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s a child growing up in central New York, Bonita Siegel watched a major infrastructure project reshape the region in the 1960s. Most people cheered the Rust Belt city’s development. Decades later, Siegel wasn’t so sure.
When the New York State Department of Transportation completed construction of the Interstate-81 Viaduct Project through Syracuse’s 15th ward, a historically Black neighborhood, she remembered watching the city near her hometown of Clay shift. Although the project promised revolutionized transportation between Pennsylvania and Canada and increased traffic into Syracuse, what followed were years of Black residential displacement and redlining.
After retiring, Siegel returned to Clay, determined to help repair Syracuse by joining community service organizations like the Urban Jobs Task Force. In 2022, when Micron Technology announced its plans to invest $100 billion in a multi-plant semiconductor facility in Clay — Siegel and other advocates were eager to see its several promises fulfilled.
“When you start doing things with infrastructure to serve people, you shouldn’t be disadvantaging people that might be in vulnerable classes of society just because you can or just because you’re powerful,” Siegel said.
From 2022 to its groundbreaking in January, Micron has touted plans to create 50,000 jobs, with 9,000 high-paying positions by 2045, practicing “good faith” hiring practices to “disadvantaged communities.” As part of New York state’s Green CHIPS program, which provided the company $5.5 billion in state incentives — alongside roughly $6.1 billion in federal CHIPS Act funding — Micron also made several sustainability effort promises, such as “utilizing 100% renewable energy.”
But most, if not all, of Micron’s promises don’t have enforceable measures — a major red flag to Siegel and her recently-formed neighborhood coalition, Neighbors for a Better Micron.
Days after Micron broke ground, the group, along with national labor organization Jobs to Move America, filed a class-action lawsuit against Micron and the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, calling for a reassessment of the project’s final Environmental Impact Statement.
The lawsuit claims the final EIS was not up to standard with the New York Environmental Quality Review Act, pushing for greater community involvement and a “more thorough investigation” before Micron begins construction. The company has almost completed clearing 330 acres of forest from its site at White Pine Commerce Park and will soon begin removing topsoil and conducting other groundwork.
Local environmental experts have warned of the ambiguity surrounding Micron’s environmental commitments, stemming from a lack of specific regulation around manufacturing chemicals to a shift in language from 100% “renewable energy” to “carbon-free energy” in its most recent posts.
“One of the traits of a sustainable community is citizen engagement for the public to have trust,” Greening USA president John Przepiora said. “Not that all of the environmental problems can be solved, but stakeholders deserve an opportunity to know what the heck is going on and have a chance to provide good feedback.”
For other Clay residents like Gracia Roulan, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, driving past stacks of uprooted trees at the site brings about feelings of discomfort. While Micron has announced public hearings and info sessions in The Post Standard and on its website, she said she still feels many Clay residents lack easy access to the opportunity of sharing their input.
“They know how to get our taxes, but do they know how to let us know that we’re going to have a hearing about something that’s very important?” Roulan said. “I think they didn’t really want us to be there, like they just wanted to push this (project) through.”
A spokesperson for Micron declined The Daily Orange’s request for comment surrounding the company’s promises, the ongoing lawsuit and other accusations of a lack of community input, citing a quiet period ahead of the company’s annual earnings announcement.
A spokesperson for OCIDA — the county agency that oversees most regulation of the Micron project — also declined to comment on the same topics due to ongoing litigation.
“This project is the most studied in the history of the country, especially as it pertains to any and all environmental impacts. No company has done more or committed to doing more to address environmental concerns than Micron,” Justin Sayles, executive communications director for Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, wrote in a statement to The D.O. “The actual group that is funding this frivolous lawsuit is called ‘Jobs to Move America’ and they seem far more focused on moving jobs out of America.”
Beginning March 30, Micron will host its first-ever “community week,” featuring information sessions for locals, a meet-and-greet with former NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps and a STEM festival designed to share the potential impact of the company’s future investments.
