Texas community votes no on incorporating to fight Bitcoin mine

Residents of a rural North Texas community who have long complained about noise from a nearby Bitcoin mine facility lost their effort to regulate the facility Tuesday night when 62% of the 138 voters who cast ballots rejected a proposal to incorporate as a city.

The community’s noise complaints began after a cryptocurrency facility owned by MARA Holdings, formerly known as Marathon, was built in 2022. The site operates about 60,000 computers that are cooled by powerful industrial fans that residents say have shattered the peace and quiet of their rural area with its roaring noise.

Many say the facility’s endless buzz — which some compare to a leafblower that never turns off — has become unbearable. Some neighbors use personal decibel readers to measure the noise levels and report sleepless nights, headaches and even hearing problems.

In response to resident concerns, the company expanded a 24-foot tall wall last year and transitioned 67% of its cooling fans to a liquid cooling system. However, residents say the noise remains disruptive.

Texas counties lack authority to enforce noise limits, which is why locals pushed to incorporate the roughly two-square-mile community, home to about 600 people and a single stop sign, into the City of Mitchell Bend. They hoped becoming a city would let them create a noise ordinance to bring the volume down at the Bitcoin facility.

“It was very disappointing last night. We were hoping to have some tools to fight the noise a little,” said Danny Lakey, a Hood County resident who lives a half a mile from the Bitcoin mine.

“Although we took a loss here, we are going to move forward and we will continue to do what we can to not let industry take over Hood County.”

The fight with MARA created an internal conflict among some local residents as they weighed whether to form a city. Many said they moved to the countryside to escape not only noisy cities, but city regulations.

The failed vote follows a series of legal disputes between residents and MARA, which operates at least three other facilities in Texas. The company filed a lawsuit to block the election last month, arguing that incorporation would have harmed its operations. A judge denied their request allowing the vote to proceed.

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