Crypto Mine Pollution Suit Tests Reach of State Green Amendment

Pennsylvania environmentalists who sued over alleged cryptocurrency mining pollution have invoked the state’s “green amendment,” ushering the long-standing constitutional language into new territory.

The lawsuit filed March 25 is thought to be the nation’s first crypto mining complaint that cites a state’s constitutional right to a clean environment, said Aaron Freiwald, managing partner of Freiwald Law PC and lead attorney for plaintiff Save Carbon County. The lawsuit names the state and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. as defendants.

The case, filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, points specifically to part of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment that designates the ...