Sarah Klee Hood and John Mannion say they want Micron to fulfill their promise of uplifting Onondaga County’s economy for the next decade while also helping preserve the area’s natural resources.
Klee Hood and Mannion are vying to represent the Democratic party in the race for New York’s 22nd Congressional District. Their primary race concludes June 25, election day. The winner will face Rep. Brandon Williams, R-NY, in November’s general election.
The company plans to spend about $125 billion over the next 20 years on four computer memory chip plants in the town of Clay. Local leaders and the candidates believe the project can be transformative.
For the project to work, Klee Hood and Mannion said they will need to advocate for federal infrastructure funding that can help develop Micron’s future workforce, as well as account for housing and healthcare needs of new workers moving into the area.
Micron expects the manufacturing campus to employ 20,000 people, with an additional 30,000 jobs created in adjacent industries and services.
The candidates agree they need to hold Micron accountable for the potential environmental impact the chip plants will have, particularly the county’s waterways. They said they would like to see clear regulations on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly referred to as forever chemicals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently working on regulations for PFAS discharges in industrial wastewater for local treatment plants that are in charge of preserving waterways from PFAS.
Klee Hood, a DeWitt town councilor, noted she would like to see an expansion to the Clean Water Act of 1972 to include forever chemicals as expressly outlawed pollutants. The bill established regulations for pollutant discharges into water in the U.S. through the EPA. The bill also tasks the EPA with implementing pollution control programs, and maintaining water quality standards. Some of the last substantial legislative amendments to the bill came in the early 2000s.
Mannion, a state senator representing New York’s 50th senate district, said federal representatives need to enact legislation that would match environmental concerns regarding PFAS highlighted in the EPA’s findings.
Central Current asked Klee Hood and Mannion what they would do as members of Congress to maximize the economic impact of Micron in the district, as well as how they would ensure environmental resources surrounding the project are preserved.
Sarah Klee Hood
Central Current: How can you help bring the Micron project to fruition and maximize its impact?
Sarah Klee Hood: The devil is in the details. The biggest thing for me is ensuring that Micron holds up its end of the bargain. Whether that is the energy sources that it’s pulling energy from, whether it’s the environmental constraints that they placed on both the building and the workforce. Now, White Pine(Commerce Park) is a relatively rural area. I grew up around there, and the road structure isn’t great.
We have to see, what does housing look like? What do surrounding support services look like, such as emergency response, child care, our schooling, all of those, when combined together? Micron has the potential to be a significant financial burden to Central New Yorkers that are living here if the company doesn’t stick to the commitments that it’s agreed to. I’m here to ensure that Central New Yorkers don’t get left behind when we talk about jobs.
For our housing market, we’ve already priced a lot of Central New Yorkers out of the housing market. So what is it going to look like when we have to start building new houses? Yes, I’m excited for the potential of Micron, but I am going to be there as a Central New Yorker first, and someone with federal oversight to ensure that we don’t get left behind, that we get a piece of the pie, and that the federal government is ensuring that the corporation is maintaining their end of the bargain.
CC: What can the federal government do to preserve the freshwater bodies that will be impacted by Micron?
Klee Hood: There is so much. One of them that we can do is we can update the Clean Water Act. It hasn’t been updated in a couple decades, and right now, this legislation on the table only accounts for two initiatives that can pollute fresh body water, and that is either through farm runoff or through corporate runoff. The other one that we’re not touching on is climate change.
And so yes, Micron will likely have an input to the waterway system on Lake Ontario, but I think that we need to update the Clean Water Act such that it reflects our current day and time as we know it, that yes, climate change is a contributor to water pollution, such as harmful algal blooms. We need to ensure that the legislation also goes further to look at not only the actual waterway, but the flora and fauna that is around that waterway as well, so that we can start tracking and changing any environmental shifts that may come as a secondary result of Micron energies to water.
I think it’s it’s going to be holding Micron accountable for what they signed up, for what they’re willing to do, and ensuring that we have numbers on the table pre-Micron and during Micron, so that if something continues to go on a negative trajectory, we have the ability to pull back, evaluate and move forward on a different course of action.
CC: The EPA’s continued study of PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) — commonly referred to as forever chemicals — guidelines and regulations has been panned by some residents as pro forma. What would you say to constituents who want to see action and protections on county waterways impacted by Micron?
