Final week, New York state regulators accepted the continued operation of a crypto mining operation on Seneca Lake. I’m going to be blatantly clear: crypto mining is poisoning our lakes and lands. It drains water out of our lakes, dumps it again in at excessive temperatures, contributes to dangerous algal blooms, leaches chemical compounds into vineyards, and makes use of vitality that our area critically wants for housing and enterprise improvement.
The pure fantastic thing about our lakes, vineyards and farms attracts guests from everywhere in the nation, driving billions of {dollars} in tourism income and supporting our high quality of life. However the way forward for these important lakes is in danger due to the exploitation of the Finger Lakes as a crypto mine, waste dump and vitality supply that powers the air pollution of our waters however not our properties and companies.
Greenidge Technology energy plant and crypto mine on Seneca Lake is the clearest instance of this menace. They reported almost 30,000 extra tons of carbon-dioxide emissions in 2024; native modeling reveals chemical compounds spreading throughout 32 close by vineyards and farms; and state permits enable them to withdraw tens of millions of gallons of lake water day by day, returning it at temperatures as excessive as 108 levels which may gas the expansion of dangerous algal blooms.
The hurt to our area doesn’t cease there. The siphoning off of vitality sources is exacerbating a essential housing scarcity, driving up housing prices for all of us who reside within the Finger Lakes. Greater than 1,000 urgently wanted housing models in Ontario County alone are stalled as a result of unmet vitality infrastructure upgrades; in Canandaigua, a 600-unit improvement is on maintain due to the $15 million to $25 million it would value to convey energy to the positioning. In the meantime, state regulators negotiated a cope with a crypto mine that at full capability generates 107 megawatts, sufficient vitality to energy 75,000 properties.
Don’t be fooled. There’s nothing “inexperienced” about crypto mining. Catchy, environmental-sounding names and logos don’t change the info about what crypto mining does or who income from it. It’s personal traders — lots of whom aren’t even New Yorkers — making the revenue, not the individuals who reside and work within the cities and villages of the Finger Lakes. They’re utilizing our sources and getting state advantages to revenue.
These are our lakes, our lands and our lives. We should defend them via good insurance policies and commonsense rules. There’s nothing good about final week’s settlement. We should demand stronger enforcement of environmental protections round some of these plant operations and get up for our lakes. As a result of how go our lakes, go our lives.
Michael Mills is a Canandaigua metropolis councilor, proprietor of Involvement Inc. (involvementinc.com), and a 2026 Democratic candidate for New York State Senate District 54.
