Bitcoin
North Texas community says cryptomining facility brings endless noise and declining health
GRANBURY — A rural Hood County community claims a cryptocurrency mining facility has replaced the area’s tranquility with constant noise, and it’s affecting their health.
Cryptocurrency mining uses computers and energy to complete transactions and release new cryptocurrencies.
Tom Weeks, who lives near the facility, says he moved to rural Hood County for the wonderful people and peace and quiet. But that all changed when a cryptocurrency mining facility began operating nearby.
“You know, you can’t sit down at night and just chat, have a glass of wine or whatever because you get that feeling of [noise]”, Weeks said. “And yeah, and the funny thing is, it’s like any other noise in your life. You fixate on it, you fixate on everything. You can’t control it. And that’s what’s happening here.”
He says the noise is constant, even when he is indoors.
“It doesn’t stop,” Weeks said. “This thing was built to handle a tornado, and I never imagined anything like this.”
Now he says that not only is the constant noise bothering him, but he is also seeing his health deteriorate.
“Being frustrated 24/7, being upset about something you can’t control, is detrimental to your health,” Weeks said. “I mean, it’s going to destroy your health, and you’re not going to be able to get a good night’s sleep.”
Weeks said a chronic blood pressure problem he managed his entire life with a pill has now become a handful of daily medications. And he’s not alone.
“They tell me they can’t sleep,” said Nannette Samuelson, commissioner of Hood County, Pct. 2. “The noise is continuous, 24/7. They have vertigo. Their children are having cochlear implants put in because they are now having hearing problems; all kinds of medical problems.”
Samuelson said her phone started ringing off the hook with complaints about the facility, owned and operated by Marathon Digital Holdings, from the moment she took office.
“They can’t sell their homes because the values have gone down and nobody wants to live near that,” she said. “So they’re stuck with this constant noise that can’t be turned off, 24/7, through their homes and nobody wants to live like that.”
Samuelson plans to appeal to the legislature for help. Other groups are also working to raise awareness about the consequences of mining.
“Everyday Texans aren’t betting on and benefiting from bitcoin,” said Jackie Sawicky of the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining. “And yet, every energy customer in Texas is footing the bill for it.”
Sawicky said bitcoin mining is a major consumer of electricity and that demand is driving up energy costs for everyone. The Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining is nonpartisan but will “name and shame” politicians who prioritize corporate profits over communities that are opposing these facilities, she said.
“It’s incredibly important for someone to say, ‘I understand’ or ‘I care,'” Weeks said.
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) said in a statement to CBS News Texas that it cares deeply about the communities in which it operates and is actively taking steps beyond compliance to ensure that sound is further reduced in downtown operations by voluntarily enhancing and expanding the sound wall that surrounds part of the venue. The company’s statement continues:
“When assessing the impact on the local community, it is important to keep in mind that this is an industrial area and has existed for years before the digital asset data center came into existence.
MARA did not build the digital asset data center. The data center was originally built by Compute North and until recently was operated by US Bitcoin Corp/Hut8. MARA only took ownership of the site and its operations earlier this year, well after it had been built and began operating.
The company said that shortly after taking over the site, it commissioned several sound studies from third-party acoustic experts, who determined the site was operating within legal limits; however, MARA said, “We hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
MARA said it is also converting the facility from air cooling to liquid immersion cooling, which is more expensive but quieter, referring to one of its other facilities at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, which “is completely immersion cooled… and we have never received any questions about its noise levels.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated that Tom Weeks had spoken to neighbors and Hood County officials. In fact, it was reporter Robbie Owens who did so.