Bitcoin Mining Farm In US Is Being Sued For Causing Health Crisis

A Texas-based Bitcoin mining farm recently got slapped with a lawsuit by a group of residents living next to the facility. It alleges that the ongoing mining operations have sparked a health crisis, affecting around two dozen individuals with its noise.

The group, known as Citizens Concered About Wolf Hollow, accuses the Bitcoin mining farm, Marathon Digital, of using CPUs and GPUs to mine the cryptocurrency and generating far too much noise as a byproduct. Supposedly, the noise levels are so bad, it’s started causing serious health issues for the affected residents.

The reason behind the lawsuit isn’t uncommon and, in a way, is justifiable. For those of you who don’t know, here’s the crash course: Mining for Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency requires a lot of power to run. This is because, conventionally, almost all mining rigs are fitted with multiple GPUs or CPUs, and mining at full speed.

As mentioned earlier, two of the byproducts of these mining rigs is the heat and noise generated, primarily due to the coil whine from the fans. For facilities that mine Bitcoin on a grander scale, they counter the first byproduct with the use of industrial-scale airconditioning which isn’t really solving the problem, as these things also tend to generate heat and noise.

Getting back on point, the group is seeking a permanent injunction against the mining company, unless it can reduce the level of noise pollution. The affected residents say that the pollution have induced symptoms such as vertigo, hearing loss, migraines, fatigues, anxiety, and tinnitus.

As it stands, Marathon Digital’s mining facility consumes 300 Megawatts. Even worse for the residents living nearby is that the company is planning on expanding its facility to mine more Bitcoin. But that would mean it could release and additional 760,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions yearly.

(Source: Techspot, Inside Climate News)