A man is suing the local council for $648 million after they blocked his search for a lost Bitcoin hard drive in the landfill.
A man from Newport, Wales, is in a legal battle with his local council.
He is using them for $648 million. The reason for this lawsuit is quite unusual.
His partner unintentionally throw away the Bitcoin hard drive during a cleaning
The man, named James Howells, lost a hard drive that contained 8,000 Bitcoins. This Bitcoin is now worth a staggering amount of money.
The incident happened in 2013. Howells was cleaning his home office when he placed some items in a black bag.
His partner thought the bag was full of trash. She took it to the dump without realizing it contained the hard drive.
When Howells found out, he immediately contacted the Newport City Council. He wanted to dig through the landfill to recover his lost hard drive.
The local council blocked him from digging the landfill up to find his Bitcoin hard
The search was carried out on a large scale.
Howells has spent years trying to convince the council to allow him to search for the hard drive and has not given up despite numerous setbacks.
He even hired NASA engineers to help with data recovery. He believes that the hard drive is buried in a specific section of the landfill.
Howells argues that it would cost about $13 million to excavate the area where he thinks the hard drive is located.
He claims that the council has not been following environmental regulations. He also believes that the council is not a competent landfill operator.
Despite the council’s objections, Howells is determined to dig up the hard drive.
He reflected: “I could spend the rest of my life working nine-to-five and thinking about it every day. I might as well spend my time trying to recover this simple piece of metal.”
“The legal effort is covered. We’re willing to go all the way to the appeals court, the Supreme Court,” he said.
“With a case of this magnitude, I’m expecting to go the full distance. I didn’t really want to go to court but this is the final shot.”
Throughout this legal battle, Howells has faced many challenges.
He has spent a lot of time and money trying to recover his lost asset.
Howells has stated that he could work for the rest of his life and still think about the lost Bitcoins. He feels that he must continue his fight to retrieve the hard drive.
The man has indicated that he is willing to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
He believes that his case is significant and deserves attention. He has said that he did not want to go to court initially, but feels he has no other choice now.
The lost Bitcoin, if recovered, could change his life drastically. He has been struggling financially while pursuing this case.
Newport City Council responded to the incident
On the other hand, the Newport City Council has reiterated its position.
A spokesperson has stated that digging up the landfill is not possible due to environmental permits.
They emphasize that such an excavation would have a negative impact on the area.
The council claims that they follow strict monitoring and reporting protocols for environmental safety.
The council’s representatives have also pointed out that Howells’ claims are unfounded.
They believe he is trying to divert attention from the weaknesses in his case.
The spokesperson noted that the ongoing legal efforts cost the council and taxpayers time and money.
The spokesperson resolved: “Yet again responding to Mr Howells’ baseless claims are costing the council and Newport taxpayers time and money which could be better spent on delivering services.”