The 45-day clock for public comments is ticking on Micron’s environmental review. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released to the public this week, and a coalition of state, local and federal groups is asking for more time to study how Micron is going to deal with the fallout of building a massive semiconductor chip making campus in the Town of Clay.
Don Hughes, an environmental chemist who teaches at Le Moyne College, has started reading the massive document, with an eye toward how Micron will dispose of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” These are substances used in the computer chip making process. They don’t break down naturally and can accumulate over time, creating potential health risks.
“What they need to do is apply the very, very best technology to completely eliminate that stuff,” said Hughes. “And that is not what the DEIS says in terms of treating the air emissions and treating the water emissions. They said, ‘Well, we might do this and that.’”
Hughes is one of several experts who say they need more time to digest the massive document, stuffed with complex charts and indexes. A petition signed by over 16-hundred individuals is asking the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency to extend the comment period to 120 days, as well as adding public hearings.
“It is literally impossible for the community, for subject matter experts to actually absorb all the information in a 20,000 page document and be prepared to comment usefully, intelligently and productively in the 45 day period,” said Richard Kornbluth of CNY Solidarity Coalition. “They are trying to ram this through to try to get as little input from the community as possible, and I think that's wrong.”
It took state, federal and local officials two and a half years to create the environmental review which touches on everything from endangered species to transportation. Kornbluth said the one good thing about the process, is that every comment will need a response.
“The rules of the DEIS require that every single comment that is made has to be responded to,” he said. “That is baked into the rules. So we think that there's a potential for influencing the end result here.”
If the timeline remains the same, Micron expects to break ground on the first of four semiconductor manufacturing facilities in November.
