overset ▼ ENVIROMENT TWICE SHY E NAVARRO COUNTY RESIDENTS WORRY WHAT THE PLANNED BITCOIN MINING FACILITY COULD DO TO THE ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY RESOURCES, THE WATER SUPPLY. BY JACOB VAUGHN ver since a new Bitcoin mining facil- ity was proposed in Navarro County, some residents have been upset about the drain on local resources they say the op- eration would cause. In April, the Colorado company Riot Blockchain announced in a press release that it was in the process of developing a large-scale, 1 gigawatt facility just outside Navarro County’s Corsicana, about an hour’s drive south of Dallas. The first phase of the project will include 400 megawatts of ca- pacity on a 265-acre site, according to the company’s press release. That phase is expected to be completed in July 2023. Once that’s finished, Riot Blockchain will work on expanding the fa- cility to its total potential capacity, 1 giga- watt. That’s just a little less power than what Doc Brown and Marty McFly needed in Back to the Future to power the flux capaci- tor in their DeLorean and get Marty back home to 1985 (or enough to power 300,000 to 1 million U.S. homes). When it’s all said and done, the project could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and create hundreds of jobs. But, it will also consume a lot of electricity and, potentially, a lot of water in a state that has experienced an unstable power grid and is currently in a drought. When Navarro County resident Jackie Sawicky heard of the proposed facility, she sounded alarms. She worried about what the facility would do to the power grid and water supply, and how prices for electricity and water could fluctuate because of it. “My immediate thought was, ‘This is going to in- crease everyone’s bills,’” Sawicky told the Observer. As an environmentalist, Sawicky said, she’s also worried how a facility like this could affect climate change. So, she started a petition and a Facebook page for others who opposed Riot’s plans. She also started filing records requests about the facility, saying she felt a lot of the planning for it was done behind closed doors. One email from John Boswell, Corsicana’s economic development director, surprised Sa- Snhuttersock A Bitcoin mining facility could be on the way to Navarro County. wicky. It included an estimate for how much water the facility would end up using. When it’s finished, it would consume about 1.4 mil- lion gallons of water per day, the email said. Reached for comment, Boswell told the Observer the figure was a very early estimate and that, while he doesn’t have the final number, the facility’s demand for water will be significantly less. Even if the early esti- mates were correct, he said, the city has enough water to support that demand and the future growth of the county. Enough water or not, Sawicky said it’s not fair to the county’s residents or the state as a whole. “So, while we’re all seeing our bills increase, we’re being told to conserve water and electricity because the grid is go- ing to fail and hundreds of people could die again because we’re seeing triple-digit weather, they’re given special, sweetheart deals to just waste,” Sawicky said. People who oppose the project have reached out to city officials in Corsicana, who say they can’t do anything about it be- cause it’s outside of city limits in unincorpo- rated Navarro County. “I understand why the people are con- cerned but also think when you live in a town with no zoning laws, there’s nothing you can do,” Corsicana city councilwoman Susan Hale told The Dallas Morning News. “They say we didn’t ask for their input, but what kind of input? It’s not a city thing.” So, according to council members and Boswell, this is out of the city’s hands. But they can still profit from it – indirectly from the potential economic growth, and directly by selling water. However much the facility will end up needing, Boswell said, the city will be selling water to Riot. “All the water that’s sold throughout Navarro County – parts of Hill [County], parts of Ellis [County] – [is] pro- duced by the city of Corsicana and sold through wholesale water utilities through- out the area,” he explained. “So, if anything goes on here, it will have an impact on water sales for the city.” Riot Blockchain didn’t respond to re- quests for comment. However, the compa- ny’s chief commercial officer, Chad Harris, recently told the News that they had cho- sen the county because of its water and electricity. We bring sophistication with a twist to the metaphysical and holistic markets with products, classes and services. We have locations in Dallas, Carrollton & Frisco. Psychic Hotline Now Available: 888-415-6208 WWW.SOULTOPIA.GURU BEST OF DALLAS AWARD WINNER S Visit us: 900 W Davis St, Dallas • 3414 Midcourt Rd #100, Carrollton 7004 Lebanon Rd, STE 106, Frisco, Texas 75034 5 dallasobserver.com CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER AUGUST 4 - 10, 2022 2020
