A broad coalition of the public and business owners near Seneca Lake are calling on Governor Hochul and the State DEC to pull the plug on a repurposed coal power plant that is now being used to mine crypto currency around the clock. They say the plant reopened in 2017 and the owners switched from generating back-up power for the electric grid to the more lucrative business of crypto mining.
Seneca Lake Guardian President, Joseph Campbell says the plant’s owner intends to double the more than 15,000 computing machines. He’s worried the plant may eventually operate at full capacity and harm the environment.
“They would be emitting over 1 million tons of Co2 equivalent gas per year. Generating that much greenhouse gas emissions in the middle of climate change to produce this fake money… it is literally insane.”
Campbell also claims the plant intakes 139 million gallons of cold lake water daily and heats it up to beyond 108 degrees, killing off trout and fish when it’s returned to the lake. Managing partner of Forge Wine Cellars, Rick Rainey says crypto mining goes against the goal of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act
“Allowing this to continue, it’s not making the region better, it’s actually taking us backward and that’s what we need to fight against. We want to continue to get better and attract more people and have greater economic impact. We don’t want to go backward.”
Residents and Finger Lakes advocates gathered on Monday to press the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Governor to let the crypto plant’s permits expire. Gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams joined them. He’s calling on Governor Hochul to issue a moratorium on proof of work cryptocurrency. The groups say that New York State has at least 20% of the total number of crypto plants operating in the United States.
