Residents of a small area in Hood County have tried to form a municipality to oversee a local MARA bitcoin mine that they say is generating excessive noise.
Fighting against a cryptocurrency mine
Residents of a small area in Hood County, Texas, have failed to form a new municipality to oversee bitcoin mining operations and thus regulate the noise they generate.
According to reports The Texas Tribuneonly 38% of 138 voters supported the proposal to create “Mitchell Bend,” a small two-square-mile community of about 600 people.
The roots of the conflict with the mine date back to 2023. Since then, residents have been complaining that 60,000 bitcoin miners working in the MARA mine are disturbing their peace. The sound is said to be so intense that the local community complains of sleepless nights, headaches and hearing problems. Some are already leaving the city.
MARA tried to solve this problem by extending a 7.3-meter wall to partially dampen the noise. It also replaced two thirds of the fans with a liquid cooling system.
However, residents claim that the noise is still bothersome, which prompted them to consider creating a new commune that would include the mine. Then the residents could force the mine owners to close it.
MARA initially tried to block the vote on the creation of a new commune. She did not manage to achieve this, but the vote on the establishment of the commune ended in defeat for those who wanted to establish a commune.
We are pleased that Hood County voters saw through the mock registration attempt and voted it down
– the company said.
The fight continues
Hood resident Danny Lakey, however, said the disappointing vote would not stop the entire community from trying to block the mine’s operations.
Residents in the area had previously taken legal action against MARA and its manager, David Fischer, over the noise, but neither action was successful.
BTC mining is not welcome everywhere. In April this year in Arkansas, the planning commission unanimously rejected a proposal to create a cryptocurrency mine. This happened after strong opposition from residents of nearby towns.
