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==Legacy== [[File:RCA Nipper Camden NJ A.JPG|thumb|The historic [[Nipper Building|RCA Victor Building 17]] is one of a few remaining buildings in [[Camden, New Jersey]] of the dozens that once housed the vast [[Victor Talking Machine Company]]/[[RCA Victor]] manufacturing complex.]] RCA [[antique radio]]s, and early color television receivers such as the RCA Merrill/CT-100, are among the more sought-after collectible radios and televisions, due to their popularity during the [[golden age of radio]] and the historic significance of the RCA name, as well as their styling, manufacturing quality and engineering innovations. Most collectable are the pre-war television sets manufactured by RCA beginning in 1939, including the TRK-5, TRK-9 and TRK-12 models. The RCA Heritage Museum was established at [[Rowan University]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=The RCA Heritage Program Museum |url=https://www.lib.rowan.edu/campbell/spaces-collections/rca-heritage-program-museum |website=Rowan University |date=July 17, 2017 |access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref> The historic RCA Victor Building 17, the "[[Nipper Building]]", in [[Camden, New Jersey]], was converted to luxury apartments in 2003.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/4sustain/awds2004.htm#4 "RCA Victor Company, 'Nipper Building' Rehabilitation"], New Jersey Historic Preservation Awards Program, 2004,.</ref> A type of plug/jack combination used in audio and video cables is still called the [[RCA connector]]. To this day, a variety of consumer electronics including 2-in-1 tablets, televisions and telephones, home appliances and more are sold under the [[RCA (trademark)|RCA brand name]]. ===Environmental issues=== Numerous former RCA manufacturing sites have been reported to be polluted with industrial waste. * A former RCA facility in Taiwan's northern county of [[Taoyuan City|Taoyuan]] (now Taoyuan City) polluted groundwater with toxic chemicals and led to a high incidence of cancer among former employees.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yi |first=Matthew |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/taiwan-workers-plead-cancer-case-link-rca-plant-2833443.php |title=Taiwan workers plead cancer case / Link RCA plant to disease |work=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications |date=May 24, 2002 |access-date=September 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>Ton, 1999 Ton C-D, Exposure and Health Risk Assessment of Groundwater Contamination β A Case Study of Contamination Site of Tao-Yuan RCA. Master Thesis, National Taiwan University. 1999 (in Chinese)</ref> The area was declared a toxic site by the [[Environmental Protection Administration (Republic of China)|Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency]]. GE and Thomson spent millions of dollars for cleanup, removing {{convert|10000|cuyd|m3}} of soil and installing municipal water treatment facilities for neighboring communities. A spokesman for RCA's current owners denied responsibility, saying a study conducted by the Taiwan government showed no correlation between the illnesses and the company's facilities, which shut down in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0522-11.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327232523/http://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0522-11.htm|url-status=dead|title=Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition|archive-date=March 27, 2009|access-date=December 15, 2021}}</ref> On April 17, 2015, RCA lost the case and the Taipei District Court ordered RCA's current owners to compensate its former employees with a total of NT$560 million (approximately US$18.1 million).<ref>{{cite web|author=Chao, Stephanie |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/taipei/2015/04/18/433937/RCA-parent.htm|title=RCA parent firms to pay NT$560 mil.|date=April 18, 2015|access-date=July 5, 2015 |archive-date=July 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705202306/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/taipei/2015/04/18/433937/RCA-parent.htm |url-status=dead |website=China Post}}</ref> * A plant in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], which RCA operated from the late 1940s to June 1986, released more than 250,000 pounds of [[1,1,1-trichloroethane]] pollutants per year from its exhaust stacks. Tests by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, found the groundwater contaminated by [[trichloroethylene]] (TCE) and [[1,2-dichloroethylene]] (1,2-DCE).<ref name="epa.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/pa/pdf/pad003026903.pdf|title=Corrective Action Programs around the Nation β US EPA|first=US|last=EPA, OSWER, ORCR, PIID|website=US EPA}}</ref> In 1991 and 1992, contaminants were detected in monitoring wells on the east side of the [[Conestoga River]] in Lancaster. EPA designated [[General Electric|General Electric Company]] to clean up the area.<ref name="epa.gov_ge_lancaster_pa">{{cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactioncleanups/hazardous-waste-cleanup-general-electric-company-lancaster-pennsylvania|title=Hazardous Waste Cleanup: General Electric Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania|first=US|last=EPA|website=US EPA|date=December 28, 2015 }}</ref> * The shallow and deep groundwater aquifers beneath the [[Intersil]] Facility in [[Mountaintop, Pennsylvania]], which RCA operated in the 1960s and later sold to [[Harris Corporation]], were found in 1999 to contain elevated levels of [[volatile organic compound]]s.<ref>Intersil Corporation, [https://sec.edgar-online.com/intersil-corpde/s-1-securities-registration-statement/1999/11/12/Section130.aspx S-1 SEC Filing, 11/10/1999]</ref> * A site in [[Burlington, Massachusetts]], which RCA used from 1958 to 1994 to make and test military electronics equipment, generated [[hazardous waste]] ([[VOCs]], [[Trichloroethylene|TCE]], [[toluene]], [[ethylbenzene]], and [[xylene]]s).<ref>[https://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/resource/report01/remedial.pdf SUPERFUND ANNUAL REPORT 2001]. U.S. EPA Region I</ref> * In [[Barceloneta, Puerto Rico|Barceloneta]], Puerto Rico, an RCA-operated plant generated wastes containing [[chromium]], [[selenium]] and iron. Four lagoons holding chemical waste drained into the limestone [[aquifer]].<ref>U.S. EPA, Environmental Quality Board, National Priority List (NPL), Site Inspection Report/Site Evaluation Report. EPA, San Juan Barceloneta RCA del Caribe, October 1987</ref><ref>John M. Hunter and Sonia I. Arbona, [https://earth.engineering.columbia.edu/wtert/sofos/paradise%20lost.pdf "Paradise Lost: An Introduction to the Geography of Water Pollution in Puerto Rico"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003181637/http://www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert/sofos/paradise%20lost.pdf |date=October 3, 2008 }}, ''Soc. Sci. Med.'' Vol. 40, No. 10, pp. 1331β1355, 1995. Pergamon Press.</ref> Used water from the manufacturing process (process water), containing [[ferric chloride]], was treated onsite to remove contaminants and then was discharged into a sinkhole at the site. The treatment of process water created a [[sludge]] that was stored onsite in drying beds and in surface impoundments.<ref>20058 - 20060 ''Federal Register'' / Vol. 70, No. 73 / Monday, April 18, 2005</ref>
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