Murphy – Debate over a proposed Cherokee County Noise Ordinance draft was largely over before it even started Monday night.
County attorney Darryl Brown told a crowd inside the courthouse that, despite revisions, the noise ordinance he drafted for the board of commissioners in December suffered from too many exceptions to be effective, featured penalties inadequate to deter corporations from offenses and had a variety of other issues.
“Based on these conclusions, I cannot recommend that the board adopt the noise ordinance that is currently being considered, as it does not adequately address the crypto mine noise and has too many negative collateral consequences,” Brown said.
The news came as county residents showed up to voice a mix of old and new frustrations with crypto mining in Cherokee County, including complaints about the opening of a second Ankr facility in Ranger and recent changes made to the site off Harshaw Road.
Brown instead suggested the board consider a land use ordinance to stop future crypto mining operations from coming into the county and prevent further expansion by the current unenclosed facilities. He said neighboring Clay County recently placed a moratorium on crypto mines – a move made possible because that county has had a land use regulation ordinance in place for more than 25 years.
Such an ordinance does not exist in Cherokee County.
Brown said the board also could consider an industrial noise ordinance, but that it would suffer from some of the same problems as the previously proposed general ordinance. He further suggested the public continue to encourage state legislators to declare crypto mines a public nuisance or consider private litigation.
A noise-abatement wall has been under construction this month along a portion of the controversial crypto mining facility off Harshaw Road, but thus far it has done little, if anything, to ease local frustrations. Meanwhile, Ankr’s new facility in Ranger – located across the highway from Peddlers Country Market – appears to be operational and features no apparent noise abatement structure.
Multiple residents complained Monday that noise from the Harshaw Road site reverberates off the lone noise abatement wall, making it even worse at homes and locations on the sides of the facility not insulated by the partial barrier. Others claimed the wall construction has been paused while contractors install an eight-foot chain link fence with barbed wire around the expansion.
“I and a fellow neighbor talked about how we had to wear earplugs at night just to be able to sleep inside our houses in the dead of winter, with no windows or doors open,” local resident Phoebe Thompson said.
Another resident, Cyndie Roberson, said she was recently confronted by an Ankr security guard and told she was not allowed to take photos of their facility, even though she was across the road on adjacent property.
According to Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, Ankr hired a team of professional sound engineers from Atlanta to measure sound levels near the facility using calibrated sound equipment. The measurements were taken at least a dozen sites, including at the homes of residents on various sides of the facility. Those measurements will act as a baseline to compare with measurements taken after the noise abatement structures are finished.
The board of commissioners voted Monday to rescind a previously approved motion that would have hired their own team of professional sound engineers to measure sound levels near the crypto mining facility. The study was intended to take measurements at the same sites as Ankr’s study in order to compare the results.
County Manager Randy Wiggins said a variety of factors have changed since that vote was conducted, including Ankr’s partial construction of the noise abatement wall and temperature changes. The board plans to wait and fund a sound study once Ankr’s noise abatement structures are complete.
The Verge, a technology news website, reported this week that Congress held a Jan. 20 oversight hearing on the “energy impacts of cryptocurrency.” The proceeding was conducted by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee.
The United States became the epicenter for Bitcoin mining last year, after China clamped down on the practice. Last week, Russia’s central bank proposed banning the mining of cryptocurrencies within its
country. Closer to home, neighboring Clay County has proposed a moratorium.