Klee Hood: Absolutely, I agree with you. We should be holding them to the highest standard. Central New York is a top 10 global reservoir for freshwater. So as we start to see the impacts of the climate crisis that we’re in right now, Central New York is only going to be hyper focused on more, both within the state, nationally and globally. We are already seeing folks, climate migrants moving from the southwest of the US to Central New York. Because of our freshwater resources, we must do everything that we can to ensure that we are protecting the fresh waterways. That starts at the federal government, by ensuring that our EPA standards meet the demands of today and ensure that the state and county are following those standards. Everybody has a role here to play, to be held accountable, to ensure that we don’t see an Onondaga Lake scenario happen again.
John Mannion
Central Current: How can you help bring the Micron project to fruition and maximize its impact?
Mannion: Federal infrastructure dollars are necessary. This is why we need a strong advocate to bring home our fair share, and that has to do with wastewater, that has to do with our drinking water, access to broadband, and helping our transportation systems. We’re going to need that support as we are expecting this population growth. We also need accountability. People have great concerns about the environmental impact that may occur. And as a result we have to, at the state level, support the state [Department of Environmental Conservation] with enough staffing to properly monitor and the same goes for the EPA.
We are going to need additional housing. That’s just the infrastructure side. We’re going to need additional housing. I want to make sure that there are home ownership programs available and also tenant protections and affordable rents. We need more affordable housing in the area. We need health care. We’re going to need more people, we’re going to need more facilities here.
CC: The solutions that you presented mostly hinge on increased funding. How do you secure that added funding? (follow-up, Mannion-only question)
Mannion: The first thing I bring is negotiation experience. I was a union president representing 400 members… I also have four years of experience in state government… You need to be able to compromise, you need to be able to work with people, and you need to have great staff that work with you to lay out your plan, and why these programs are absolutely necessary and essential for the good of the community. Then you act on that. Budgets are about priorities, so you establish your priorities, you state your case, and you work with everybody.”
CC: What can the federal government do to preserve the freshwater bodies that will be impacted by Micron?
Mannion: What we saw in the previous administration was a rollback of some EPA regulations. We can’t have that. We also need to fund watchdogs and overseers. The state DEC needs the people to be able to test and enforce the laws, the EPA needs that as well. There’s concerns about forever chemicals, and the state has emboldened our laws regarding those and we need legislation at the federal level, to support those regulations. We were selected for this because of our systems, because of our education, because of our clean water, and our green energy generation. So we want to make sure that we still have a sound environment here, and the only way to do that is to monitor. It is not just the legislation, it’s the funding that comes with it. The monitoring should be public, it should be transparent, and people’s concerns should be addressed.
Being in Congress… I’m going to continue to work for the people and make sure that if they have concerns about it, or they can’t get information about what certain chemical levels that may have been produced from the project are? Or how much water is being utilized? I’m gonna get them those answers.”
CC: The EPA’s continued study of forever chemicals’ guidelines and regulations has been panned by some residents as a formality. What would you say to constituents who want to see action on protections of county waterways impacted by Micron?
Mannion: This is an emerging threat. Fortunately, we have the people with the expertise to acknowledge that this is really a public health problem. This is rapid. This is why there are public hearings designed around an environmental review. Elected officials, and the public should be pushing for these tests.
We do have to get the legislation in place, we do have to get the programs in place. We’re not at the very beginning there, we’ve already moved several steps in the right direction. There can be pilot programs targeted towards the area that can happen much quicker to make sure that we’re testing for these chemicals and that our systems are safe.”
Read more of central current’s coverage
SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons accuses board chair of conflict of interest; board chair denies allegations
Simmons sent an email to HUD alleging Board Chair Ryan Benz had a conflict of interest with an SHA contractor, leading to a spat between board members.
Sean Kirst: For two Buffalo families after racist mass killing, Rev. Jesse Jackson saw ‘a torch’ within their burning grief
In Rev. Jesse Jackson’s passing, memories of solace at the hardest moment from a giant of civil rights.
As Democrats take power in the Onondaga County Legislature, they’re reckoning with what they can — and can’t — do
Legislature Dems are trying to set their priorities for their year in power. “We’re not moving at a pace that I’d love to see,” said one legislator.
Central New York lawmakers, sparked by Wegmans, begin efforts to rein in biometric technology
Onondaga County legislators have drafted a proposed biometric disclosure law after Wegmans was revealed to be using biometric technology in New York City.
Sean Kirst: In nation’s snowiest large city, snow-blocked sidewalks, one hard winter and the needs of those on foot
In Syracuse, which receives extraordinary annual snowfall, pedestrians deserve an extraordinary annual response.