During a hearing before state environmental officials on Monday, about a dozen people voiced objections to the licensing renewal of Power Creek Power in Nesquehoning for the combustion of coal culm and No. 2 fuel oil.

Most of those objections centered on allegations or plans regarding the burning of shredded tires at the plant and for utilizing the generated power for bitcoin operations.

The hearing was held in the auditorium of the Panther Valley High School and conducted by representatives of the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection. Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator for the DEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre, conducted the hearing.

Three members of the DEP’s Air Quality Program who will be reviewing the renewal permit also attended. They are Norm Frederick, Mark Wejczner and Mark Mott.

Connolly said a transcript of the hearing, which was recorded, will be reviewed and a public response will be placed on the DEP website after the review, which could take several weeks.

David Hawk, plant manager, represented the company at the hearing.

Hawk said Panther Creek Power is “a specialized power plant built to clean up the large piles of waste coal left behind from over a century of coal mining across Pennsylvania.”

He said the firm employs over 50 people.

Those who objected spoke of health concerns, environmental impact and the need for the DEP to consistently monitor both the operations and emissions of Power Creek.

Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, a nonprofit environmental group, said, “The current management (of Panther Creek) operates only to serve the creation of bitcoins. They have had numerous violations and have shown that their operation will only comply with your rules and regulations to the extent that you provide close oversight.”

She said, “The owners reap millions while polluting our water, our air and undoubtedly causing our electric costs to increase.”

Christman testified that as of October, 10,000 additional specialized computers called “miners” were added to the operation of the Panther Creek Power Plant.

“This means that more power will be needed for the purpose of creating bitcoins and the new owner of the plant has indicated there will be no more power contributed to the grid.”

She urged the DEP to “end the treatment of Panther Creek as a power generator now.”

She also asked the DEP “to require the installation of electrostatic precipitators to provide needed additional protection from the cancer-causing pollution emitted by this plant on a 24/7 basis.”

According to Christman, the plant is burning construction debris as fuel.

“The practice must stop,” she said. “There is no way to verify this debris does not contain asbestos, plastics, PCBs, or other dangerous pollutants.”

She also said tire shreds are stored on the plant property, are not covered by tarps and could result in pollution to waterways.

“Under no circumstances should the plant be allowed to burn tire shreds,” she said.

Hawk said the current permit allows only for the burning of waste coal and number 2 fuel oil. “No other materials, such as tire-derived fuel, are included in the permit renewal,” he said.

Lucy Freck of Kunkletown said, “Panther Creek seeks a permit to burn tires, which has not yet been acted upon. If permitted, this would release polyaromatic hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.”

She said a Right to Know response states Panther Creek is allowed to burn construction debris that can contain pollutants, including asbestos and PCBs.

Carol Etheridge of Mahoning Township said Stronghold Digital “operates Panther Creek Power for bitcoin mining.” She said there are plans to expand current operations by adding 10,000 miners and double the megawatt available “by isolating the power plants from the grid, otherwise known as islanding, to provide power to a bitcoin data center.” She said the plans are outlined in filings to the Security and Exchange Commission.

“Bitfarms is a for-profit corporation that has no intention of providing power to the grid or contributing in any way to our community,” she said, adding, “let’s ensure that we are not putting toxins in our air, the environment and water.”

Steve Chuckra of Lehighton said his concern that Panther Creek is burning tire debris and is dumping its ash leftovers in open pits near Nesquehoning near the Lausanne Tunnel. He said the tunnel is the largest source of abandoned mine contamination on the Lehigh Watershed.

He testified, “I had the opportunity to live all over the country and abroad. I have seldom seen more apathy towards environmental issues than exists in Carbon County, which happens to be the home of 17 Superfund sites.”

Brandon Fogal of Jim Thorpe is concerned where remnants are being dumped.

Susan Frey of Lehighton voiced concerns about how the burning of debris at Panther Creek will affect property values.

Hawk, in defense of his firm, said, “Panther Creek is an 80 megawatt electric generating capacity resource to the PJM interconnection grid.” He said, “Generally, if not derated or offline for repairs, the plant can supply electricity to the PJM grid as well as to the data mining site.”

He said Panther Creek also provides reactive power and voltage support to First Energy/Med-Ed at the point of interconnect.