The plant manager for a bitcoin mine and data center in unincorporated Hood County has been found not guilty on 12 counts of noise violations.
Defendant David Fischer, the plant manager for Marathon Digital — a multi billion dollar bitcoin mining operation out of Florida — was found not guilty by a jury on Tuesday.
Hood County attorney Matt Mills represented the residents and presented the noise citations.
“I’m disappointed for the victims in the case,” Mills told the Star-Telegram in a statement Wednesday. “The feedback I received from jurors is they believed it was an unreasonable noise. However, they had trouble connecting it with the individual defendant, David Fischer. Testimony was that he was the plant manager. But the jury’s questions revolved around how much control did he have over operations, and how much he could alleviate the noise problems.”
The case stemmed from noise citations written by Hood County constable John Shirley, who has recorded dozens of readings the past few months over 85 decibels, the state’s threshold for which noise is considered unreasonable.
The case revolved around citations addressed specifically to Fisher, not Marathon Digital. Fort Worth based law firm Gill & Brissette represented Marathon Digital and David Fischer in the case.
Bob Gill and Miles Brissette, the defendant’s attorney, said the reading conducted by Shirley were improper and inflated.
Gill said that the noise caused by the mine and data center was not improper because it was coming from a permitted industrial site.
The attorneys also said David Fischer was not the proper person to cite and added that it is up to the county and Mills if they want to cite Marathon Digital.
Residents have complained of increased health issues, blaming it on the mine’s non stop noise and also expressed concern’s about the impact the operation could have on the state’s power grid and the environment.
Hood County Commissioner Nannette Samuelson said in a statement Wednesday night she was disappointed in the verdict.
“Heartbroken for my constituents who are living with the non-stop loud noise all day every single day and night. This is torture for the folks that live near the Marathon Digital Holdings’ data center. Especially the children. These are hardworking people who just want to peacefully enjoy their property. Marathon is one of the largest cryptocurrency companies in the world with a $5.6B market cap. But we are not giving up. To use a baseball analogy, this is the end of the first inning,” she said.
Marathon Digital has said in previous interview that it is working to make the operation quieter. It said it was the least remote bitcoin operation it has in Texas.
On Thursday afternoon a spokesperson for the company sent a statement from Marathon’s Senior Vice Presiden of government affairs Jayson Browder.
“Today’s verdict is a significant victory for justice and fairness,” Browder said. “The jury’s unanimous decision reaffirms our commitment to operating responsibly and ethically. We remain dedicated to being good citizens and working collaboratively with our neighbors for the betterment of the community.”
The statement also said Marathon would “invest in thoughtful practices and community engagement to ensure that our operations benefit all of Hood County and surrounding cities. We look forward to maintaining open lines of communication with our neighbors and addressing any concerns promptly and effectively.”
Staff Writer James Hartley contributed to this report
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 
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