At the end of about five hours of testimony on Wednesday, the hearing examiner ended discussions on allowing Usk to become the country’s largest crypto mining business.
Christopher Anderson, a hearing examiner in Spokane County, occasionally hears about the Pendoleil County case, but California-based Allrise Capital Inc. is a cryptocurrency mining site that consumes a large amount of power on a former Ponderey Newsprint Mill.
“I’m interested in admitting that I’m a little confused in all of this,” Anderson said. “Who is the entity … should this be directed in terms of conditions, etc.?”
Spokane-based lawyer Taudd Hume, one of the two lawyers in the hearing on behalf of Merkle Standard, the company that operates cryptocurrency mining operations, did not immediately provide a name.
“I think you have the answer. Let my colleague check here,” Hume said when he muted the zoom call for a few seconds. “We will answer your question with a question.”
According to Hume, the county staff’s report included Pendoleil Real Estate LLC in the application, but Hume said it would be operated by another company, Markle Standard. This should not be confused with PendOreille Industries LLC, another company founded by Allrise Capital.
The turmoil probably won’t affect the outcome of the permit, but it raises yet another question, even for opponents and residents who say they are ready to support the operation.
Susan Hobs attended the Zoom Hearing on Wednesday.
Hobbes, a former member of the Pendoleil Planning Commission, called on the county to proceed with caution. Merkle Standard plans to acquire 600 MW of electricity annually. This corresponds to two previous Kaiser Aluminum Mead smelters in full operation.
“This is the largest thing that has come down the Pike in Pend Oreille County,” Hobbes said. “If you had time to be confident that the stone wasn’t turned, that would be it. I hope you do so before you rush in.”
However, Hume, a Merkle Standard lawyer, said the county only had to comply with state and federal law. In particular, “In areas that have had a certain impact on the area … for a long time, for a long time.
“This is a very clean and high-tech usage,” he said. “All we do is put the computer in a box, put it in the parking lot, and get it up and running.”
However, in an appeal filed by Ed Styskel, the county claimed that it could not take into account the effects of noise on humans and wildlife from the site’s planned over 30,000 computers and dozens of cooling towers.
Wildlife biologist Styskel testified about the nearby American white pelican and threatened brown long-eared bats and other species known to live in the area.
“Applicants did not admit that the noisy noise was a significant by-product of the 30,000 proposed crypto mining servers and could not identify a means of minimizing or avoiding pollution complaints,” he said. Told.
Hume said noise disputes are usually dealt with after the fact through “nuisance” proceedings.
“Noise is a very strange animal in the world of land use,” he said. “We do not have a litigation law that you do not have the right to ask nothing. We live in a regulatory environment where you have the right not to hear anything at a particular decibel level at a particular time. is.”
Ultimately, Hume argued that Styskell’s efforts to force the county to carry out a more detailed environmental impact statement failed in several respects.
Under the question, Hume said he couldn’t determine how much sound the computer produced, or whether there are currently endangered or endangered species on more than 900 acres of land. rice field.
Hume argued that it was “their job” to prove the impact. “We know that there are a lot of frankly smart people who could find a lot of information on the internet.
“What we haven’t heard is what’s happening on the site. That’s what they needed to do and they didn’t achieve it.”
However, the Internet seems to have helped Merkle Standard ensure “insignificant decisions.” In short, county planning officials did not believe that crypto mines would have a significant negative impact on the environment.
County Planning Director Greg Snow testified that he did not know what the equivalent noise level was when he was informed by company officials that the computer server produced a sound of about 75 decibels.
“I looked at the internet.” What does that mean? “” Yuki said. “It turned out to be a dishwasher.”
Hume also noted that Washington’s ecology department and Fish and Wildlife, which regulate noise, did not provide comments on the potential impact of the county’s conditional license application.
“We know that the lack of comments means that those agencies have nothing specific of concern,” he said.
Witnesses Stiskel said the noise levels from the site could be many times worse than those tested by the company, and said the system felt unfairly weighted in favor of the applicant.
Styskel also said that he was not allowed to visit the site to measure noise or look for wildlife.
“First of all, we need a lawyer to file a proceedings on the impact just for a citizen like me to comment,” said Stiskel. “Second, the weight of evidence required on the project site is quite unreasonable.”
Hearing examiner Anderson said the conditional license process received approximately 87 written comments on the proposal and the split in favor of opponents. He said it would take at least two weeks to make his written decision on conditional licenses.
Much of the hearing was focused on the effects of noise, and Hume said the company plans to install sound buffers to help mitigate, but new problems arose during the testimony.
Resident Kathleen Werr said Merkle Standard did not announce the use of “liquid-cooled” electronics until it filed a conditional license request.
On an environmental checklist called SEPA, the company stated “no” for the expected water intake from the Pendoleil River and “no” for the expected displacement.
However, the conditional license said Merkle Standard “uses treated water from the Pendoleil River and expects company officials to release it into the river in a public presentation.”
“I feel I need more information about it,” Werr said.
Arnie Hood said he worked for Hewlett-Packard for 17 years. He also said he was concerned about liquid-cooled machines.
“I know very well,” he said. “We do not use straight water because of corrosion.”
Often, companies add the same chemicals used in antifreeze to the water used to cool machines. “I haven’t heard any discussions about how to protect the groundwater in the area,” Hood said.
In response to these comments, Hume said the spill would be handled by applicable law.
Sharon Verity said she lives across the river from a former mill. She supports cryptocurrency mines.
“When the factory was up and running, it had a very small impact on the community,” she said. “I have the same expectations for the proposed usage.”
Chris Meador said he runs a small cryptocurrency mining operation and supports the efforts of Merkle Standard.
“People have legitimate concerns and questions, but they misrepresent what the real sounds and how real things are done on the site,” he said. “I’m 100% in favor of this project.”
Connie Kimble thanked all the fellow residents for participating in the process of “maintaining the beauty and life we have here.”
However, she said there is a big difference between some machines intended by conditional licenses and a company statement stating that they want to be one of the largest cryptocurrency mining operations in North America. ..
“I had no problems with the factory, and it doesn’t matter if the noise doesn’t increase from where I am,” Kimble said. “There is a problem with the lack of transparency of these companies.
“If these problems are not resolved, I think we are looking at a world of future trouble.”
