El Reno City officials are publicly taking some of the blame for last week’s leak of nearly 4 million gallons of water from a private fire hydrant at a Bitcoin mining operation that the city said was operating without a license.
“We failed,” said Interim City Manager Ken Brown who confirmed the city did not follow up after it had denied a 2023 permit for Bitcoin mining operator Athlon Blockchain.
“If the stop work order was in 2023, why didn’t we follow? Because we we failed,” Ken Brown, the Interim El Reno City Manager, said. “The assumption was that people would respect the stop work order,” Brown told KFOR News.
For the past three years, the firm operated without a license and now the city said it contributed to the leak of 3.8 million gallons of water and resulted in school closings in El Reno and Union City.
Brown told News 9 the city had assumed Athlon would comply with the city decision.
“The assumption was that people would respect us,” Brown said, comparing the situation to drivers being expected to obey stop signs. “Did we not follow up to what we should? Yes, we absolutely did and we own that. And we will address that internally.”
Fox 25 News reported a review of the property’s records shows that the area was rezoned to Moderate Industrial in 2019. In October 202, Athlon Blockchain LLC submitted a Commercial Building Permit Application for the property. The city issued a permit and construction began.
In June 2023, the city issued a Stop Work Order after finding fire and life safety violations and expired building and electrical permits. The owner was given until December 2023 to obtain new permits, and operations were suspended until a Certificate of Occupancy could be secured.
As for the leak, the city now believes a faulty fire suppression system at the plant led to the loss of water. The operation remains behind a chain-link fence and Mayor Steve Jensen said it’s difficult to determine what is occurring at the site.
“It’s hard to tell — where they were in operation, where they working, was anything going on?” Jensen said. “We will bill the property owner for that and any the costs associated with overtime, labor, whatever; we’ll be able to, to bill the property owner.”
The city also took action against Athlon last week and condemned the facility and issued a 10-day removal notice. Inspectors cited multiple fire, electrical and building violations.
A hearing between the city and Athlon is scheduled for Sept. 14. City officials say that hearing will help determine what happens next.
