A Bitcoin mining facility in Washington County, Tennessee, has shut down following a court settlement that required the site to cease operations, ending a years-long dispute over noise from the rural mining site.

Local reports said residents near the New Salem community had endured near-constant fan noise for around five years, with neighbors saying the sound finally stopped in line with the agreed deadline on March 28.

Mine owner CleanSpark told local news that it would shut the 25MW facility along Bailey Bridge Road down in accordance with the settlement agreement and remove equipment within the required 120-day period.

The cryptomine site forms part of a broader Tennessee mining footprint that came under CleanSpark’s control when it completed its acquisition of GRIID Infrastructure in October 2024.

At the time, CleanSpark said the deal would support plans to build more than 400MW of Bitcoin mining capacity in Tennessee over the following years, underscoring the contrast between the company’s statewide expansion ambitions and the local opposition that surrounded the Washington County facility.

The Washington County dispute has become a local flashpoint over how cryptocurrency mining projects are sited and regulated.

According to regional reporting, the experience has helped spur organized opposition to similar developments elsewhere in northeast Tennessee, while Johnson City is now working on a noise and vibration study aimed at creating new zoning protections.

For data center operators, the shutdown is another reminder that community tolerance, zoning classification, and acoustic mitigation can be as critical to project viability as power availability.

In 2025, CleanSpark faced similar opposition from local residents in Mountain City, Tennessee, where over 1,700 people signed a petition to halt the development of the firm’s 30MW mining facility.