Micron’s eagerly-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), a report that dives into the effect the massive chip-making facility will have on the region’s water, air and native species, was released Wednesday, setting off a critical period for when the public can comment on the project.

Prepared by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, the U.S. Commerce Department and Micron, the report is considered the critical next step in the chipmaker’s plans to build its massive plant in the town of Clay, which will include the nation’s largest clean room space at approximately 2.4 million square feet.

“We appreciate the local, state, and federal agencies whose assistance and review have been instrumental in helping us reach this important milestone,” Micron Executive Vice President of Global Operations Manish Bhatia said in a press statement released Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul. “Micron remains focused on bringing leading-edge memory manufacturing to New York. We’ve taken great care to prepare comprehensive draft environmental impact statement materials for review by the public and by local, state, and federal government agencies. As we move toward ground preparation later this year, we look forward to working closely with the lead agencies to ensure the process meets all regulatory requirements and provides meaningful opportunities for community input.”

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon detailed the report in an hour-long meeting with reporters Wednesday morning, calling it a monumental day.

“There is not another mega-project in the country that has gone through this layer of review to meet the necessary guidelines of all these agencies,” he said, noting the state’s extensive environmental review process on more than one occasion.  

Onondage County Executive Ryan McMahon speaks on Wednesday. (Spectrum News 1)

He called the DEIS a roadmap that, based on public input, could clear the way for the project to begin this fall. Transportation, traffic and wetlands are key points, McMahon said. 

Micron is proposing to build a rail spur site to facilitate construction and minimize truck traffic over the project’s 16-year buildout, McMahon said, adding their preferred alternative of constructing a long access driveway running west from Route 11 in Cicero onto the Micron campus.

Plans also call for a new exit off I-81 and widening of roads and highways.

McMahon said Micron would restore wetlands in the community by 2 to 1 due to disturbance of wetlands at the site. The company also will implemement an emergency response team and pay for ongoing training with local fire departments as a mitigation measure, he said.

The county executive said he’s interested in selling land for the campus in parcels as the four planned fabs are constructed, rather than all at once.

He said Micron is committed to employing primarily union labor on the project, which he said would create 9,000 permanent onsite jobs by 2045 with an average annual salary of about $100,000 that help spur a $10 billion impact on the local economy.

Micron will contribute $500 million to identified local and regional initiatives, McMahon said.

The project is expected to produce household growth in Onondaga County.

Syracuse is expected to grow by approximately 7,500 households by 2041, and Cicero, Clay, Dewitt, Lysander, Manlius, Onondaga and Salina are expected to see potential increases of more than 1,000 households each, according to the report.

You can read the full DEIS here.

The report will now be put up for public comment until Aug. 11. In-person public hearings will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., 2-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. on July 24 at Liverpool High School. Instructions on how to comment are available on the Onondaga County Office of Economic Development website.

A final environmental impact statement will need to be approved in an October vote before Micron can break ground on its planned facility.