But, without legally-binding documents like a community benefits agreement, a contract between developers, governmental bodies and residents, Siegel and other advocates have little faith such impacts will occur — at least not in the way Micron has promised.
“Those kinds of agreements that are enforceable can exist, they can be put into action,” Siegel said. “(It’s) the best promise for people who live in an area with a massive project coming in who wants to be a good neighbor and willing to make more certain promises.”
Lack of state environmental regulations worries local experts, DEC assures progress is being made
Don Hughes, a professor of chemistry at Le Moyne College, has watched Syracuse industries rise and fall during his decades in central New York. From General Motors, to General Electric to Allied Chemical throughout the 20th century, he said he was excited to see how Micron could stand out as a contemporary and clean manufacturer.
“I’ve been around quite a few years, and I’ve seen industry by industry fall by the wayside,” Hughes said. “I thought this one was clean, but then I got to learn more and more about it, and the benefits versus the risks started to change.”
Hughes, along with Przepiora and other concerned residents, has raised alarms about the semiconductor plant’s use of polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, a broad group of “forever chemicals” known to contaminate water and ecosystems.
PFAS are widely used within semiconductor manufacturing, mostly during etching and heat transferring processes. Hughes said because semiconductor manufacturing is a novice industry in the U.S., existing state and national regulations won’t be enough to firmly oversee Micron’s remediation of the chemicals.
“The problem here is that the regulatory agencies are just getting up to speed, so there’s no data, and we don’t really know how much PFAS are coming out of these places,” Hughes said. “No one has made a commitment to actually destroy PFAS.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has several regulations and monitoring practices to control and remediate such chemicals. Two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, are regulated in drinking water at the state and federal levels, measured in parts per trillion, officials at the DEC wrote in a statement.
The DEC also uses Environmental Protection Agency testing protocols to monitor for 40 recognized PFAS chemicals through discharge permits for industrial facilities.
However, Hughes said these regulations aren’t specific enough to address the variety of PFAS chemicals Micron will use, adding the company itself hasn’t been transparent about how it will manage and dispose of such chemicals.
In its final EIS, Micron acknowledges PFAS will likely be used in its manufacturing.
“Micron is evaluating potential non-PFAS containing alternatives, but at present, there are no known substitutes for many PFAS uses,” section three of the EIS reads. “The lack of validated methods for accurately identifying and quantifying PFAS creates challenges for PFAS regulation and management. Government and industry groups, including semiconductor trade groups in which Micron actively participates, are working to advance these capabilities.”
The introduction of such chemicals has been a concern for Clay residents, Siegel and Roulan said. With little easily accessible information available on Micron’s PFAS use and uncertain chemical impacts, many are pressing the company for greater transparency.
“We know about PFAS. We have reason to be concerned,” Siegel said. “Now, we want to be sure that Micron, a very rich company, is doing their part in coming here to protect central New Yorkers who don’t want to be endangered by anything coming to this area.”
Projecting to use up to 48 million gallons of water daily, Micron has promised to develop a two-plant wastewater treatment system that will “aim to” recycle 100% of its water — potentially limiting the exposure of chemical waste into sewage waterways.
In a statement to The D.O., DEC officials said they are “working closely with local partners” to further refine PFAS protocol based on the state’s “rigorous” standards.
Chemicals aren’t locals’ only concern — some also worry about traffic and transportation infrastructure. Micron projects the plant will include a 9,000-space parking lot, leaving many wondering about increased local traffic.
Planning and negotiation surrounding parking is already underway between Micron and local municipalities. In a statement to The D.O., Baxter Hankin, SustainCNY’s convener of Community Planning, said preparation is crucial when a major project reshapes local infrastructure.
“When this opportunity of a lifetime for growth in our community comes our way, we need to make sure the city is planning for the right kinds of growth,” Hankin wrote. “If we get changes to our street network wrong now, fixing them will be very difficult.”
