GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) -The idea to allow for a controversial type of business in Greenville will be back before the city council for discussion Monday night.

The City of Greenville changed its ordinance last year to allow for cryptocurrency mining, now one new council member is asking for a new discussion on the ordinance.

Marion Blackburn, the Greenville District 3 council member described it as “an intensely computer heavy process, unlike anything that is used for regular computer operations.”

Greenville’s city council is weighing the economic benefits and the environmental impacts of allowing cryptocurrency mining in the city.

Although it could bring a lot of revenue and jobs, opposing voices are loud because of the pollution, noise, and the draining of power, equivalent, some say, to the power used by an entire small city.

“Because of the noise, because of the aesthetic of the operation, it is certainly not something I would want in my neighborhood,” said Greenville resident Jerry McRoy.

The discussion of cryptocurrency mining sparked when the company “Compute North” wanted to set up modular data processing in Pitt County two years ago. That plan was scrapped. That’s when the city council approved a change to allow for such a business.

“At this time, to my knowledge, there is not a cryptocurrency mining company asking to come do business in Greenville. That’s why it is a good time for us as a council and as a community to take another look at this ordinance and decide do we want to keep it or do we not want to keep it.”

Blackburn says with new members on the council, it’s crucial to get their input. She pointed out that Greenville is an attractive choice for Compute North due to the affordable cost of electricity.

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