An upstate judge ruled Thursday that a controversial cryptocurrency mine in the Finger Lakes can continue to operate for now, but the fossil fuel-burning operation’s days may be numbered.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation denied an air permit renewal for the mine, called Greenidge Generation, two years ago. It’s set on the Seneca lakefront and runs on a natural gas-fired peaker plant that emits nearly 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year — heavier than the Empire State Building.
Conservation officials did not renew the mine’s permit because they found no evidence its operators had a plan to adhere to a state climate law that requires all industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% before the end of the decade.
The ruling from Yates County Judge Vincent Dinolfo acknowledges the conservation department has the right to cite the climate law in denying permits, but found the agency’s process for denying Greenidge’s was “arbitrary and capricious.” Now, the case will return to an administrative judge at the conservation department for further review — continuing a six-year process that nearby residents hope ends with the mine’s demise.
The multimillion-dollar virtual currency operation’s fate remains uncertain.
Greenidge Generation representatives wrote in an email that the Department of Environmental Conservation overreached in its enforcement of the state climate law. The company considers the state judge’s ruling a win, but an administrative court could still allow the department to revoke the mine’s permit.
The once-shuttered coal mine was renovated and reopened in 2017 with a $100 million investment from private equity firm Atlas Holdings. It uses its 107-megawatt natural gas plant to constantly power more than 20,000 computers, which run programs that “mine” cryptocurrency. The facility mined 167 bitcoins worth $12.4 million from July through September, according to the company’s financial reports.
Residents in the pastoral community said they are exhausted by the judge’s decision, and want the mine to be shut down for good.
“It’s very difficult to wage a battle against a multibillion-dollar corporation over years without starting to feel frustrated,” Yvonne Taylor, cofounder of local advocacy group Seneca Lake Guardian, said. “This is far too important to our health, to the livelihoods of the people in the Finger Lakes region who depend on clean air and clean water for survival, and we just absolutely have to carry on the fight.”
“It’s just sickening that the process is the way it is that allows Greenidge to keep going even though they’re hurting us and they’re violating climate law,” she added.
Residents have complained of noise and decreased aquatic activity and harmful high algae blooms since the arrival of the cryptomining operation.
Mandy DeRoche, deputy managing attorney in the Clean Energy Program at environmental law organization Earthjustice, criticized the judge for allowing the plant to continue operating.
“It gives Greenidge an 11th bite at the apple to put in evidence that its operations could potentially be justified under the CLCPA or potentially mitigated,” she said. “It gives the polluter more process.”
