reykjanes-
bær, wanted to attract new jobs and
increase tax revenue. The centraliza-
tion of the fishing industry has hit
Húsavík hard, as it has many commu-
nities outside the capital region. If the
plant continues to operate relatively
smoothly, locals appear content.
Metal Mentality
Heavy industry was a long-time
dream of Icelandic businessmen and
politicians (and they were all men for
too long). Author and 2016 presiden-
tial candidate, Andri Snær Magna-
son’s book, “Dreamland,” reshaped the
debate. The book, in part, documented
the pollution of Iceland’s aluminum
smelters and the flooding of valleys
to build hydroelectric dams to power
them. The residents of Hafnarfjörður
rejected an expansion of their local
smelter in a referendum after the
book’s publication. During her brief
tenure as environment minister,
Björt Ólafsdóttir declared that heavy
industry would no longer have carte
blanche and Iceland needs to move
on. Her successor, Guðmundur Ingi
Guðbrandsson, a well-known environ-
mentalist and nominee of the Left-
Green Movement is likely to continue
the tight scrutiny of industry.
Two more silicon plants have been
proposed. One next to United Silicon
and another in Grundartangi, not
far west of Reykjavík. It remains to
be seen if the financial and technical
problems of the existing factories, and
the scrutiny of the state and residents
will prevent their construction.
13 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16— 2018
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“It remains to be seen
if the financial and
technical problems of
the existing factories,
and the scrutiny
of the state and
residents will prevent
their construction.”
Magnús Garðarsson, disgraced CEO