Residents in rural Hood County say their elected officials are keeping them from voting on an effort to protect themselves from a Bitcoin-mining facility they say is harming their community.
During a meeting of the Hood County Commissioners Court last week, County Judge Ron Massingill said he threw out a ballot petition signed by several dozen residents of unincorporated Mitchel Bend calling for a ballot initiative to incorporate their community. They say it would provide them more local control to enact protections against the Bitcoin facility.
Massingill said the required number of 50 registered voters “was not met." But residents there have already submitted a second petition, which they hope will give them a say in the future of the Bitcoin facility.
“We're tired of being bulldozed, we're tired of being bullied, we are tired of billion dollar companies coming in and ruining our lives,” Daniel Lakey told commissioners.
The facility, owned by Florida-based Marathon Digital Holdings, or MARA, moved in near Mitchell Bend near Granbury about three years ago. Residents there have since complained about noise pollution and health issues caused by the facility, according to The Fort Worth Report.
“We started hearing a loud noise, we could even hear it in our house, inside our house with the radio and the dryer washer on,” said Donna Adair, who lives about a mile away from the facility.
Adair said she and her husband have both suffered from tinnitus, a condition that produces nonstop ringing in the ears.
MARA and Massingill's office did not respond to KERA's requests for comment on this story.
Cheryl Shadden, another nearby resident who runs the Facebook page Bitcoin Noise Hood County, said she has been diagnosed with permanent conductive hearing loss because of the noise pollution caused by the plant. She began organizing with other Mitchell Bend residents to combat the persistent noise.
“We boiled it down to lawsuits and incorporation,” Shadden said. “Our GOP chair told us last year, if you guys want to get any kind of control over the industry in the area and the harm that it causing to you and your community, you're going to have to incorporate.”
Shadden said there are also ongoing lawsuits against MARA – one injunctive lawsuit represented by the climate advocacy group Earth Justice. Her group also hired a personal injury lawyer to represent community members who say they’re dealing with health issues and devalued property as a result of the plant.
Shannon Wolf, a precinct chair for the Hood County Republican Party, told KERA that a deadline for the second petition to be signed and validated by County Judge Massingill is today, Monday Aug. 18.
She added that there’s been a lack of communication by Massingill.
“He did not tell us that he had vacated the incorporation measure that was going to be on the ballot on November 4th. He did not tell us the last day to have something on the balance is August 18th,” Wolf said. “Had he not told us in Commissioner's Court, we would never have known.”
Shadden said if Massingill does not sign the second petition, her group is prepared to escalate their case in the courts.
“We're prepared to go up to the Supreme Court if need be,” Shadden said.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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