Screenshot via @mrcarbonarafl/Instagram
Audio By Carbonatix
The noise, they say, is relentless.
At Lake Superior Academy — a small K-5 Montessori school in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — the constant whirring of giant computers across the street has become a daily torment for teachers and students. The sound hovers around 70 to 75 decibels, comparable to a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer, and never stops. It has, among other things, drowned out the chirping of birds that the children are used to hearing.
“The students often, daily, say ‘When is this going to stop?'” Superintendent Susie Schlehuber told WCMU Public Media, a Michigan-based public radio station. “Our special needs students, some, will come out and cover their ears.”
The source of the noise: six metal storage units filled with high-powered computers mining Bitcoin. According to WCMU, records show the operation is owned by Michael Carbonara, a Florida GOP congressional candidate and cryptocurrency entrepreneur running to unseat longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
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According to WCMU, records show Carbonara is identified as the data center’s owner, and his company, Odessa LLC, is listed as the site’s property owner on the building’s permit application.
In June, the school sued Carbonara’s company in an effort to shut down the operation. A month later, a judge issued a temporary restraining order, halting activity at the site. While it’s unclear how involved Carbonara is in day-to-day operations, the school says the noise pollution from the mining center has become so severe that it has delayed plans to expand with several new classrooms to welcome dozens of students.
Residents of the small town have also raised concerns about the potential long-term health effects of constant noise and air pollution.
Carbonara did not respond to New Times‘ request for comment about the operation.
Across the country, communities have complained of similar problems as cryptocurrency mining operations have multiplied.
The powerful computers that verify digital transactions generate enormous amounts of power and require constant cooling from roaring fans that can run continuously, day and night. From rural Texas to upstate New York, residents have described a nonstop mechanical hum that disrupts sleep, school, and small-town life — prompting lawsuits, local bans, and mounting questions about the industry’s environmental effects.
Carbonara — a New York native and Broward County-based CEO of the financial tech firm Ibanera — has cast his campaign as an effort to bring “conservative values and fresh leadership” to Florida’s 25th Congressional district. His “innovative crypto-driven campaign” announced in October that it had raised nearly $1 million.
The lawsuit in Michigan isn’t the only legal battle he’s currently facing.
According to the Florida Bulldog, Carbonara is facing two other civil lawsuits — one of which targets him and his Miami-based Ibanera, claiming he condoned the sexual assault of an employee, and another that claims the company “unlawfully withheld” more than $18 million it was supposed to give to a Bahamian bank.
