Residents address data center concerns

TYLER – Residents of Tyler gathered for a community meeting on Monday to voice concerns about a planned Bitcoin mining data center. The Bitcoin mining facility is currently proposed for 1105 W. Erwin Street in Tyler. On Monday, Mark Buntsev, a community liaison for Vulcan Core LLC, hosted a community meeting with residents living near the W. Erwin Street site, where his company proposes to build a Bitcoin facility.

The facility would use specially designed computers to “mine” Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, a currency that is created and stored only digitally. Developers met with Tyler residents at The Meeting Place banquet hall, located just blocks from the proposed site of the Bitcoin facility, according to out news partner KETK.

“Some of their concerns were the usage of water, the usage of electricity and the usage of noise, all of which I’d like to think that we were able to address through resources such as a further understanding of the technology itself, understanding that we don’t have any kind of power draw or water draw from the city. We utilize distilled water mixed with glycol,” Buntsev said on Monday.

They discussed how the facility would operate, how they would mitigate noise from the facility’s loud computers and any impacts it would have on traffic, energy usage rates and the local economy.

According to an April 2025 study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Bitcoin mining can increase levels of air pollution harmful to human health.