YATES COUNTY, NY (WENY) -- Several environmental groups and residents across the Finger Lakes have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against a Bitcoin mining operator on Seneca Lake.

The Sierra Club, Seneca Lake Guardian, Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes and several residents are among those to file a motion for a preliminary injunction in State Supreme Court in Yates County. The filing, which names the town of Torrey, the Torrey Planning Board and Greenidge Generation, was made in an effort to halt Greenidge Generation from continuing construction to expand its Bitcoin mining operation at its property in the town of Torrey. The company is constructing four new buildings, which will house about 10,000 Bitcoin mining machines. According to a recent regulatory filing, Greenidge already operates about 15,000 machines in its main facility, which also functions as a natural gas power plant.

Opponents of the expansion want an environmental review done on the facility's mining operation, and are worried about the potential impact on the Finger Lakes. They also claim Greenidge's air missions do not comply with New York State climate law.

“If Governor Hochul and the DEC continue to drag their feet on this permit, the Finger Lakes and our climate will pay the price. Governor Hochul must make this issue a top priority in her administration and direct her DEC to deny Greenidge’s permits on the grounds that the facility’s air emissions do not comply with New York’s climate law. The Finger Lakes region is a test case for what could happen across our great state, and across the country,” said Joseph Campbell, President of Seneca Lake Guardian. “We have filed a motion with the presiding judge, the Hon. Daniel J. Doyle, asking for construction to cease until the issues raised in the suit are reviewed and the Article 78 proceeding is finalized.”

Court documents contend that the Torrey Planning Board's approval of Greenidge's expansion violated New York State's Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) by "specifically refusing to consider all of the required environmental impacts that are consequences of this project, failed to take a hard look at certain significant adverse environmental consequences that will ensue because of this project, and failed to include the overlooked issues in a reasoned elaboration required by the regulations promulgated pursuant to SEQRA..."

Among environmental concerns raised are the intake of more than 139,000,000 gallons per day of water from Seneca Lake, which is superheated, cooled and then discharged back into the lake near the Keuka Outlet. The concern pertains to the impact on the fish population of the lake.

Additionally, concerns were brought forth concerning noise due to fans used to cool the computers used to mine Bitcoin, which run 24 hours a day. The documents allege the town Planning Board refused to consider the consequences of the "indicated water use, increased in energy, noise pollution and air pollution." 

To read the full motion filed, the PDF is listed below.