Wilbraham residents have called in complaints to state Sen. Jake Oliveira and state Rep. Angelo Puppolo about a low-frequency humming noise from the Ludlow Eversource facility.
Reminder Publishing photo by Peter Tuohy
WILBRAHAM — State Sen. Jake Oliveira and state Rep. Angelo Puppolo have banded together to end a persistent humming and buzzing noise that has impacted the lives of Wilbraham residents for months, described by Oliveira as a “leaf blower left on in the distance.”
An Aug. 10 press release announced that Puppolo and Oliveira sent a letter to Eversource President and CEO Joseph Nolan, urging the company to “identify and eliminate” a noise stemming from Ludlow’s Eversource liquefied natural gas facility at 76 Ravenwood Drive.
The press release states, “residents in Wilbraham have reported hearing a persistent low-frequency humming for months, with many describing sleepless nights, headaches and ongoing disruptions inside their homes.”
The letter urges the company to complete noise mitigation work as quickly as possible, provide regular updates to residents and local officials, meet directly with affected residents and municipal leaders and commit to implementing any additional corrective actions necessary to resolve the issue permanently.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is actively investigating noise complaints, and has “observed a potential pure-tone condition and issued Eversource a notice of noncompliance,” according to the release.
A pure-tone condition occurs when a sound source produces a persistent, single frequency noise, such as a buzz or a hum.
Puppolo told Reminder Publishing that the noise came to his attention by constituent calls.
“It’s been a continuing concern, relative to the quality of life for the residents up there,” Puppolo said. “I went through there, and if you go through there and listen, you can hear a loud humming noise. It seems to be nonstop. A lot of residents have been concerned about that, not only for quality of life, but some of the health and detrimental effects it may have, both short and long-term … We’re just doing our constituent work and making sure that the quality of life of the residents remains intact.”
He added that Eversource has been a good partner to work with before, aside from “battling them” with price relative issues, but he’s confident it will go through Eversource’s channels with urgency and come to a viable solution.
Puppolo said, “we need to jump into action and make sure we at least get this thing rolling and have Eversource look at the root cause and rectify this as soon as possible.”
Oliveira told Reminder Publishing that he and Puppolo try to be as responsive as possible when constituents reach out, and that Wilbraham residents are directly affected. He said the sound is mostly dampened in Ludlow by hills and the Chicopee River waterfall.
“I drove out there a couple weeks ago and listened to the sound,” Oliveira said. “My ears aren’t that great, but it reminded me of a leaf blower left on in the distance. If someone’s doing yard work and you’re trying to sleep or enjoy the outdoors, it impacts quality of life.”
Oliveira added that the noise can impact residents with hearing aids because the device amplifies ambient noise.
“The residents of Wilbraham, they deserve answers,” Oliveira said. “That’s why [Puppolo] and I decided to go right to Eversource and ask the questions that are needed in order to get answers for these residents.”
He said this isn’t an isolated incident and that noise complaints have stemmed from the Charlton facility as well, which the MassDEP has looked into.
“I think there are steps that can be taken, not just by Eversource, but also the state to enforce this as well and make sure that residents can go about their daily lives, live and enjoy the outdoors, enjoy being in their own homes and get much needed sleep,” Oliveira said. “This isn’t the first time where noise complaints have been rectified with simple changes, or small changes, that can help people.”
The noise’s source has not been identified by Eversource after beginning mitigation measures. Eversource External Communications Manager Olessa Stepanova told Reminder Publishing that “testing to date has not established that it is coming from the Ludlow LNG facility.”
Stepanova added that there are no safety concerns associated with the facility and that Eversource will continue to investigate the issue.
“Over the last several months, we’ve been working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and an independent consultant to investigate the reported noise and have been providing regular updates to the state,” Stepanova said. “That work has included multiple rounds of noise monitoring at locations in and around the facility, reviewing the timing of resident complaints in relation to facility operations and ongoing coordination with MassDEP as new information becomes available. We’ve also asked our consultant to conduct additional monitoring to help identify other potential sources of the noise.”
Stepanova said that Eversource is proactively taking steps to reduce potential sources of noise and have completed the first phase of acoustic insulation work, along with finishing additional insulation on equipment identified as a potential noise source.
“Our independent consultant previously conducted off-site noise monitoring and will conduct another round next week to evaluate conditions following completion of the insulation work,” Stepanova said. “An important next step in the investigation will come at the end of this month when the facility is scheduled to be offline. Because the Ludlow LNG facility serves a critical role in maintaining reliable natural gas service for our customers, opportunities to take it completely offline are limited and occur only during specific operational windows. Our consultant will conduct another round of monitoring during the shutdown, allowing us to compare sound levels before and after the insulation work and while the facility is offline. This additional data may help us better determine the source of the reported noise.”
She said Eversource takes resident concerns seriously and will continue working with MassDEP while providing updates to the community and state and local officials.
“We also welcome the opportunity to work directly with affected residents to better understand what they are experiencing,” Stepanova said. “We remain committed to doing everything we can to identify the source of the reported noise and work toward a resolution should it involve our facility.”
