Mining faces new challenges: Angry Texans are fighting the noise of 80,000 mining machines

Original title: Angry Texans fight Bitcoin mine’s 80,000 noisy machines in test for industry

Original author: L.Kelly, T.Carreras, DLNews (published in February, some information is delayed)

Original translation: Wu said blockchain

● Granbury residents are fed up with living next to the Marathon Bitcoin mining plant, where the sound is like a busy highway.

● Locals say the mine’s soaring decibels are causing health problems.

● As Wall Street ETFs drive demand for Bitcoin, noise pollution from miners could become a major challenge for the industry.

When Cheryl Shadden invited her family in Washington state to visit her home in Texas, she knew there would be problems.

The noise created by the bitcoin mining operation a quarter-mile from her property is like being inside a wind tunnel.

And it never stops.

“They say, ‘Oh my God, what is this? This is horrible,’ ” Shadden told DLNews. “I know what they’re going to say.”

For more than a year, the bitcoin mining facility owned by Marathon Digital Holdings has been mining the cryptocurrency around the clock using some 80,000 fan-cooled computers.

The noise has been infuriating people in Granbury.

Now, Shadden and her neighbors are growing concerned that the din is causing a host of health issues.

“I have a headache right now and the vertigo is worse,” neighbor Geraldine Lathers told DLNews. “You can’t get relief. If I don’t move right, I get dizzy.”

Residents were surprised to see rabbits, birds and other wildlife fleeing the area to escape the noise.

But she added after a pause: “There are definitely a lot of vultures here.”

Marathon Emergency Response

Marathon, a publicly traded bitcoin mining company with a market value of $6 billion, took over the facility in January. The company is now urgently seeking to resolve the issue.

“Some people are upset about this, and we need to address it,” Charlie Schumacher, a spokesman for Marathon, told DLNews.

He also expressed his own concerns.

“No one that I know of has had a medical problem as a result of the bitcoin mining site,” he said. “If that’s the case, I’d love to see that information. It’s important for us to know that.”

Cheryl Shadden stands in front of a bitcoin mine in Granbury, Texas - Photo courtesy of Cheryl Shadden

Bitcoin mining has long been criticized by environmentalists for using large amounts of electricity generated from fossil fuels. The New York Times reported in April that U.S. bitcoin miners produce as much carbon pollution as 3.5 million gasoline-powered cars.

Now the industry is under pressure to address another growing problem: noise pollution. Residents in North Carolina, Colorado, Ohio, Tennessee, as well as Canada and Norway, have complained about noise from bitcoin mines. In Texas, the issue is escalating into a major headache for the industry.

It’s worth noting that Texas residents generally have no problem with a variety of industrial activities, from drilling for oil to wind power to hydraulic fracturing shale.

With bitcoin more than doubling in value over the past 12 months, a surge in demand could drive an expansion of mining operations.

Georgia and Kentucky lawmakers have offered mining companies financial incentives to build plants in their states. Ercot, the Texas grid operator, has provided energy credits to mining companies.

If that weren't enough, Bitcoin's next halving is scheduled for April. The automated process will cut the number of tokens offered as rewards to miners in half, to 3.125. Mining companies are expected to increase their computing power to compete.

That means more noise.

Until now, reducing the hum of computer cases hasn't been a priority, says mining researcher Zack Voell. Managing elaborate mining farms and fluctuations in electricity, which can be even more volatile than cryptocurrencies, is hard enough.

“Mining is a very difficult industry,” Voell told DLNews. “So it’s like, ‘Oh, now I have to worry about noise?’ That’s the last thing they think about.”

However, Taras Kulyk, CEO of mining hardware provider SunnySide Digital, said that’s not the case. “If you’re a solid company, of course you care about noise mitigation,” he told DLNews.

Epilepsy medication

Shadden agreed.

“It’s time. We have to set a precedent here in Texas because it’s only going to get worse,” she said.

Nannette Samuelson, the county supervisor for Hood County, where Granbury is located, told DLNews that she has been fielding noise complaints for more than a year.

“People are letting us know how it’s affecting their lives, including migraines, nose bleeds, vertigo, hearing loss and seizures,” Samuelson said. “Their animals are on anti-seizure medication.”

Daniel Rohde, who lives about a half-mile from the mine, said the “constant rumbling” is starting to affect his livestock. “It’s starting to scare them pretty bad,” he said.

Residents say Bitcoin mining facility’s fence doesn’t mitigate noise – Image credit: Hood County News

Shadden, a nurse anesthetist, is talkative and frustrated.

She’s so determined to stir up action in her community that she’s even received a warning from the sheriff, who told her to tone it down.

