Canadian elementary school drags crypto miner to court over noise that 'never stops'

Canadian elementary school, Lake Superior Academy, has taken legal action against a cryptocurrency mining center, citing noise concerns. According to reports, the noise from the mining operation located at Mackinac Trail, seven miles south of Sault Ste. Marie is a high-pitched, metallic noise that sounds like a chorus of mechanical insects.

According to the Canadian elementary school’s Superintendent Susie Schlehuber, the noise initially registered at 75 decibels, roughly the volume of a running vacuum cleaner, at the edge of the school’s property on the other side of the road earlier this year.

She mentioned that at the school’s front door, it was about 65 decibels, the same as a washing machine. However, the annoying high-pitched metallic whine began in March.

Canadian elementary school initiates legal action against crypto miner 

According to the lawsuit filed by the school, the noise was somewhat dampened by the addition of hay bales to the site, and aside from a court order to pause the operations for two weeks, the noise hasn’t stopped.

“It’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It never stops,” said Schlehuber. She added that she founded the school because of an environmental focus, meaning that students always spend time outside their classrooms.

Schlehuber added that the noise was noticeable because of that practice. “Because of that, we noticed the noise even more so than if we were just a school that stayed inside the classroom with the doors closed,” she said. The superintendent claims they had to stop conducting lessons on the front lawn, stop opening the windows, and halt plans to build two new classrooms.

The crypto mining operation in question is a six self-contained bank of machines owned by a Boca Raton, Florida, company called Odessa Partners LLC. According to filings from the company’s attorneys, the company is made up of two other business entities, Wyoming Partners Irrevocably Statutory Trust, which is registered at an address in Cheyenne, and Valletta Corp, LLC, which is registered in Delaware.

Both of these firms are linked to a Florida native named Michael Carbonara. Carbonara is the CEO of Ibanera, a company that provides a fintech enablement and cross-border payments network, according to its website. Carbonara also applied for the building permit for the mining operation. Carbonara and Odessa Partners are yet to respond to the lawsuit.

The last time both entities made any form of communication was after Chippewa Country Circuit Judge James Lambros ordered the operation to stop temporarily last month. Odessa Partners submitted a legal finding claiming its losses per day were about $15,000, and it was already taking steps to reduce the noise, noting the placement of hay bales in front of the machines.

The motion also noted that the school property is located alongside Interstate 75, arguing that “the noise Plaintiff claims to be emanating from Defendant’s property is purportedly less than that typically generated by the use and activity occurring on the other side of Plaintiff’s property.”

However, Schlehuber countered the claim, saying, “There’s a huge difference between a loud truck going by a few times a day and constant noise.”

She also claimed she had been trying to work with Odessa Partners regarding the issue since March and hadn’t seen any progress towards a solution. “We knew we had to do something else besides just talk to them,” she said.

According to the CEO of OOM Technologies, which operates a computer hosting facility not too far from where Odessa Partners’ operation is located, that location is suitable for miners due to the abundance of resources. Shaw also added that the cold is part of the reasons, noting that “the most efficient way to cool the stuff is through the natural airflow.”

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