Impacted Communities and Enviro Advocates React to New Report Showing Cryptomining's Massive Water Pollution

NEW YORK, NY (11/30/2023) (readMedia)-- On Thursday, communities impacted by Bitcoin mining operations and environmental advocates from across the country will hold a press conference following a groundbreaking report outlining the astounding volume of water used to mine cryptocurrency. Conducted by Alex de Vries in the Cell Reports Sustainability journal, the report is the first comprehensive estimate of total water consumption in the global cryptomining industry ever published. de Vries is joining national environmental advocates and local community members from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky to address the concerning impact of nearby cryptomining operations on water supplies and community health. Cryptocurrency mining's significant water usage poses a pressing concern amid the global water crisis, with potential for even faster growth in water demand. The report warns that the sheer scale of Bitcoin mining's water usage could impact drinking water if it continues to operate without constraints, especially in countries that are already battling water scarcity, including the United States.

Not only are cryptomining plants using massive amounts of water to operate, they also often discharge the water back into local water supplies or wastewater treatment facilities. This thermal pollution endangers health and wildlife habitability, including but not limited to potential harmful algal blooms, fish deaths, biodiversity loss and migration, oxygen depletion, direct thermal shock, and changes in dissolved oxygen.