Meeting held for Bitcoin mining facility noise complaints

SALEM TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Noise pollution is something no community wants to deal with but in one area neighborhood, it’s coming from an unusual source, a Bitcoin computer mining facility.

A council meeting was held at the Salem Township administration building Tuesday evening.

Locals gathered to express their concerns about a sound coming from an energy facility in the area.

Salem Township residents filled the seats of their township’s council meeting to voice their concerns about the noise they say is coming out of a Bitcoin mining facility.

The facility started operating in early 2023. They say you can feel the vibration inside local homes.

“The gentleman that his house is the last house on Confers Lane, you could literally go inside his house, put your hand on the wall, and feel the vibration from the fans. it was that bad,” said Ernest Ashbridge III, vice president of Salem Township board of supervisors.

Locals say that their issues stem from large cylinder buildings, but they say their biggest issue is not what you can see, but rather what you can hear.

“It’s terrible. The droning, you can’t sleep at night, it wakes you,” says Stephen Bodnar.

Bodnar lives about a mile away from the Bitcoin operation.

He says the noise coming from the facility has not only interrupted his sleep schedule, but also his daily life.

“I have a little pond in front of my house where I used to sit and have my coffee at. I can’t even enjoy that because I can’t even hear the water over the Bitcoin. It is louder than the waterfall,” explained Bodnar.

Locals say they started noticing the noise and vibration when the operation went online this summer.

Talen Energy, who runs the facility, had its director of operations at Tuesday’s meeting.

He says they’re working on cutting down the sound.

“We’re trying to do everything we possibly can to cut this down to as low as humanly possible,” said Alex Brammer director of operations at Talen Energy.

Studies show the noise comes from exhaust fans inside the building. Talen says it plans to make changes at the source to cut the sound in half. Something that gives hope to residents who miss their quiet days and nights.

“Well, I’m happy that they’re doing this and they act like they actually care so, the proof is in the package,” added Bodnar.

Talen hopes that the changes they plan to make the buildings quieter will be complete by March of next year.