ICONMEDIA

A 20-minute documentary about Advanced Micro Devices' move to the Barton Springs watershed.

For decades, Austin has recognized a scientific, economic and public consensus that major employers do not belong on top of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer — Texas' aquifer that’s most vulnerable to urban pollution.

AMD's New AddressIn April 2005, Advanced Micro Devices announced it would move its Austin headquarters -- with between two and three thousand employees -- from east of Interstate 35 to southwest Austin on undeveloped land near the Edwards Aquifer’s recharge zone.

Since that time, AMD’s plan to build eight hundred and fifty thousand square feet of office space on a fifty-nine acre tract at William Cannon Drive and Southwest Parkway has become a controversial community issue.

More than sixteen thousand people have signed a petition urging Hector Ruiz, AMD’s Chief Executive Office to find a location away from the fragile Barton Springs watershed.

Sycamore Creek caked in mudThe public is concerned about the impact that AMD’s planned headquarters will have on Austin’s creeks and springs, and about the accelerated commercial and residential development and massive increase in traffic that will follow.

Austin environmental leaders have demanded that the Austin City Council and Mayor Will Wynn hold a public hearing on the matter.

To date, there has been no public assessment of AMD’s impact on the Barton Springs watershed. Yet on January 12 of this year, City Staff approved a plat - or initial development plan - for the company’s new Austin headquarters.

City staff accepted the company position that AMD is exempt from Austin’s SOS Ordinance, even though the Austin City Council has not voted to grant such an exemption, nor has Council held any public hearings.

When we started filming on January 12 – the same day AMD received City approval– our goal was to document the AMD tract and surrounding area before any construction began – and to identify areas of concern for future filming.

But construction had already begun months before, not by AMD, but by Stratus Properties, owner of the AMD site and hundreds of acres of surrounding land.

Rialto Blvd in May 2005Stratus started, in May 2005, to bulldoze and cut the grade for the extension of Rialto Boulevard between Southwest Parkway and William Cannon Drive.

We saw bright green grass next to a brand new blacktop road, and a bulldozer parked ominously on a slight rise above Southwest Parkway.

We also saw how construction runoff has carried silt and sediment from Rialto Boulevard, underneath Southwest Parkway, and into Sycamore Creek – a tributary of Barton Creek.

This part of Sycamore Creek is within 20 yards of Southwest Parkway. The sediment load in the creek bed here is small compared to the expected sediment loads if AMD begins moving earth and erecting buildings on the Lantana hilltop.

Storm water run-off has channeled Southwest Parkway’s road embankment, creating another costly repair for Austin taxpayers.

AMD’s construction project and the development to follow will add much to the already unacceptable pollution of Barton Creek, Sycamore Creek, Williamson Creek, and the Barton Springs Segment of the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs.