Bitcoin operation not conducive to current location among homes
Editor, The Times: I am writing as a concerned citizen of Pierce County and as a brother of one of the property owners affected by the proposed bitcoin mining operation near the intersection of Substation Road and Cason Road. The request is for a conditional use permit for the property to allow the bitcoin mining operation to be opened. In my personal opinion, this bitcoin mining operation as an industrial use was not a permitted use by right and does not fit as a use within the area it is to be located. A heavy industrial use such as this has no place in an area, while zoned agriculture, is populated with several residences. These kinds of things should be located in an industrial park or in areas well away from residences with dense sound buffering barriers and/or vegetation.
For those who may be unaware of what bitcoin mining is, it is a term used for computers and servers that generate currency from running a series of mathematical puzzles. To run these large systems, they require a significant amount of electricity and require significant cooling systems, with numerous fans for the computers to stay cool and run these calculations. Large scale bitcoin mining and data mining operations are generally an extremely loud industrial use. There are numerous videos of these kinds of installations on YouTube where the user can view and listen to how loud these installations are. In many counties and communities across the country, these operations have been limited for use in specific zoning types as a heavy industrial use or as a conditional use in agriculture areas. This is to be located within 200 feet of two homes and approximately 500 feet of a church and there are approximately 13 homes within 2,000 feet of the site proper. Furthermore, due to the large open fields that surround a large part of the property, these sounds would likely carry on with limited buffering/dulling or be reflected towards the people living in the Sandy Bottom area and would likely also be audible for the homes in the Whitney Lake Road and Plantation Circle area. This could be a negative impact on nearby property values to those affected homes and a potential negative health impact to those as well.
Regarding the health impact, these types of bitcoin mining centers range in sound levels of 70-90 decibels (dB) 24 hours per day/seven days per week. For reference, an average vacuum cleaner runs at around 75dB and things like a gas lawn mower, power tools or motorcycles run at around 90 dB. Constant sounds of above 70dB over a long term are harmful and have been shown to lead to tinnitus, and/or hearing loss as well as a variety of psychological and physical stresses which could affect cardiovascular health. I ask that you let your voices be heard by your elected officials and especially to the Planning Commission at the upcoming hearing on January 13.
Dustin Minchew Blackshear