An endangered bat species has become another hurdle in the groundbreaking process for the planned Micron facility in Clay.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the plan is to clear trees at the White Pine Business Park in 2025, but there's a potential timeline challenge. That challenge is the Indiana bat, an endangered species.

He said it's difficult to cut trees between March 31 and Nov. 1 in any year for any project without approvals. So the next step is environmental reviews on both the state federal levels, which will look at things like wetland mitigation, endangered species impact and overall impact to residents.

"If all things go well, it's going to be in the beginning of 2025. If the most comprehensive environmental review likely in the history of the country doesn't meet a deadline and we run into the Indiana bat, it will be towards the back end of 2025," McMahon said.