Bitcoin descended on a small Nebraska county bringing big business, with big complaints from neighbors

NEAR STANTON, Neb. (KTIV) – Neighbors enjoyed Stanton County, Nebraska, for its rural setting, and peace and quiet. But, they say, that’s all been upended by a “Bitcoin mine” that moved in next door.

The neighbors say the Bitcoin mine is loud, that is loud enough to cause hearing damage, at all hours of the day. It also uses a lot of power and isn’t the easiest to look at.

According to Carnegie Mellon University, miners solve difficult math problems to create blocks, which are just groups of transactions. Once the miner solves the math problems first, the transactions inside of those blocks are now cemented in time, verifying the transactions as valid.

For their efforts, miners are awarded Bitcoin which can be traded for U.S. dollars, or other currency.

Bitcoin comes to town

A persistent whirring noise comes from the Bitcoin mine about a half mile from Tony and Mary Wortmann’s homestead. And, they say, they can’t take it anymore.

“So then you get this reaction between all these fans working together and it gives you this growling, winding, vibrating noise you’d sound sometimes like you’re living inside of a transformer, and it just really does,” said Tony Wortmann. “This gets to your head and and it we call it psychological warfare.”

The neighbors say the Bitcoin mining plant is owned by a company called Jigowatt, based in Lincoln, Nebraska. According to WJAG radio, the site was supposed to be occupied by a different company, Northern Data. The neighbors say Northern Data proposed a much nicer facility, one with a building and employees on site.

Instead, the site is essentially open air, with neighbors describing computers inside of shipping containers and no employees on site regularly, except for a maintenance man.

According to Doug Huttman, the chair of the Stanton County Board of Commissioners, the county wasn’t involved in recruiting the business, but the local electrical utility was.

A spokesperson for Stanton Public Power District confirmed the electrical utility was trying to find a business that would add a large load to the grid, so when the Bitcoin mine popped up, it fit the bill.

“But I don’t think they really understand completely how bad it is sure. Because they’re not living here,” said Mary Wortmann. “They might come out and listen to it up there or listen to it here at our house. But then they go home and it’s not at their house.”

KTIV’s decibel reader read about 88 decibels out at the site. When we walked to the other side of the road next to the bitcoin mine, it was definitely a little bit quieter but it’s still not at the level where you could have a normal conversation.

Yale University says any sustained exposure to 80 decibels, or more, could lead to hearing loss.

“We would love it if they would pull (the sound) down to something nice and quiet,” said Tony Wortmann. “We would welcome them as neighbors but they don’t apparently want to be.”

Joe Horstman was going to build a new home on land he owns nearby, but he’s backed off that plan after he built a machine shed he says vibrates consistently because of the noise.

“That’s about a mile away from where this facility is at,” he said. “And the sound travels since it’s up on top of the hill and it vibrates that new building inside. It’s quite something.”

KTIV also spoke with Stanton County Commissioner Duane Rehak. He represents the district the Wortmanns live in.

Rehak said the county commissioners did approve a change to make the land the Bitcoin mine sits on industrial land versus the previously zoned agricultural. But he says the commissioners rely on the planning and zoning board to make recommendations because they have the experience and expertise in dealing with those types of regulations.

Rehak said he’s visited the site of the mine, and the “humming” sound seemed bearable to him.

He also doesn’t support taxpayer dollars being used to fund a “sound study,” something the neighbors have asked for because the study could be used in a lawsuit between the neighbors and the Bitcoin mining company.

“We don’t want to do that because we’re really not involved in that,” Rehak said. “The county’s not involved in that lawsuit. You know that’s between the landowner and (the Bitcoin mine).”

Rehak said if the neighbors have an issue with the noise level, they can take their complaint to the planning and zoning board. And he notes the mine will bring in substantial tax dollars that will benefit the rest of the community.

“They’re going to bring great tax revenue to the county,” Rehak said. “And with the power companies getting revenue is great. So what we’re trying to do is trying to get businesses to move into Stanton County.”

KTIV called the Stanton County assessor who told us it’s a rough estimate, but the Bitcoin mining company is likely to pay about $24,000 in property taxes to the county in 2024, while the property is worth about $1.7 million.

We reached out to the company’s law firm as listed on the Real Estate Transfer Statement, but we haven’t heard back.

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