Cryptocurrency Mining Facility in New York Causes Too Much Noise for Residents

Residents of a town called North Tonawanda, New York, aren’t too happy about all the noise created by a nearby digital currency mining facility. Located on Avenida Erie, a street used by several neighborhoods, citizens feel that noise levels are making the area unsafe.

Crypto Mining Facility in New York is Quite Noisy

One of the residents complaining about the nose is a woman named Darlene Bolsover. In an interview, he says the mining facility poses a lot of problems for his daughter. She said:

My biggest concern has been the noise factor. She called me and asked what was wrong with the house when the noise was going on. So she's not happy because it affects her sleep. She also wasn't happy because it was affecting her dog, so I stepped in to understand what it would do to her quality of life.

Debbie Gondek is another resident who is worried about all the noise. He is also concerned about the transparency of mining facilities, stating:

When the project came to light in August 2021, we really felt that [the planning board] didn't do their due diligence on this project, and thinking that if they had done things like a noise, a formal noise study, by a third party objective, full environmental impact statement, a public hearing, we need zoning code updates to properly address bitcoin mining facilities and any facilities that authenticate blockchain to protect residents from noise and other forms of pollution.

Gondek said a board member at the time named Austin Tylec sought a moratorium on the mining facility, although the remaining members of the group rejected him. she comments:

The first time we had an opportunity in our city, we often wanted to give city officials and residents time to really investigate and understand what the pros and cons would be for our community, and unfortunately the common council voted against it and we were learning from others. communities across New York state that noise was probably the biggest problem they were facing.

Maybe the sound isn’t so bad…

Tylec has since become the mayor of North Tonawanda. He says that several tests have been done regarding the noise and he assures people that it will not cause any harm. He says:

It's around 50 or 60 decibels, so I guess the comparison is like a vacuum cleaner, but imagine you're close to the vacuum cleaner, right? So it's a little messed up with the acoustics, but it's within the reach of city laws, but it's still causing a bit of a nuisance... The idea was to look at issues like noise if there were issues with the water, exit plans, basically anything that might come up as a concern as it will increase electricity costs for neighboring neighborhoods.