A New York State Supreme Court has ruled in favor of crypto mining startup Greenidge Generation, dismissing a petition by a coalition of environmental groups, the judge concluded that the petition was without evidence of environmental impact.
Judge Daniel Doyle dismissed a petition against Greenidge Generation Holdings filed by a group of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club, Seneca Lake Guardian, and the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, as well as a number of individuals, in an attempt to stop the mining operation at Seneca Lake, according to a press release issued by Greenidge on April 7.
Greenidge’s ambitions to expand its Bitcoin mining business at a site in Dresden, a 300-person town in Yates County, were also called into question in the petition.
By the end of the year, the business plans to raise the number of miners in service at the gas-powered operation from 17,000 to 49,000.
This is a quote from the ruling:
“Petitioners have failed to establish that they would suffer an environmental injury different from that suffered by the general public.”
The judge stated that none of the petitioners resides within 2,000 feet of the project site and that the local planning board had taken all necessary steps to analyze the project’s potential environmental implications.
According to a press release from the corporation, this is the seventh time that various entities have tried unsuccessfully to stop the project’s expansion through legal action.
On Feb. 1, New York state gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams backed Greenidge’s cause, calling on incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul to deny permits for proof-of-work crypto mining in the state.
