The U-S Army Corps of Engineers is holding a 30 day open public comment period for the proposed Micron semiconductor manufacturing facility at White Pine Commerce Park in the Town of Clay. The federal agency has received a formal application from Micron, which is seeking an official Department of the Army permit and is now required to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. The engineers say in its public notice, “the proposed project may significantly affect the quality of the human environment.” Buffalo District Regulatory Chief Steve Metivier (Meh – TEAV – ee – ER) explains they’re assessing many potential impacts.
“There’s a large amount of wetland impacts associated with this project. But, also those other things associated with… there’s traffic and transportation and lots of earth moving and there’s economic benefits and a lot of jobs. So, the human environment is all of it. It’s the human environment plus us.”
Due to the size of the Micron project, Metivier says they’re going to be assessing the project in a much different way. Construction on the chip fabs could start in 2025.
“We don’t have final numbers yet. We’re in the neighborhood 230 acres of wetlands would be filled to build what they want to do. We’re working right now with Micron. You know, they need to come up with a mitigation plan for that.”
Metivier says the agency is involved because the project involves water quality and wetlands. Several other federal agencies are also assisting the engineers, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Highway Administration and others. The State DEC will also be a part of the process. Today is day number six of the 30 day public comment period. The public meeting at Clay Town Hall is scheduled for March 19th. Doors open at 6:30 and the meeting begins at 7 PM.