Micron will start at last on a huge chip-making complex in NY. What delayed it
Micron plans to begin construction at last on its so-called “megafab” in upstate New York.
The massive memory-chip manufacturing complex in Clay, New York, just outside of Syracuse, would dwarf the $15 billion fab (short for semiconductor fabrication plant) the company is building at its headquarters campus in Southeast Boise.
Micron said in a news release Wednesday that it will break ground on the megafab on Friday, Jan. 16, over three years since the company announced the project. Construction was initially slated to begin in 2024 but was delayed following a “rigorous” environmental review and permitting process, the company said.
“Breaking ground at Micron’s New York megafab is a pivotal moment for Micron and the United States,” Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in the release.
The $100 billion complex is set to include four chip-making plants, which would make it the largest semiconductor facility in the country, according to Micron. The first plant would open in 2030, and by the time the fourth is finished, which Micron expects in 2045, the entire site would employ 9,000 people in high-paying roles, the company has said.
But costs have ballooned for Onondaga County’s proposed industrial wastewater treatment plant, which would treat the water from the first two fabs Micron plans to build, Syracuse.com reported.
Semiconductor manufacturing requires huge amounts of ultra-clean water to rinse residue from silicon chips during the fabrication process, resulting in wastewater that contains pollutants, including heavy metals, which can be toxic to aquatic ecosystems and humans.
Concerns over “forever chemicals” and “sewage sludge” have been raised in local public hearings on the project’s environmental impacts and are part of the reason the megafab has suffered delays, according to Spectrum News.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 12:25 PM.
