The Onondaga County Legislature took the first step in allowing the county to build an industrial wastewater treatment plant that could treat wastewater from Micron. 

Legislators voted Tuesday to approve the creation of the Oak Orchard industrial sewer district by a 15-2 margin.

County Executive Ryan McMahon has in the past said that Micron will pay the full cost of building the treatment plant. But the county does not yet have a final cost estimate for the project, and has not yet determined how it will be financed, said Justin Sayles, a spokesperson for the county executive. 

“That’s how these things work,” said Sayles when asked how the county could say Micron would pay before the final costs or financing plans were established. “Micron has said the same – that they’ll be paying for the wastewater.” 

The creation of the sewer district in itself will not require any taxpayer money. 

In comments before they voted, Republican legislators were enthusiastic about moving forward the vote on the treatment plant. Democratic legislators expressed skepticism about what they deemed a lack of information and transparency provided by the county on the final Oak Orchard project. All but two Democratic legislators voted in favor of the project to maintain a seat at the table, they said. 

“The least bad choice here is one where we get to keep our seat at the table, to have continued oversight over this project as it develops,” said Gregg Eriksen, the chair of the Environmental Protection Committee and the sponsor of the resolution. 

Creating the district makes possible municipal bonding, Eriksen said. The county may choose to use municipal bonds to pay the initial cost of building the treatment plant, said a spokesperson for McMahon. Bonding would require a legislature vote, which would allow them to ask further questions during the process of building the plant, Eriksen said. 

The treatment plant has been controversial. In a public hearing held in February on the question of creating the sewer district, most public comments focused on concerns about the treatment plant itself, not the district. 

Some constituents are concerned about Micron polluting local waterways. They worry that current plans for the treatment plant won’t sufficiently find and eliminate forever chemicals and other pollutants before releasing the water into the Oneida River. 

Others are concerned that if there is pollution, the county could be held liable if the plant were a county facility. 

Asked about liability, Sayles responded that all state and federal rules would be complied with. 

“There’s no way that I want any industrial public corporation dealing with their own wastewater,” said Legislator Tim Burtis. 

Two legislators voted against the project. Ellen Block said her constituents had reached out with concerns about liability, adding that legislators were “not elected to be a rubber stamp on the county executive’s agenda.” 

Elaine Denton said that she was “a no until someone makes me a yes,” and voted against the project as she did not feel that there had been enough time to understand it. 

“Micron is not a fairy creature who flitters through the air who can be intimidated away from here by a little bit of scrutiny from us,” said Legislator Jeremiah Thompson. “It is a multinational, multibillion dollar corporation. It can withstand a little bit of scrutiny.” 

He said that despite his dissatisfaction with the answers so far, he would vote in favor of the resolution in order to “keep the project in the light where we can see it,” and looked forward to monthly updates from WEP, input from the community, and open lines of communication from the county executive and Micron. 

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Laura Robertson is a staff reporter covering Onondaga County. Prior to joining Central Current, she lived on the edge of the Bering Strait in Nome, Alaska, where she worked as a reporter for a year. She...