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This is a cautionary tale about our nation’s current goldrush of chasing profits in AI and bitcoin. This story centers on the Dereck Ranes family who lives near Xenia, Kansas, pronounced Zenie. It is a tiny spot in the road on 65 Highway in northwest Bourbon County about 70 miles south of Johnson County. I know this area well since our family farm sits about three miles from the Ranes home. I often tell people I was raised in the sticks. You meet far more coyotes, cattle, rabbits and squirrels than people in the valleys, hollers and wooded hills. Noise in this part of Kansas comes from an occasional car, farm equipment during planting, cultivating and harvest seasons, geese overhead and the lowing of cattle. Today that peace has been shattered. A bitcoin mining operation called Evolution Technology LLC, known as Evotech, has moved into the wooded hills near Xenia. My first thought was simple. What in the world is happening? Why Xenia? Why in the middle of nowhere? Why, why, why? The answers are not complicated. First, Bourbon County has no zoning. The people who live there are fiercely independent, suspicious of government and simply want to live their lives in peace. Second, natural gas wells are drilled and available which gives Evotech free or extremely cheap power. Several years ago a gas drilling operation drilled multiple wells in the area and built a transport line from Xenia to Devon about fourteen miles away. The project was abandoned but the wells were not capped and the line is still intact. Third, the population is sparse. Fewer people means fewer complaints. With no permits required and no notice to the Bourbon County Commission or to the neighbors, this bitcoin operation appeared overnight, like mushrooms in the spring. Three shipping containers with walls (more like a solid high fence) on two sides. No permanent buildings. Just containers, generators and gas wells. Suddenly the Ranes family had a very noisy neighbor planted in the middle of their quiet rural life. Natural gas generator(s) now run around the clock at 73 to 81 decibels (dB) according to readings by the County Sheriff and by Dereck Ranes. 81 dB is the sound of standing next to a blender or a vacuum cleaner. The vibrations that go with that noise are constant. EPA standards meant to protect public health set 55 dB as the maximum for prolonged daytime exposure which is about the sound of a quiet refrigerator or background conversation. For nighttime the recommended maximum is 45 dB which is the sound of a quiet room. Another serious issue is the management of salt water pumped off gas wells. This activity requires a state permit and disposal is tightly regulated. Discharge on the ground is prohibited. At the Bourbon County Commission meeting on November 10th the Evotech representative and his attorney had little to say concerning this issue. Next comes property taxes. In Kansas property valuation is based on use. If someone owns industrial property in Johnson County and bales hay on it, keeps beehives or other agricultural use the land is appraised as Ag and is taxed at a far lower rate. The inverse matters here. If agricultural land is used for industrial or commercial activity, that part of the land must be taxed at the far higher commercial rate. Currently the bitcoin mining site is taxed as Ag use. Finally, there is the direct impact on the Ranes property value. Their home sits directly across a gravel road that was once scarcely used. Now they face a loud industrial site that operates every hour of every day. KSN 16 in Joplin covered their story on October 15th. The link is here: This same pattern is unfolding across the United States. Jefferson County, Kansas faced it as well and that county commission succeeded in keeping the mining operation out. A similar situation I found in North Carolina. CNN story link here:: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/us/north-carolina-crypto-mine-noise-weir-wxc So, beware if you live in rural Kansas, your country lifestyle could be destroyed overnight in this goldrush of “mobile” bitcoin operations that have come to Kansas. 👉 Please contribute $100 or more today so my voice will be heard on the KSGOP debate stage in January 2026. We are halfway to our goal, we need your help to get to the finish line.
O’Hara for Kansas Charlotte O’Hara |
INVASION of Bitcoin Mining in Rural Kansas
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Charlotte…the continued conservative leadership that Johnson County, KS needs now, more than ever!
I am honored to be running for re-election as Johnson County District 3 Commissioner, and I am committed to continuing to serve our entire community with integrity, dedication, passion and faith. I have consistently advocated for the interests of “We The People.”
Thank you for the honor you have given me to serve and I look forward to visiting with you during my re-election campaign!
