Residents in Hood County, Texas, have filed a new lawsuit against the cryptomine company, Mara Holdings, over alleged noise pollution from the company’s Bitcoin mining facility near Granbury.

The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on May 1 by a group of residents living within a mile of the site. As per reports in the Dallas Observer, the lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $1 million and alleges that noise from the facility’s cooling fans has caused physical and emotional harm.

The filing claims that constant noise and low-frequency hum from the mining site have contributed to numerous health issues for nearby residents, including cardiac problems, tinnitus, permanent hearing loss, and insomnia.

It also alleges that the noise has affected nearby livestock, citing unexplained deaths of chickens, and has led to reduced local property values. Though studies have shown that noise pollution can harm birds, evidence of it causing fatalities is scant.

The lawsuit adds to existing litigation concerning Mara Holdings’ mining site. Two personal injury lawsuits, Adair v. Marathon Digital Holdings and Engle v. MARA Holdings, were filed in April. US District Judge Reed O’Connor has now consolidated the latest case with those existing suits, according to the report.

A separate case, Citizens Concerned About Wolf Hollow v. Marathon Digital Holdings, seeks an injunction to stop the facility from producing what plaintiffs describe as unreasonable noise. The case is backed by the environmental legal nonprofit, EarthJustice, and has been remanded to local courts by federal judges on two occasions.

The facility is located near a 1.1GW gas and steam turbine plant owned by Constellation Energy, which residents have also raised concerns about amid opposition to the broader industrialization of the area.

Mara has disputed claims that the site is operating outside legal noise limits. A company spokesperson told reporters that allegations around the noise levels had previously been reviewed, including through a county-commissioned study, and said the company remained “committed to being a responsible, long-term neighbor and partner in Granbury and Hood County.”

DCD previously reported that the 300MW facility in question was originally operated by Compute North, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022. The site later passed through US Bitcoin Corp and Generate Capital before being sold to Mara in January 2024.

Mara issued a comment to DCD describing extensive noise mitigation work it carried out since taking over the facility, stating that it “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.”