She doesn’t seem moved. “Most people who know me, if you tell me to tone it down, it’s not going to happen,” she said. “I’m working on this problem, and this community needs help.”

90 decibels

Shadden has been measuring the sound at the Granbury facility since May 2022. Over the past six months, she said, the rumble has gotten worse.

She shared with DLNews readings taken from her home that show the sound sometimes reaches as high as 90 decibels, about the sound of a motorcycle engine seven meters away.

Shadden said she had obtained the data for local authorities, who have asked Marathon to address the issue.

Sheriff John Shirley told DLNews he issued four tickets to the facility two weeks ago and four more since then.

“I issue a ticket every day that I find probable cause to believe they are not complying with the law,” he said.

Marathon declined to comment on the tickets but has begun working to address the issue.

Jayson Browder, the company’s head of policy, told DLNews that Marathon conducted a sound study and concluded it is in compliance with Texas law.

In a two-page document shared by Marathon with the Granbury community and seen by DLNews, the mining company said it expects to add up to 30 new jobs and bring in $2 million in annual tax contributions.

Welcome to Granbury

Nestled on the banks of the Brazos River, about 40 miles from Fort Worth, Granbury has been named America’s Best Historic Small Town by USA Today for three years in a row.

This quaint place of 11,000 residents has also made headlines for enforcing one of the most sweeping book bans in the country, targeting themes of gender, sexual orientation, and race. In 2020, it voted in favor of Donald Trump by a whopping 81 percent.

It’s also the hometown of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers, who last year began serving an 18-year prison sentence for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Sheriff Shirley confirmed to DLNews that he, too, was a member of the Oath Keepers. He said he left the group before the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The mining facility in Granbury covers an area about the size of a dozen football fields. It has gone through different operators over the past few years.

The facility has gone through a series of owners and operators since it opened in 2022. In November of that year, Generate Capital, an investment firm in San Francisco, purchased the facility and hired a company called Hut 8 to run day-to-day operations.

The solution: building a 24-foot-tall sound barrier around the site — a massive metal wall filled with soundproofing. The wall, completed late last year, covers only one side of the mine, while the rest is protected by a chain-link fence, according to the Hood County News.

Residents say the measure has been ineffective.

“I asked them, ‘Did you get a performance guarantee from the people who built this wall?’ ” Commissioner Samuelson said. “Because if you do that, you need to go back and tell them it’s not working because people are complaining more now than before the wall.”

Cheryl Shadden posted this sign on her property to make her point --- Image credit: ABC News

Hut 8 spokeswoman Erin Dermer told DLNews that the company “facilitated the conversation and obtained third-party recommendations to address the noise issues.”Ultimately, it was Generate Capital that approved the wall, and it was Hut 8 that “oversaw its construction.”

Generate Capital did not respond to a request for comment.

White noise machines

Meanwhile, residents are turning to unusual methods to combat the noise.

Some are turning to so-called white noise machines, according to the local newspaper, the Hood County News. The devices, which produce sounds like running water or blowing wind, are meant to mask less restful noises, like dogs barking, or, in this case, the sounds of a bitcoin mine.

Others have opted for medication. Lathers told DLNews that she pops “motion sickness pills” like candy.

“These people are miserable. I talked to a lady the other day who was physically ill,” Shadden said. “Everyone in her family was physically ill, and her hair was falling out.”

Although Marathon has been named by the county, the company insists it’s complying with the law.

“No one has told me that what we’re doing is illegal or that we’re violating the sound ordinance law,” Schumacher told DLNews.

“If we’re operating within the law, is that really a problem?”

Immersion Technology

Even so, the company is evaluating other ways to reduce noise at the facility, including reconfiguring the containers that hold the mining equipment and possibly even moving some of the equipment to different locations.

Schumacher said Marathon might even consider immersion technology, which would involve submerging the mining equipment in so-called insulating oil to prevent overheating.

That would allow Marathon to completely eliminate the noisy fans Granbury uses to cool the machines.

The company already has a similar setup in Abu Dhabi, which cost $406 million to operate.

He said he couldn’t estimate the cost of such a retrofit at Granbury.

The company is also considering assigning a community representative to deal directly with residents.

But Marathon did not send a representative to a Feb. 13 Hood County Commission meeting that included a hearing on the issue.

“They didn’t come today, and that says a lot,” one attendee said.

Some residents said they want the facility to close before the noise is eliminated. One attendee told the audience the county needs to “remember us the little guys,” a comment that drew applause.

While Marathon weighs how to address the issue, one thing is clear.

“People want the noise gone,” Samuelson said. “They want to restore their quality of life.”

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