The Arkansas Senate’s City, County and Local Affairs Committee rejected a bill that would ban crypto mining facilities within a 30-mile radius of any military facility within the state in a 5 to 1 vote.
“Risks posed by digital asset mining include, without limitation, threats to national security and the security of the State of Arkansas,” the original bill read.
According to the bill, these national security risks from crypto mining are amplified when the mining operations are close to US military facilities, which include hospitals and clinics.
Noise pollution, sustainability and national security concerns are some of the main objections cited in similar legal efforts to restrict mining operations or impose zoning requirements for crypto mining facilities across the US.
The rejected mining facility restriction bill. Source: Arkansas Senate
Related: Arkansas lawmakers float bill to ban crypto mining near military facilities
Mining facilities face zoning, ordinance and political challenges
In April 2022, 23 lawmakers in the United States sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency raising concerns about the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining.
The letter claimed that mining operations may not be compliant with the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act, and raised questions about sustainable power use and environmental pollution.
“Communities around cryptocurrency mining facilities from New York, Tennessee, to Georgia, have reported significant noise pollution,” the letter read.
Former US President Joe Biden ordered the removal of a mining facility located near the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming in May 2024.
The facility, which was owned by MineOne Cloud Computing Investment and located close to a US nuclear missile installation, was accused of being owned by Chinese nationals.
At the time, the Biden administration argued that MineOne could conduct surveillance operations of the sensitive US military installation through the mining facility.
More recently, in October 2024, a group of residents in Granbury, Texas filed a lawsuit against Marathon Digital, alleging that the mining facility generated too much noise.
The lawsuit claimed that residents were experiencing physical symptoms from the noise, including fatigue, headaches, nausea, hearing loss, memory issues and even psychological problems.
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