In Granbury, Texas, residents can hear the sound of money being made at all hours of the day, but it’s not making them rich. Instead, neighbors in the town southwest of Fort Worth say that the persistent low hum emanating from the Bitcoin mine operated by Marathon Digital has caused them stress, loss of sleep, and other unexplained ailments.
They filed a lawsuit in Texas state court Friday in Hood County alleging that the noise from the Bitcoin mine creates a nuisance that has ruined their quality of life. The environmental law group Earthjustice is representing a group of neighbors organized under the name Citizens Concerned About Wolf Hollow. The suit is seeking a permanent injunction to stop operation of the facility unless it can operate without producing disruptive noise.
The 300 megawatt Marathon Digital facility is located alongside a gas-fired power plant called Wolf Hollow II. Residents recently spoke out against a proposed expansion to upgrade the natural gas facility currently providing electricity for Bitcoin mining and releasing up to 760,000 tons of additional carbon dioxide per year.