Three major CHIPS Act funded projects — the Micron plant in Boise, Idaho, and the Intel and TSMC fabs in Arizona — have received draft environmental assessments from the Department of Commerce (DOC). All three drafts say that the environmental effects of these plants would be minor or that they wouldn’t have any significant impacts as long as they implement “best management practices.” However, these reports do not satisfy CHIPS Communities United, a group that aims to hold semiconductor companies accountable to their workers and communities, reports The Verge.
“These are huge projects, and they will have an environmental impact. The draft environmental assessments make assumptions about what is going to be done to mitigate those impacts, but there’s no guarantee that those mitigations will be carried out,” says Lenny Siegel, executive director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) and a member of the CHIPS Communities United. The CPEO exec also added, “We aren’t objecting to the existence of these plants. We know that they’re going to have to use hazardous substances. Obviously, we’re pushing for substitutes when they can, but one of our biggest problems is the lack of transparency.”
