Micron’s $100B megafab in NY is at risk of delay due to just 6 “concerned citizens” and their frivolous lawsuit. (1/10)
The project has already taken an absurd 1200 days between announcement and groundbreaking. Competitors overseas who began at the same time now have built and working fabs. (2/10)
Micron spent 612 days on the environmental impact study, including a 45 day public input period. Yet hours before groundbreaking, they were hit with a lawsuit calling the process “unnecessarily rushed.” (3/10)
Comments from locals border on NIMBY parody: “We’re not trying to stop any progress, but we don’t want this just bulldozed into our area.” This is a real quote! (4/10)
The lawsuit itself didn’t come from a ground roots uprising. A CA-based workers rights group went door to door in NY seeking plaintiffs. They eventually found just 6 people willing to sign on. But that’s enough to potentially halt the project. (5/10)
A Syracuse local news outlet’s excellent reporting on the group behind the lawsuit, Neighbors for a Better Micron,” found that “before the suit was filed, the group had never held a meeting or a vote. Some members didn’t even know who the others were.” (6/10)
Who’s behind the lawsuit that could slow Micron’s chipmaking project in Upstate NY?
A California-based advocacy group is bankrolling the suit, which is about more than additional environmental study.
www.syracuse.com
One member of the suit, who as a former lawyer you might expect to be smart, says that “Syracuse has the highest child poverty rate in the country. What is Micron doing about that?” Anyone can agree it’s a worthy cause, but do we really think an advanced memory semiconductor manufacturer is the right vehicle to solve it?? (7/10)
To be fair, it is legitimate to consider the environmental impacts of a fab. They are large industrial projects that can be harmful if not built and operated safely. But these last-minute injunctions are rent seeking, not legitimate environmental concern (8/10)
We estimate the lawsuits will cost $100-500M to settle (despite the fact they should be thrown out as frivolous). Ultimately Micron has probably budgeted for it as a small fraction of a $100B project. Still there is a non-zero chance these 6 “concerned citizens” delay the entire thing. (9/10)
If the U.S. wants to compete in strategic technologies, like Micron’s project which produces a key ingredient in the AI supply chain, it must reduce frivolous, rent seeking litigation. AI tools will only empower these people as it trivializes nitpicking on complex rules and 10,000 page documents. (10/10)