US Bitcoin Corp (USBTC) has reached an agreement with the authorities of the city of Niagara Falls, New York, that will allow the resumption of bitcoin mining operations at the facility. CoinDesk reports this.
Noise complaints from residents about the 50 MW mining operation led to enforcement actions. In early March a court ordered USBTC to cease operations there and pay a $1 million fine.
A company spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that since then the facility with a hash rate of 1.1 EH/s has been closed.
The deal requires approval by the city council. Its terms include the company building a sound barrier and independent monitoring of acoustic pollution.
USBTC has agreed to comply with municipal rules on renewable energy use. The company will also pay $150,000 within 30 days as a compliance fee.
The Niagara Falls facility is the smallest of the four operated by USBTC. After the bankruptcy of Compute North, the company gained access to three data centers belonging to the former mining infrastructure provider. Two entities (in Texas and Nebraska) run the firm jointly with Generate Capital.
In total, USBTC has 680 MW of contracted capacity.
The company is in the process of merging with the Canadian mining firm Hut 8. The merged entity will be based in the United States.
As Hut 8, which had been pursuing a bitcoin-accumulation strategy, began selling the mined cryptocurrency to fund the merger.