A community near Fort Worth, Texas, may incorporate as a city in order to curb data center noise.

The Texas Tribune reported that unresolved noise complaints against a cryptocurrency data center in Hood County have led residents of the Mitchell Bend neighborhood to try to incorporate themselves as a city. This would give it the power to create noise ordinances to limit sound levels, something that counties in Texas cannot currently do.

Hood County is located southwest of Fort Worth, a major city in north central Texas.

The facility, operated by cryptomining company MARA Holdings, is situated at the Wolf Hollow Gas plant in Granbury, Hood County’s main city.

The 300MW data center was originally operated by Compute North, a data center provider, which declared bankruptcy in September 2022. A month later, Compute North chose US Bitcoin Corp to operate the site, with ownership being transferred to investment firm Generate Capital in January 2023. Generate Capital sold the facility to MARA in January 2024.

Residents have expressed concern about the facility’s noise profile since it became operational. While the facility was still operated by US Bitcoin Corp, in November 2023, the company constructed a 24-ft high and approximately 2,000-ft long soundproofing wall. MARA finished extending the wall in November 2024.

According to MARA’s Granbury facility website, after MARA took over the facility, it deactivated 95 air-cooled containers by July 2024 and converted 67 percent of the site to immersion cooling by November 2024.

Two third-party studies conducted in July and November of last year also found that the facility was operating below state and county law sound limits, which is set at 85 decibels by the Texas Penal Code. The third-party study found that the data center generated around 58 decibels of noise on average, and the county report found that sound levels ranged from 35 to 53 decibels.

The November report, which was commissioned by Hood County, stated that it “could not be confirmed that the mine was operating in a typical fashion during the measurement and monitoring period.”

It also stated that the limit set by the Texas Penal Code was “very permissive compared to most local-level noise ordinances around the country,” with reference made to various US City Ordinances, the World Health Organization’s own benchmark, and noise regulations in Canada.

The vote on the incorporation of a new city called Mitchell Bend, Texas, is set for November 4.

MARA is one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the US and predominantly utilizes stranded energy assets to power modular mining units. Several of the company’s facilities are located in Texas, and in April of this year, it fully energized a 25MW modular cryptomine facility powered by flared natural gas in the state and North Dakota.

Fort Worth and neighboring Dallas represent one of the world's largest data center markets. Fort Worth itself is home to operators including QTS, Lumen, Centersquare, and Cogent.

Update:

A MARA spokesperson issued a statement to DCD, saying:

"MARA is aware that a few residents are trying to create a new town in what appears to be an attempt to negatively impact its Granbury facility. MARA acquired its Granbury data center, which is in a well-established industrial zone along a busy road, in early 2024. Since then, MARA has invested millions of dollars to enhance the site, including transitioning most of the site to immersion cooling, a significantly quieter cooling method than traditional air cooling, and completing construction of a sound wall around the facility. Independent professional sound studies, including one conducted by the Hood County government, have confirmed that MARA’s facility operates well below state and county law noise limits. MARA has a track record of adding jobs and tax revenues to the communities in which we operate and has invested more than $1.2 billion in our Texas sites, contributing millions in local tax revenues and supporting local schools and nonprofits. We are committed to maintaining our health and safety standards at the Granbury data center and being good neighbors."