Przepiora said the project’s size and significant number of employees should prompt more investment in public transportation, such as trains and buses, in an effort to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
“We always thought, ‘Why? Why do we need to have so many cars when we could perhaps build some sort of better mass transit system to get workers to that plant?’” Przepiora said.
Residents also have voiced concerns over noise from construction and when the plant is in commission. On March 17, Clay held a town hall meeting to address public concerns about noise.
Currently, plant construction can occur from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Changes proposed would allow construction to take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Micron and political leaders boast the project’s impacts, but some question what such impact looks like
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik smile for the camera at Micron’s Jan. 17 groundbreaking in Clay. Leonardo Eriman | Daily Orange File Photo
At the plant’s groundbreaking, bipartisan national leaders applauded Micron for its investment in Clay. Many locals also feel optimistic about Micron, including Earl Hall, the executive director of the Construction Employers Association of Central New York. Hall feels that the opportunity is “once in a generation.”
While Hall acknowledged that the environmental issues were worthy of being discussed, he came to the conclusion that the benefits outweighed protest from the community.
“Micron has endured a couple of hiccups along the way relative to opposition. I do believe it’s been handled appropriately,” Hall said. “In my opinion, there are ways to work with Micron. One of the ways you don’t do that is suing them. Those folks still deserve their day in court. I just hope they don’t disrupt the project along the way.”
The number of “megafab” projects has increased following the explosive artificial intelligence boom and direction from the Trump and Biden administrations to move chip manufacturing to the U.S.
Hall said the Micron facility marks a national security need to move semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. from places like Taiwan and China.
“It will change the fabric of our society here for generations to come. All of the supply chain businesses that Micron relies upon, the majority of them are going to relocate here,” Hall said.
At the same time, advocates like Neighbors for a Better Micron, Jobs to Move America and others are pressing for contracts that will solidify the project’s economic goals from assurances to enforceable guarantees.
Rand Wilson, the strategic advisor for Chips Communities United, said changes must be monitored and mistakes made during the industrial age of America cannot be repeated.
At the nationwide advocacy group, Wilson works with local communities to negotiate with tech companies once they decide to build manufacturing plants and data centers. A key issue for advocacy groups is the lack of enforcement from tech companies, including Micron. Wilson said a CBA would have the ability to be upheld in court.
“It’s one thing for the company to say, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that,’ but who’s going to hold them accountable to that? They think it’s none of the community’s business about the details of who gets hired and how much they get paid, but it is our business,” Wilson said.
In addition, Wilson questioned claims from Micron and political leaders that the company will hire workers locally. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have both previously stated Micron will commit to hiring local workers.
For Wilson and many other community members across the country facing similar issues, the outcome depends on whether the company will follow through on its commitments to locals.
“There’s a huge opportunity here for Syracuse,” Wilson said. “But it has to be done the right way.”
There is currently no CBA being publicly negotiated. For now, Micron maintains that its existing commitments are sufficient, with its pledges to fund $250 million of the $500 million Community Investment Fund, and active investment of over $15 million in local educational institutions and community organizations, a Micron spokesperson told WAER in January.
For Siegel, she said her greatest success so far has been watching her community unite, both in recognizing local impacts from the project’s tangible benefits and its caveats.
“Frankly, it matters that people come together,” Siegel said. “They don’t have to agree on everything, but they have to understand that we are together in wanting to be good neighbors to each other.”
More coverage on Micron:
- After years of delay, Micron breaks ground on $100B Clay facility
- Residents, labor groups file lawsuit challenging Micron environmental approval
- Schumer announces $6.1 Billion grant toward Micron expansion
- Micron announces $100 billion investment on building facility in central New York
Design by Ilana Zahavy | Presentation Director, Photo by Leonardo Eriman | Daily Orange File Photo
Published on March 19, 2026 at 3:17 am