Zoning Change Will Limit Bitcoin Mining to Industrial Park | WJHL

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — Washington County is on the verge of restricting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency “mining” to the county’s industrial park in Telford.

County commissioners learned Monday of a proposed “text change” to the county’s zoning resolution that would create a “Cryptocurrency Mining District” in the Washington County Industrial Park (WCIP).

County Attorney Allyson Wilkinson said the amendment is separate from a proposed settlement agreement in the county’s lawsuit against BrightRidge and Bitcoin mining company Red Dog Technologies. But she said it is necessary if that settlement is also to go ahead.

The settlement would see Red Dog build a new Bitcoin mine on seven acres in the WCIP, and in turn shut down the Limestone mine that is the subject of the lawsuit. She said the text change was among the issues discussed when lawyers from all sides met on October 21.

“It’s the most restrictive that it can be under certain legal circumstances and considerations, and you’ll find that it creates a district,” Wilkinson told commissioners Monday night. “It is not a zoning that will be across the entire county.”

The draft pulls no punches about what county staff found when they investigated cryptomining. Bitcoin miners consist of powerful computers whose graphics processors execute complex algorithms in a race to “mine” new Bitcoin and also verify the cryptocurrency’s transactions.

Loud fans used to cool the computers created the original controversy surrounding the limestone mine, which Wilkinson and county planning administrator Angie Charles later determined was in violation of the zoning ordinance.

The draft states that staff determined that the impact of cryptomining may include significant energy consumption, noise and electronic waste. “(R)egulation is necessary to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of Washington County residents,” it said.

It calls mining “a relatively new industry that is not currently included in the (zoning) code.”

The draft language that will be added to the county’s zoning resolution states that the district’s creation is intended to establish areas for businesses that “unless carefully regulated, may have a detrimental effect on and be harmful to the resources, development and health, safety and health. welfare (of) surrounding areas or Washington County as a whole.”

The specific draft language specifies that any cryptocurrency mining facilities “shall be” located in the WCIP and be at least 5 acres. Nor can they be adjacent to a residential area.

The draft sets a noise limit at the property lines of the mines not to exceed 60 decibels. It requires a user to confirm that all e-waste it generates is handled by a licensed e-waste recycling company. And it prohibits any operation from housing its computers or other equipment in cargo containers, rail cars, semi-truck trailers “and other similar storage containers.”

Instead, the rules allow only “specialized noise-reducing structures” designed to accommodate the operation, as well as an enclosed noise-reducing fence, wall or screen.

“You’ll note, and I think it’s important for you to note, that it’s limited, and that’s what we discussed as recently as Friday,” Wilkinson told the commissioners.

The regulation will also require a utility provider (presumably BrightRidge) to calculate potential electrical consumption and confirm that the equipment and associated infrastructure can safely accommodate the proposed operation.

BrightRidge actually sought and received a rezoning for the Limestone property next to the Bailey Bridge Road substation in February 2020. The utility said Red Dog is its largest electricity customer, using enough electricity to power more than 10,000 homes, and cited it as a main reason it entered into an agreement with the company in the first place.

Red Dog leases several acres of BrightRidge land adjacent to the Limestone substation – land BrightRidge purchased in January 2020.