ALBANY, New York — The owner of a gas-powered cryptocurrency mining operation says New York’s environmental agency can’t refuse to issue permits based on the state’s climate law, challenging the agency’s effort to shut it down.
Greenidge, a publicly traded company, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Environmental Conservation in Yates County on Thursday. It’s the latest effort by the company to keep the plant running after DEC denied an air permit renewal, citing the increased emissions due to the more frequent use of the plant to operate computers to earn cryptocurrency.
DEC has told the company it must shut by Sept. 9, when its air permits expire.
“When we are in front of courts of law and out of politically biased and ad hoc DEC processes, the facts actually matter and the courts continue to recognize our facility meets the letter and intent of state and federal laws,” said Dale Irwin, president of Greenidge Generation. “This is an important case for Upstate New York: for working locals who’ve waited far too long for the type of high-tech, high-paying career opportunities we continue to create, for local businesses and unions we partner with, and for the local communities that benefit from the significant share of county tax revenue we are generating.”