Residents of Elk County, Pennsylvania have complained about the loud, obnoxious hum coming from an abandoned natural gas well pad that has been converted into a crypto-mining plant.

Why is it so loud? The process used by crypto miners is called "wellhead mining," and it runs on engines connected directly to oil and gas wells. Essentially, instead of connecting to the power grid, they use fossil fuels from abandoned gas wells to power their facilities. As you can imagine, these machines are large and very noisy. In fact, the noise pollution is so bad that it can be heard in several surrounding towns and villages.

To make matters worse, Capital and Main reported (opens in new tab) that Diversified Production, the company behind the mining operation, had installed and begun operating the crypto-mining equipment before it had a mining permit. Pennsylvania law requires companies to obtain a permit in order to build or operate a cryptocurrency mining engine.

Over the past several years, crypto miners across the country have bought up abandoned natural gas wellheads, coal mines, and old steel mills to set up crypto mining operations. The EPA found the company to be a violating mine because, according to Tom Decker of the DEP's Northwest Regional Office, Diversified Production "had installed equipment for a cryptocurrency operation prior to the plan approval issued by the EPA." The company also had environmental violations at 19 other wells.

According to the report, Diversified has come under scrutiny recently for buying up "tens of thousands" of old gas well sites without any clear purpose. Concerns have been raised that the company may increase or expand fossil fuel production in areas that are transitioning to cleaner energy sources.

Environmental groups say that if this type of crypto-mining (open in new tab) emissions continue, it could set back climate change progress by decades.

The lobbying group told Capital and Main that these bitcoin mining facilities could serve as "environmental cleanup machines" because they connect to wells that are already leaking methane to power "revenue-generating jobs" and that the state is currently said it is pushing for legislation to partner with bitcoin miners.

Regarding noise, he said that neighboring communities have adjusted their zoning ordinances and future crypto-mining projects must be located at least 100 feet from streets and property lines and within maximum noise levels. For now, Diversified's permit appears to be in jeopardy due to violations of the state's Clean Air Act due to the premature installation of the crypto-mining equipment.