North Tonawanda pauses crypto mining for two years

North Tonawanda will implement a two-year suspension on all crypto mining developments in the city to tackle noise pollution from data centers. This comes after the city’s Common Council unanimously agreed to the suspension on Tuesday following complaints from residents over noise from data centers.

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According to proposals by the council, the city is expected to pause any new crypto mining plant or the expansion of any existing plants in the city. The goal for the city in the next two years will be updating the city’s zoning codes as well as to address the noise levels.

Noise pollution disturbs peace in North Tonawanda

The results of the Tuesday vote came as relief to residents who pushed for the suspension of crypto mining and expansion of data centers in the city. The two-year moratorium affects facilities that house multiple “banks of computers within the building, modular facilities containing processors in multiple storage containers, server clusters….and other cryptocurrency and blockchain authenticating operations.”

According to the resolution passed on Tuesday, facilities housing AI processing, general data computing, processing and storage, “and other large-scale electronic-based centers” are also impacted by the moratorium.

The suspension comes following multiple complaints from residents over a Digihost crypto mining facility in the city, which started since it became operational in 2022.

A blockchain technology company, Digihost mines for crypto using energy from the grid and the Fortistar gas power plant it purchased in 2022.

According to Buffalo News, the facility generated noise disturbing residents possibly impacting on their mental health. The noise reportedly came from large fans needed to cool crypto-mining computers at the facility.

North Tonawanda Common Council approves 2-year ban on #Crypto mining establishments – https://t.co/DkqZwGAaCf – News 4: North Tonawanda Common Council approves 2-year ban on #Crypto mining establishments  https://t.co/DkqZwGAaCf – News 4 https://t.co/W5hO9ggFHE

— Comphies (@ComphiesTees) July 17, 2024

Residents feel relieved

While city authorities regularly discussed with Digihost operators to cut on the noise at the facility, residents maintained the noise levels remained the same.

The city however took action after residents proposed the moratorium on May 14, coupled with media reports about the menacing noise. The Common Council promised to act on the matter at its July 2 and 9 meetings. The Tuesday unanimous vote came as a relief to residents.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Deb Gondek, one of the citizen advocates. “Residents have been suffering from the noise for far too long and put countless hours into this, it’s nice to see the city act,” said Gondek.

At its July 2 and 9 meetings, the Common Council promised several actions to address noise pollution and proposed a moratorium.

Also read: Britain’s new government sets sight on AI regulation

The actions included hiring Les Blomberg of the Noise Pollution Clearing to conduct a noise monitoring exercise at Digihost to assess if the facility violated Tonawanda’s noise ordinance.

However, Ewelina Czapla, director of energy policy at Digital Power Network, a Bitcoin advocacy group, said the data center moratorium was disappointing as issues around sound “can easily be addressed through series of different operational or technological changes that data centers can implement.”

“At the end of the day, it comes down to each company to make their own decisions around how they want to invest in those upgrades,” said Czapla.

Czapla added that other facilities have since moved from using fans to cool servers to liquid cooling tactics, while others have walls or planted trees to block noise from disturbing residents.