Sonia Y. Kragh, M.D., lives in DeWitt.
This commentary is to state what has not been said (yet) by the environmental community.
Micron should not be built here.
Like others active in the environmental community, I submitted detailed comments about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Micron’s presentation includes no meaningful plan to provide renewable energy; instead, it outlines use of credits, or Micron must plan on using energy that New York state has already established or will build. Gov. Kathy Hochul appears to be negotiating nuclear power, which changes the conversation, as nuclear is not clean, renewable energy, and would take a lot longer than installation of solar. A draft energy plan from New York state is in public comments right now, and currently capacity does not hit the benchmarks for renewable energy and transition to net carbon zero with existing development, let alone electricity-hungry Micron.
The last remaining coal-fired power plant closed in 2020, following New York state Department of Environmental Conservation’s adoption of revisions to 6 NYCRR Part 251 to establish carbon dioxide emission limits for existing power plants. The emissions from Micron fabs building and operations is estimated to be equivalent to those of a coal-fired power plant. Micron will bring significant air pollution to our region.
The DEIS provides no greenhouse gas inventory of the building materials or all the traffic and highway buildouts associated with this project over 16 to 20 years. Changes in air traffic, including drones, is not mentioned. Is it OK to run 180 rail cars full of whatever is in them from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily over Caughdenoy Road, in Clay, for years? Whatever is in those rail cars comes from somewhere, and will either be trucked or railed through our communities.
Micron has cleverly worded these “actions” to provide the plant with infrastructure as ultimately up to the “powers that be” that will construct the gas pipeline, water pipeline, wastewater treatment and highway interchanges. These additional “connective actions” were not studied adequately in the DEIS. However, any construction related to the Micron project will ultimately affect Central New York residents who will both foot the bill and suffer with the environmental consequences with no accountability by Micron.
I am not impressed by our local and state leadership seemingly giving Micron a “pass” to pollute our surface and ground water, destroy wetlands and its inhabitants, and bring noise and air pollution that is unimaginable.
I’m not even sure if engineers have done due diligence on site selection, as it appears to be over a karst region which would be potentially unstable with all the water movement when drained wetlands are replaced with fill. Where will Micron keep all the water they have to drain, while they build for decades? There will be rechannelization of surface and ground waters, but there is no documentation of how this movement of water may affect neighboring communities in the five counties expected to benefit from Micron’s presence. A few decades into the project, will a fab or child care center or residence drop into a sink hole?
Please wake up to the reality about the Micron project, which is that it is an environmental disaster waiting to happen as it is presented in the DEIS. I find it hard to believe that anyone with an environmental frame of mind would sign off on this DEIS or related permitting of the project. Micron spins positive benefits for a five-county area. Where is the appraisal of potential negative environmental impacts on the same five-county area? Central New York should learn from past industrial mistakes that caused Tully Valley mudboils.
Those that can sign off on the EIS and permitting should remember that New York state has both the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and Environmental Amendment to the New York state Constitution: Clean Air and Water and Healthful Environment for All. The Micron project as outlined falls way short for both of these.
Micron gave us three choices: accept what they presented, alternative action of choosing another site (which they rejected), or no action. My choice is no action. Micron should not be built here.