Stronghold Digital Mining, a Pennsylvanian crypto mining company, is seeking approval to produce up to 15% of its energy using shredded tires at its Panther Creek plant in Nesquehoning. Local environmental activists are preparing to oppose the initiative.
We are calling on state regulators and DEP with @earthjustice @pennfuture to deny a permitting request from Stronghold Digital Mining to burn tires as fuel for its bitcoin mining operations.
Read the full story: https://t.co/plRqK6qucf
— Clean Air Council (@CleanAirCouncil) August 28, 2023
According to local media, Stronghold filed an application with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in July. However, the information only broke into the public sphere at the end of August. Officially, the company requested the use of so-called tire-derived fuel, citing the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval to use the energy source at other industrial facilities in the state.
TDF has been legal in the U.S. since 1991 and, combined with other fuels, is being used at four plants in Pennsylvania. However, local environment activists highlight the dubious status of the facilities already using TDF and insist that the crypto mining facility shouldn’t be granted permission. Russell Zerbo, an advocate with the Clean Air Council, said on the environment-focused West Pennsylvania radio show, The Allegheny Front:
“Because [Panther Creek] uses the electricity it produces to generate cryptocurrency, rather than selling that electricity to the energy grid, the plant should be completely re-permitted as a solid waste incinerator that would be subject to increased air pollution monitoring requirements.”
Charles McPhedran, an attorney with public interest environmental law organization Earthjustice, said that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions skyrocketed after Stronghold took over the Panther Creek plant in 2021. The company didn’t shy away from using coal to mine crypto by consuming the supply of the waste coal generously available in Pennsylvania. According to some estimates, two billion cubic yards of waste coal are still polluting the environment throughout the state’s territory.
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Recently, Stronghold revealed its financial results for Q2 of 2023. It mined 626 Bitcoin (BTC) during the period, which is 43% more than in Q4 of 2022. It represents a 1% sequential growth compared to Q1 of 2023, despite the Bitcoin network hash rate rise of 39% and 23% during the same periods, respectively. The company generated revenue of $18.2 million and a net loss of $11.7 million.