Micron will give the community an overview next week of the environmental review process for its planned megafab facility in Clay.
The environmental impacts of the massive microchip manufacturing facility have the potential to be wide ranging and significant. Officials from Micron are shedding some light on how they plan to meet numerous federal and state regulations on everything from energy and water use to transportation and wetlands. Micron Senior Director Carson Henry says they’re aiming to be as carbon neutral as possible.
“I think we're open to all solutions and having worked on this and other sites for Micron it can be a variety," Henry said. "It just needs to meet the certifications and standards that our customers expect and that we expect as well.”
Henry says they’ll be glad to use as much green energy as the state can provide.
Microchip manufacturing uses a lot of water, and Henry projects they’ll need up to 48 million gallons of water per day from Lake Ontario. About 20 million gallons will be returned to the watershed.
“We'll have on site treatment and recycling," Henry said. "So we're going to target a very high percentage of water reuse recycling and once it gets to a point where our internal treatment isn't set up to handle it, then it'll go to WEP. WEP will do further treatment until it meets the standards of the water that can be discharged into the Oneida River.”
WEP is the county’s Department of Water Environment Protection.
With 9,000 workers at the facility alone, and up to 40,000 more community jobs, the company has to account for the impact on roadways. Graham Trelstad is environmental lead at WSP USA, which is working with Micron on the environmental review and permitting process.
“In the spring of this year, we did data collection at over 200 different locations surrounding the White Pine Commerce Park," Trelsad said. "We're looking at local roads, state roads, county roads and the Interstate 81 conditions. We will be looking at and analyzing existing areas of congestion and potential future areas.”
Micron officials say they hope to have an environmental impact statement completed by early next year. A record of decision permitting construction to begin could be in place by this time next year.
The open house takes place Tuesday, August 1, at 6 pm at North Syracuse Junior High School.
