June 29 (UPI) — A cryptocurrency mining company in New York’s Finger Lakes region that was denied an air permit renewal from state regulators last year is facing protests from demonstrators upset the company is still able to operate as it appeals the decision.
Greenidge Generation, a company that verifies cryptocurrency transactions and adds those transactions to the cryptocurrency blockchains, was denied a Title V air permit renewal for its facility in the town of Torrey in Yates County.
Protesters called the denial a “test case for how states should handle the exploitative and extractive crypto-mining industry” but said in a statement that the company still continues to operate.
“Now, a year later, Greenidge is still operating as it appeals that decision — accelerating climate change, harming the environment, and threatening the Finger Lakes’ $3 billion, 60,000-employee agritourism economy,” organizers of the protest said in a statement.
“Following a Wednesday rally in the Finger Lakes, NYC advocates will mark this ‘anniversary of shame’ and rally to GET GREENIDGE OUT!”
On its website, Greenridge bills itself as having a record of “sustained environmental and community stewardship.”
“We are fully permitted to operate as both a power generation facility and data processing center that mines bitcoin, with a professional team of both cryptocurrency industry experts and power plant management veterans with decades of combined experience,” the company’s website reads.
In denying Greenidge its permit, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said that regulators received about 4,000 public comments regarding the company’s permit application.
“DEC determined the permit renewal application does not demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” state regulators said.
“Based on DEC’s review of the specific facts and circumstances presented, this natural gas-fired facility’s continued operations would be inconsistent with the statewide greenhouse gas emission limits established in the Climate Act.”
