Bitcoin operation ignites debate around the waste from coal mining in Pennsylvania.
ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze visits a once dormant power plant now humming with crypto activity, which environmentalists warn creates pollution.A once-dormant power plant is humming with activity outside Pittsburgh as thousands of miners work 24 hours a day.
“These are computers that are just designed to do one thing. They're designed to run as fast as possible 24 hours a day,” he told ABC News Live. Stronghold Digital Mining, which owns the Scrubgrass plant, has found its power source in the form of coal waste, which is abundant at this 221-acre pit just outside of Pittsburgh. Coal waste is a combination of rock, coal, and other materials that were deemed unsuitable for burning and left abandoned since the 1970s when coal mines in the area were closed.The waste from coal mining in Russellton, Pa. has caused environmental problems for decades.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says the state has benefited from waste coal power plants because the state has limited funding to clean up the piles and address the environmental problems. Waste coal is burned using a different process than traditional coal but still releases carbon dioxide that contributes to warming the atmosphere. The EPA says the type of waste coal found in Pennsylvania also releases more acid gas and sulfur dioxide than other types of coal.
“They're not removing pollution. They're moving pollution. They're moving pollution from the land and they're moving it to the air,” Altenburg told ABC News.
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