Noise pollution has become an issue for some area counties. During its June 13 meeting, the Madison County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data processing facilities. The moratorium will afford the county a year to develop guidelines. Over the past two years Madison also instated moratoriums for special event facilities and biomass facilities.
The issue of data processing farms has come up because Cherokee County did not have any ordinances and are now dealing with a facility that essentially makes a lot of noise all the time. In Murphy, noise created from some of the crypto mines has antagonized community members, described by some as an “otherworldly pitch,” and “a jet-like roar” that never ends. Buncombe County Commissioners approved a one-year moratorium on data processing facilities on May 2.
Data processing facilities include crypto mining facilities and bigger data centers like Apple or Google, or Facebook which basically means server farms. These counties are setting these temporary moratoriums to give them time to study the issues and develop ordinances accordingly.
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