Citizens pack public hearing to oppose mining operation
The Pierce County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday evening to deny a conditional use permit for a bitcoin mining operation at 1199 Cason Road, Blackshear.
More than 150 people packed into the gallery of the Southeast Georgia Regional Agricultural Center. Virtually everyone in attendance was opposed to the permit. Two people, the applicant, Eric Su, and someone from Waycross were the lone ones to speak in favor of the project.
Concerns such as the location of the site, noise issues, high energy demand, health concerns, water pollution, hazardous waste, declining property values, no economic benefit to Pierce County, proximity to the Rehobeth Baptist Church and hindering the Lord's work were all cited as reasons for opposition to the project.
Eric Su of LN Energy of Soperton, a digital currency mining operation, applied for a conditional use permit on Cason Road in the Rehobeth Church Community.
Su said the project would create 1-3 jobs with a salary of at least $60,000. Su did not respond in depth to any of the concerns raised by residents about the bitcoin mining operation.
The property is currently zoned as agriculture/forestry. The conditional use would be required to convert the property to the digital mining operation.
A digital mining operation is part of the cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, is a unit of money that is totally electronic and not backed up by government or banks. Digital currency uses a process called mining to secure its network and validate transactions.
Pierce County does not have any digital mining facilities currently.
Some residents still have the misconception the operation will be an actual mine in the earth. Some also expressed concern over “Chinese nationals” at the site.
Tony Waters, owner of the property of the proposed bitcoin operation, was not present for the commission meeting, but said at last month’s planning commission hearing the operation would not harm Pierce County.
The proposed Pierce County operation would have storage facilities to house servers and would have included a chiller supplied by a well on the property for cooling purposes.
Addressing concerns about noise from the facility, Waters said last month the chiller would be much quieter than fans used to cool other bitcoin facilities.
Jim Tucker with Satilla Rural Electric Membership Corporation (REMC) said the bitcoin mining operation would use massive amounts of electricity, estimating the power bill for the facility would be approximately $6 million per year. Pierce County would receive sales tax money on the sale of the electricity to the mining operation. He assured those present Satilla REMC had more than enough capacity and capability to serve the community as well as the bitcoin mining operation. He said the bitcoin mining operation would be required to go offline if Satilla experienced peak loads such as with winter weather or a heat wave. Tucker said Satilla REMC did not take a position on whether to approve the conditional use permit, calling it a local decision.
Tax assessor Bill Rozier was not present at the meeting. At last month’s planning commission meeting, Rozier said he did not know exactly how to assess a bitcoin mining operation, but in talking with counties that had a bitcoin operation, he said one such facility had assets of $60 million. Based on Pierce County’s current assessments and tax rates, that would generate about $500,000 — or almost two full mills — in local taxes. However, no one at Tuesday’s hearing could say exactly how much the mine would generate in local taxes.
Brandon Yeomans, a lifelong resident of the Cason-Rehobeth Community near the site of the proposed operation, led the opposition to the mine.
Yeomans asked why work has been done on the bitcoin mining operation before the issue was voted on by the planning commission or the county commission. Officials confirmed a stop work order was issued Nov. 9, 2024, but storage units were placed and work continued on site after that time. Concrete pads and other infrastructure were put in place prior to the stop work order.
County Manager Raphel Maddox said the storage units had already been ordered and holes were filled in for safety precautions, but he stressed the mining operation has not gone online or been approved.
Several residents said the bitcoin mining operation should be located in the industrial park, away from residential areas.
The lack of a power sub station in the industrial park was cited as the reason the mine could not be located there.
Other speakers included Daniel Brady, Andy Mattox, Tommy Melton, Dustin Minchew, Barbara Smith and Dick Styles.
After receiving public comment for almost 90 minutes, first district commissioner Troy Mattox made the motion to deny the permit and second district commission member Graham Raley seconded. The motion to deny the conditional use permit was unanimous.
The gallery erupted in cheers and applause after the vote was taken.
