New York Crypto Mining Facility Causes a Lot of Noise for Residents

Residents of a town called North Tonawanda in New York are not too happy about all the noise created by a nearby digital currency mining facility. Located on Erie Avenue, a street used by several neighborhoods, citizens feel that the 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, she says the mining facility presents a lot of problems for her young daughter. She said:

My biggest concern has been the noise factor. She did call me up and wonder what was wrong with the house when the noise was occurring. So, she is not happy because it affects her sleep. She was also not happy because 0it was affecting her dog, and so then I stepped in to understand what this was going to do to the quality of her life.

Debbie Gondek is another resident that’s worried about all the noise. She also is concerned about the transparency of the mining facility, claiming:

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

Gondek said that a councilmember at the time named Austin Tylec sought a moratorium on the mining facility, though he was overruled by the remaining members of the group. She comments:

First time we had an opportunity in our city, and we often wanted to give city officials and residents the time to really research and understand what the pros and cons would be for our community, and unfortunately, the common council voted that down, and we were learning from other communities across New York state that noise was probably the biggest issue they were experiencing.

Maybe the Sound Isn’t So Bad…

Tylec has since become the mayor of North Tonawanda. He says various tests have been done regarding the noise and he assures people it’s not going to cause any harm. He says:

It’s around 50 or 60 decibels, so I think the comparison is like a vacuum cleaner, but imagine you’re close to the vacuum cleaner, right? So, it’s a little confusing with acoustics, but they have been within the range per city ordinances, but it’s still causing quite a disturbance… The idea was that we’d look into issues like noise if there were water concerns, exiting plans, basically anything that might come up as a concern, as it’s going to increase electricity costs for surrounding neighborhoods.

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