The McMahon administration is making an end run around the people of Onondaga County he is elected to represent (“County picks national contractor for building $1 billion Micron wastewater plant,” June 19, 2026). If it weren’t for the dogged reporting by Glenn Coin, county residents would be in the dark about Micron’s environmental and fiscal implications.
If not handled responsibly, the industrial wastewater treatment project will have significant environmental impacts — impacts inadequately considered in the environmental impact statement (EIS) that the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency and Micron completed in 2025. While Micron will reportedly pay 100% for this treatment, the treated wastewater will discharge through Onondaga County’s pipes to the Oneida River, which flows eventually to Lake Ontario, an international drinking water supply.
Unless it is removed or destroyed at the fabs, Micron’s wastewater will contain highly toxic industrial chemicals, including PFAS, and it is yet unclear what Micron and the county plan to do to eliminate this hazard, how the county intends to shield residents from potentially consequential financial risk associated with utilizing the county’s discharge structures, or even why the county, and not Micron, is taking on this responsibility. While delegating this critical component to the Water Redevelopment Corp. might be County Executive Ryan McMahon’s way to shield the county from potential responsibility, it also shields county residents from having a say about their own and their children’s future…