Memory chipmaker Micron has suffered incidents at two of its facilities this week after a fire broke out at the company’s Houli factory in Taiwan and it was reported that endangered species of bats were discovered on land it earmarked for a New York fabrication plant.

No one was injured in the fire, which, according to local news outlet udn.com, was caused by a leaking high-pressure gas cylinder stored in the gas supply room.

Taichung City Fire Department received a call at 5:34 pm on June 20, alerting them to the incident. According to the report, 17 fire trucks and 38 firefighters attended the scene but the flames had already been extinguished by the factory’s automatic sprinkler system and indoor fire hydrants.

The cause of the fire is now subject to an investigation.

Environmental concerns delay NY fab construction

Micron’s plans to build a chip fab in New York have been delayed after two endangered species of North American bats were found to be living in White Pine Commerce Park, the 500-acre forest and wetlands area that Micron is planning to demolish in order to build its DRAM four-fab “megafab” facility.

Construction was due to start this year however, according to a report from Bloomberg, Micron has now been tasked with creating another habitat for the bats. The company also can’t move ahead with the removal of the trees at the site until November, as the bats won’t go into hibernation in nearby caves before that date.

It has also previously been reported that Micron has yet to be granted a permit by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to start building on the land as an environmental impact statement is still being prepared. In May, the USACE put out a request for feedback on the company’s proposed plans for the land, which it says will result in the “permanent loss of 188.21 acres of federally regulated wetland and 6,716 linear feet of federally regulated stream.”

The deadline for responses is July 1.

As part of that notice, the USACE said: “No decision has been made as to whether or not a permit will be issued at this time,” but did acknowledge that the company has been working with The Wetland Trust to “develop and implement a permittee-responsible off-site wetland mitigation plan.” However, it added that a detailed plan has not yet been developed.

As a result of these issues, construction is now not expected to commence until 2025.

In April, Micron received $6.14 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the construction of three new memory chip fabs: Two in Clay, New York, and one in Boise, Idaho.

In a statement released by the White House when the funding announcement was first made, the Biden administration said that Micron is “committed to delivering on its existing sustainability framework” for the new facilities, which includes plans to use 100 percent renewable electricity at all three sites and mitigate greenhouse gases, although no further information was provided on how that would be achieved.

DCD has reached out to Micron for comment.