Just over two years ago, Micron Technology announced it would build, with substantial help from taxpayers, the nation’s largest chipmaking complex in the northern suburbs of Syracuse.
Construction was scheduled to start in June 2024. That was pushed back to early 2025. And now, groundbreaking won’t start until at least November 2025, nearly a year and half behind the original schedule.
At the same time, all of the other major chipmakers that have won big awards from the federal CHIPS Act are putting up factories and installing equipment across the country. Even Micron is pouring 30,000 tons of concrete a week at a chip plant it’s building — in Idaho.
In the town of Clay, however, the 1,400-acre site where Micron proposes to build four massive factories remains heavily forested and brimming with wetlands. Micron’s only presence there are several plywood signs.
The main reason for the holdup? Micron hasn‘t finished the massive environmental impact report required by the state and federal governments to move the project forward.