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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed recently visited a Michigan elementary school where noise from a neighboring bitcoin mining facility has disrupted outdoor classes.
El-Sayed, a former Detroit public health official, called for stronger regulations to protect children and communities from the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. He posted a video on X from Lake Superior Academy, a tuition-free Montessori school serving about 100 kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“This is a place that is supposed to be a healing environment, a nurturing environment for kids,” El-Sayed said. Instead, children attending the school have to contend with the sound coming from a bitcoin mining operation, he said.
School officials said the constant sound forced students indoors, disrupting a curriculum centered on gardening, wildlife observation and outdoor learning.
“The students often, daily, say, ‘When is this going to stop?’” Superintendent Susie Schlehuber told WCMU Public Radio in June 2025. “Our whole school philosophy, everything we were founded on, has been disrupted because of the noise.”
The facility began operating in March 2025. Cooling fans reportedly account for most of the noise.
School sues bitcoin mining companies
Last year, Lake Superior Academy filed a nuisance lawsuit against Odessa Partners, which owns the property, and Alpha Watt, which operates the mining equipment.
Both companies could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for Alpha Watt did not respond.
Business filings also identified Michael Carbonara, a Florida businessman and Republican congressional candidate, as connected to the operation.
Carbonara did not respond to a request for comment.
In a court filing, Alpha Watt denied the school’s allegations, acknowledged that its equipment generated noise during school hours and argued that hay bales installed around the facility reduced the sound to below ambient levels.
The lawsuit remains pending, according to the Sault Tribe Guardian.
Experts warn of risks to children’s health
Environmental health experts told The Defender that persistent industrial sounds near schools can interfere with children’s concentration, learning and sleep.
“Constant low-frequency noise can disrupt cognitive ability,” said Alison L. Steele, executive director of the Environmental Health Project.
Steele said prolonged exposure could also affect teachers’ concentration and decision-making as well.
Theodora Scarato, director of the Wireless and EMF Program at Environmental Health Sciences, said new standards for electromagnetic radiation (EMR) exposure should be undertaken when installing data mining and AI data centers near schools.
“Health reviews should evaluate cumulative exposures in classrooms, playgrounds, and athletic fields and also how these additional exposures could compound existing environmental burdens,” Scarato said.
Eileen O’Connor, co-founder of EM Radiation Research Trust, called for independent environmental assessments before large computing facilities are approved near schools.
“Children are still developing, and I believe their potential exposure to multiple environmental factors deserves particular attention,” O’Connor told The Defender.
The World Health Organization has linked excessive environmental noise to sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment.
However, no evidence presented establishes that students at Lake Superior Academy have suffered permanent health effects from the facility.
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Data center restrictions become Senate campaign issue
El-Sayed’s visit comes as data center development emerges as an issue in Michigan’s closely contested Senate race against Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed narrowly won the Democratic primary in August, and the race remains competitive. The Nov. 3 Senate election could help determine control of Congress
Both candidates have called for restrictions on new data centers. Rogers supports a moratorium, while El-Sayed wants stronger federal safeguards, public participation in approval decisions, and protections against higher electricity costs and water shortages.
El-Sayed has called the Lake Superior Academy dispute an example of why stricter rules are needed.
The controversy has already prompted action elsewhere in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In July 2025, Clark Township adopted a temporary moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations while officials considered permanent restrictions, according to WCMU Public Radio.
The school also postponed plans to build two additional classrooms for approximately 40 students because of the dispute.
For Lake Superior Academy, the facility noise and restrictions around outdoor learning are primary concerns.
“It’s not a recess place, it’s where we do learning every day,” said Schlehuber.
Related articles in The Defender
- Nearly 1,900 U.S. Schools Are Within 1 Mile of an AI Data Center, Prompting Health Concerns for Children
- Cheating the System: How AI Data Centers Bypass Water and Air Pollution Laws and Permits
- Watch: AI Data Centers ‘Spreading Like an Aggressive Cancer’
- Trump Calls for Rapid Expansion of AI Data Centers, Including on Federal Lands
- AI Data Center Boom Fueling ‘Tidal Wave’ of New PFAS Production
- AI Data Centers’ Growing Air Pollution Threatens Children’s Developing Brains and Lungs
