A China-owned crypto mining facility could be built in the rural town of Vilonia, Arkansas, and the residents aren’t too happy about that.
Will Vilonia Be a New Crypto Mining Hub?
What’s odd is that the mining facility is controlled and owned by China, a country that not long ago decided crypto mining should be illegal due to the alleged harm it does to the atmosphere. The country announced that due to new “green” rules implemented by Beijing, all crypto mining was outlawed on Chinese lands, and miners were either going to have to close or find new places to run their businesses.
This shows a clear lack of regard for the U.S. Basically, China thinks mining is bad for its own air, but ours can get poisoned and destroyed? That’s basically what the nation is saying… Mining is okay so long as it doesn’t occur within its own borders.
Gladys Anderson is currently living in a city called Bono in Arkansas. She says there’s been a crypto mining facility near her home for a while now, and it’s caused plenty of problems for her and her family. In an interview, she stated:
It’s caused a lot of headaches…I’ve been to the doctor over headaches. My son is currently in the backyard having a meltdown… They’re not going to tell you the truth. They’re not going to do what they say they’re going to do.
Vilonia councilman Mike Matos stated that the high level of energy use is a big concern for him. He said:
It was discussed in a planning meeting that they were going to be using the equivalent of 30 schools worth of power, and one of the questions posed was, ‘What happens if another investor wants to come to our city and our power grid needs to be upgraded because of the massive amount of energy this thing is using?’
Vilonia mayor Preston Scroggins also isn’t a big fan of what’s happening. He commented:
I think foreign ownership of farmland and stuff is…at least the federal government and I understand the state government did something good. They passed a bill banning that. I wish we could do more here in our country.
Paving Space for the Business
The mine hasn’t been fully approved yet, but it could potentially go through thanks to what’s known as Act 851 in Vilonia, which states:
Data centers create jobs, pay taxes, and provide general economic value to local communities and this state… [The] local government shall not enact or adopt an ordinance, policy, or action that limits the sound decibels generated from home digital asset mining other than the limits set for sound pollution generally, [or] impose a different requirement for a digital asset mining business than is applicable to any requirement for a data center.
