Bitcoin mining large MARA has filed a federal lawsuit in search of to dam municipal elections scheduled for November 4 in Hood County, Texas, alleging that county officers illegally positioned a municipal annexation measure on the poll that targets information middle operations.
This text comes from Theminermag, a commerce publication for the crypto mining trade, specializing in the newest information and analysis about institutional Bitcoin mining corporations.
In a 47-page criticism filed Oct. 27 within the U.S. District Court docket for the Northern District of Texas, MARA accuses Hood County, County Decide Ron Massingill, County Lawyer Matt Mills, and election administrator Stephanie Cooper of “deliberate and unconstitutional” conduct in approving a voting plan that may create a brand new municipality referred to as Mitchell Bend round MARA’s mining facility close to Granbury.
MARA claims that the proposed city line was drawn “solely to surround” the positioning, giving native residents regulatory powers to “impose taxes and regulate enterprise closures.” The corporate alleges that the county violates a number of provisions of the Texas Municipal Code governing municipal incorporation, together with necessities relating to inhabitants, boundaries and pre-existing group standing.
The dispute stems from neighborhood opposition to a large-scale air-cooled Bitcoin mining facility that MARA acquired in early 2024. Final summer season, the corporate started lowering noise by shifting to immersion cooling expertise, which dampens the sound by submerging mining machines in cooling liquid.
On the time, MARA mentioned it anticipated new immersion containers to be absolutely deployed by the tip of the 12 months, putting in 24-foot acoustic partitions and shifting fan cooling models away from properties. Regardless of these measures, tensions continued. Residents organized below the group Residents Involved about Wolf Hole, represented by the environmental legislation agency Earthjustice, sued the corporate for personal nuisance in 2024, however later misplaced a associated noise lawsuit in county courtroom.
The brand new lawsuit alleges that Hood County Decide Ron Massingill, County Lawyer Matt Mills and Elections Administrator Stephanie Cooper labored with the identical group to fast-track the incorporation invoice earlier than the August voting deadline. Inner emails cited within the submitting present officers acknowledging flaws within the petition, together with mismatched metropolis names and lacking boundary maps, however pushing forward with it regardless.
“The county doesn’t intend to invalidate the petition presently,” Mills wrote in an Oct. 3 e-mail cited within the criticism. “The courtroom is accepting functions for injunctions.”
Marathon argues that the incorporation effort “has no reputable municipal function” and is as a substitute geared toward “regulating, taxing and eliminating the corporate.”
This case is MARA Holdings, Inc. et al. v. Hood County, Texas, and so on., organized as No. 4:25-cv-1202, Northern District of Texas, Fort Price District.
The unique article might be discovered right here.
