Data center and energy infrastructure developer, Digi Power X, has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit over alleged noise pollution from its cryptocurrency mining facility in North Tonawanda, New York.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of New York on behalf of residents Sharon Demers, Karen Hance, and Mark Polito, alongside other locals from the region.
The complaint alleges that Digi Power X’s mining operations at 1070 Erie Avenue have subjected nearby residents to continuous industrial noise and low-frequency vibrations from cooling fans and other mining equipment.
Plaintiffs allege that the company’s mining operations have caused “substantial annoyance, emotional distress, loss of comfort and enjoyment, diminution in the value of their property and an increased risk of adverse health effects.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, punitive damages, and the creation of a medical monitoring program for residents allegedly affected by chronic noise exposure.
WKBW reported that residents have complained about the noise for roughly four years. One neighbor, John Helmer, told the outlet: “It’s very loud, and it wakes my wife up at night. It’s every day. It’s every night. It doesn’t stop.”
Digi Power X, formerly known as Digihost Technology, develops and operates energy and digital infrastructure assets, including Bitcoin mining infrastructure and AI-ready data centers.
The North Tonawanda site is a former Fortistar gas-fired peaker plant. Digi Power X says the facility is a 60MW power plant and forms part of its wider power and compute infrastructure portfolio. The company also operates facilities in Buffalo, New York, and Columbiana, Alabama.
The latest complaint alleges that before Digi Power X’s acquisition, the Fortistar plant operated only intermittently. Plaintiffs claim the site was later used to support around-the-clock cryptocurrency mining, with industrial fans running continuously to cool mining equipment.
Digi Power X reportedly installed a 26-foot acoustic wall around the site in 2023, but residents claim the barrier failed to abate the noise nuisance.
In its latest annual filing, Digi Power X said it owns a 60MW gas-fired power plant in North Tonawanda that operates as a peaker plant, providing electricity to the grid during periods of peak demand. The company also said it had 196.7MW of total available power across its infrastructure, including 141.7MW across its New York sites.
The case follows separate regulatory and legal scrutiny of the facility. In May 2026, the New York State Appellate Division ruled that the state Public Service Commission must examine the emissions impacts of the 2022 sale of the Fortistar plant to Digihost under New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Digi Power is hoping to pivot the North Tonawanda site from crypto to HPC – and has reportedly already removed some mining hardware from the site – but those plans have been impacted by a local data center moratorium.
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