A Michigan bitcoin mining operation is raising a ruckus in its community with its 24/7 drone. This disruption has impacted a local school and led the township to consider implementing noise ordinances. As of late July, the mine had operated for four months since the press conference. This has raised alarm bells among students and staff at Lake Superior Academy, highlighting battles faced when trying to regulate new industries in rural communities. Noisy neighbors Bitcoin mine operators have a vested interest in finding noise-mitigating solutions. In the meantime, the township’s current development patterns, desire for future development and outdated regulations made adoption of new zoning difficult.

Noise Disrupts Learning at Lake Superior Academy

The bitcoin mining farm, located in Dafter Township, uses massive computer systems enclosed in six metal shipping containers. These specialized computers are essential to bitcoin mining. They create a continuous noise level of 70 to 75 decibels, comparable to the sound created by common household appliances such as washing machines or blenders. Odessa LLC is the property owner and Michael Carbonara is one of the persons named on the building permit. It has since been launched this early this year.

That constant noise from the bitcoin mine has made it so that the kids can’t hear in class,” said staff at Lake Superior Academy. Students used to the calm and natural sounds of the now-disappeared neighborhood have been annoyed and disrupted by this new constant noise.

"The students often, daily, say 'when is this going to stop?'" - Schlehuber

The heightened noise is even more disruptive to special needs students, with many of these students particularly sensitive to auditory distractions.

"Our special needs students, some, will come out and cover their ears.” - Schlehuber

"When we come out, you always hear the humming and the noise,” - Schlehuber

As the school uses the outdoor space for educational activities, the noise thus created is an outright barrier to learning.

"It’s not a recess place, it’s where we do learning every day,” - Schlehuber

Regulatory Gaps and Township Response

The fallout from the USDOT’s decision to site a controversial bitcoin mine has uncovered glaring regulatory holes in Dafter Township. Yet as explained by Dafter Township supervisor Bob Brown, the site is legally defined as a storage facility.

At present, the township’s zoning ordinance is completely silent on bitcoin mining operations, neither allowing nor explicitly banning them. Yet this lack of regulation has the township now awkwardly trying to catch up to regulate the noise complaint and the potential future impact.

It was the pronounced noise from the new bitcoin mine that brought to light Dafter Township’s lack of a noise ordinance. This void in regulations has since allowed the operation to continue without any required noise limitations. This has put her at odds with the school district.

"You don't know what you don't know until you know it," - Brown

In response, township officials are in the process of putting a noise ordinance into effect to avoid such disturbances in the future.

"What if someone wants to come in and put in a thousand of these? If we don’t have something in place, we’re going to have the same issue.” - Brown

The upheaval has led to many conversations about the need for new regulations that would recognize and adapt to new industries and technologies.

Future Plans and Ongoing Concerns

By August, bitcoin mine operators will come back with alternative solutions that would minimize noise. As the summer of 2023 approaches, such a meeting would be key to immediately resolving both sides’ escalating conflict. The facility is anticipated to have 6-meterized data farms made up of stacks of computer systems that process data. Can a community that sacrificed so much in the fight against this facility stave off long-term negative impacts and future expansion?

This unprecedented situation poses major questions regarding bitcoin mining. The second underscores its power to change the fortune of the community.

"The longer we learn about them, the less we know, the more questions we have,” - Schlehuber

"So no, we haven’t figured out or learned more about the organization. We’ve just learned how much we don’t know.” - Schlehuber

The Dafter Township case underscores the challenges that local governments face when new technologies and industries emerge, often outpacing existing regulations.

"What if it was trailers full of balloons? Or what if it was trailers full of fish tanks that are running electricity?" - Brown

Beyond the noise complaints, Michael Carbonara, the manager of the bitcoin mine, has a contentious legal history. A bank in the Bahamas has gone further, filing a separate lawsuit against Carbonara and his company. They claim that they stole upwards of $20 million dollars.

A second bitcoin mining farm, also in Dafter Township, is still under construction. If implemented, this would signal a louder, more chaotic future for regulation overall.

That basically means there’s a ton of data center capacity increase, about 46% over the next two years. By 2030, it is projected to almost triple! This projection is an exciting indication of tremendous growth in the industry and the need for thoughtful, forward-looking regulatory action.