Oswego port gets $11 million federal grant that could help deliver materials to Micron

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Port of Oswego, on Lake Ontario, will get more than $11 million in federal funding that could help it become a portal for Micron Technology’s planned chipmaking plant near Syracuse.
The money will be used to build a climate-controlled warehouse that could temporarily store temperature-sensitive materials such as chemicals and gasses used in computer memory chip production, said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.
“Strong port infrastructure like this is essential for Upstate NY’s booming chips, manufacturing, agriculture, and other industries,” Schumer said in a statement.
The funding is part of the federal $1.2 trillion infrastructure act adopted in 2021.
Micron plans to build a massive chipmaking complex in the town of Clay, about 28 miles south of Oswego. A top Micron official, Scott Gatzemeier, met with Oswego port officials in April 2023 to discuss shipping supplies and machinery through the port and to a rail spur next to the Clay site.
Gatzemeier said the port could also be used to bring in machinery that is pressurized and thus can’t be put on airplanes.
Micron has also considered bringing construction supplies such as metal trusses, walls, and air-conditioning duct work into the port and then to the Clay site by truck, Patrick McMahon, supervisor of development and maintenance at the port authority, said last year.
The port’s aging warehouse, built in the 1980s, partially collapsed in 2013 during a snowstorm. Schumer said the new warehouse will be the first climate-controlled warehouse at a Great Lakes port with access to rail, road, and water.