Greenville citizens & leaders react to crypto-mining facility plans being put on hold

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GREENVILLE, NC (WITN) – A Pitt County citizens group is celebrating Friday after a crypto-mining project they fought to stop has been put on hold.

The City of Greenville was backing Compute North’s plans to plant a crypto-mining facility in the city after the company backed off its project to build it near Belvoir Elementary School in the county.

However, the North of the River Association fought hard to stop the facility from being built in Greenville.

“I’m extremely proud of everyone here,” Ed Carter, former Greenville mayor said. “I picked up some brothers and sisters I never knew I had.”

For nearly a year, the association has been protesting the crypto-mining facility.

A site close to Wellcome Middle School in north Greenville was floated as a possible location for the facility.

“Children need a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. The teacher needs a peaceful and quiet atmosphere to function and be able to teach the children,” Vivian Kennion, a North of the River Association member and retired teacher said.

To prevent the facility’s development, the group protested in uptown Greenville and at city council meetings.

In a surprise announcement Thursday afternoon, Compute North said it was pausing its Greenville plans.

The company said there is no timeline on when it would consider resuming the project development plan.

The City of Greenville had worked hard to complete plans with the company and gave a statement Friday on the newest update:

“While we are disappointed that Compute North has paused their development plans in Greenville, we look forward to continuing to work with the company through their site selection process.”

The Greenville ENC Alliance submitted the same statement, also adding, “The City of Greenville, Greenville Utilities, and Greenville ENC Alliance look forward to additional efforts with Compute North and a wide range of businesses and industries that will bring jobs and investment to the Greenville Region.”

In the meantime, North of the River Association members have pledged to keep on fighting for pressing issues. They also hope for better communication between Compute North and the community if the company resumes the project.

“If Compute North wants to come back, a good place to start is with transparency and honesty,” Lucy Fox, North of the River Association member said. “We are here and ready to have a back-and-forth conversation and we are all in support and love Greenville and that’s why we did this work.”

The North of the River Association also plans to replant some of the trees across from Belvoir Elementary School that were cleared to make way for the facility.

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