NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — North Tonawanda residents are pushing back on a plan to convert a controversial bitcoin mining facility on Erie Avenue into an AI data center.
Dan Rotunno, plant manager of World Generation X, a subsidiary of Digi Power X, is asking the North Tonawanda Planning Commission to allow the company to redesign everything. Rotunno said the company has already removed large portions of existing containers and that the equipment they are exchanging is no longer for bitcoin and is turned into an AI infrastructure.
"What we're proposing to do is everything that is already existing inside our fence lines and has already been disturbed," Rotunno said. "So, what we're doing now is we'd like to put in a two-story building so we can house all of the computer equipment inside there."
Rotunno also said the facility would use air cooling and would not draw water from the city.
"We're going to use air coolers to cool everything. So we are not taking any water from the city. It's going to be closed-loop cooling, and we're just cooling it with air," Rotunno explained.
Rotunno said there will be less noise with the switch to the AI data center, saying there will only be a total of 20 fans for cooling.
However, the plan did not sit well with many residents who showed up to Monday night's meeting.
WATCH: North Tonawanda residents against plan to convert bitcoin mining facility into AI data center
Deborah Gondek, chair of the North Tonawanda Climate Smart Task Force, said the request sounded very vague and that residents have been suffering from noise levels from the 80,000-square-foot building for five years.
"He stated that this project is completely different from the Bitcoin mining project, so in our view, that is a new use, as he reinforced today, and that's not allowed under our current moratorium," Gondek said.
Gondek said the company's previous attempts to address the noise have fallen short.
"We've asked for relief from this for several years. They tried to put up an acoustic wall that they assured us would solve the problem, and in fact it didn't. It actually made it worse for some neighborhoods," Gondek explained.
North Tonawanda resident Mark Polito said he does not trust the company's promises.
"Over the past three or four years, listening to the company and the things that they have said, they've lied since day one," Polito said. "I'm not believing anything they're telling us on this particular day because, as far as I'm concerned, they're upgrading right under our noses."
Polito said the facility's impact extends beyond noise.
"It's crucial. This is something that's attacking not only our homes, it's also attacking our environment. It's attacking the air we breathe. It's attacking our health," Polito added.
After the New York State Senate and Assembly passed a bipartisan bill to put a one-year moratorium on regulating AI data centers in the state, the bill now awaits the signature of Governor Kathy Hochul. Polito said he is confident New York State will take action to implement the moratorium.
"I hope Governor Hochul takes this step and signs this bill immediately so that other companies are not trying to get in under the door or get in before things change," Polito said.
