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Friday, February 17, 2012

The Arlington Hum

Perhaps you have heard of the Bristol Hum (England), Largs Hum (Scotland), Copenhagen Hum (Denmark), Vancouver Hum (Canada), Taos Hum (New Mexico USA), and the Kokomo Hum (Indiana USA).  Let us now introduce to you the Arlington Hum.

We were unaware when those sound walls came down the other day at the Fulson Drill Site that the 'temporary' compressor which had been there since November was going to remain.   The city has not responded to our inquiry as to how long temporary means.  We are currently on day 4 of sleep deprivation possibly due to industrial low frequency noise that appears to be coming from that site.

Compressors and other types of industrialized machines produce annoying low frequency noise (LFN), which can cause Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD).

Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD) is a whole body noise-induced pathology caused by long-term exposure to low frequency noise that is not necessarily related to the ear.   

Long term exposure to low frequency noise may lead to severe medical conditions such as heart problems, stroke, cancer, epilepsy, rage reactions, and even suicide.

Individuals, particularly children living within several miles of low frequency noise generating gas compressor stations or other noise generating equipment can be at risk of vibroacoustic disease. 

VAD can be diagnosed with the echocardiogram which can reveal any thickening of  the heart structures. 

There are countries that recognize damage to the human body caused by low frequency noise - Canada, Netherlands, Britain, Portugal, Japan, and Australia to name a few.   Notice the United States is not mentioned? 

As Arlington marches onward with the industrialization of natural gas mining, we might be hearing more of  THE HUM.

10 comments:

  1. THE HUM is stealthy. You can think it is not affecting you, then suddenly you learn it did.

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  2. So, now we can add "the Hum" to our growing list of health impacts of living in the Barnett Shale or any area with shale gas drilling and fracking operations? For sure, now that you mention it, the compressor on the Fulson site seems like the very likely cause for this. A big, constantly operating compressor will surely generate some noise.

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  3. Many individuals across the shale are suffering one ailment or another, yet most doctors aren't connecting the dots to LFN being the culprit.

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  4. I first heard about vibro-acoustic disease and LFN from, Charles Morgan who lives near Tyler. He started writing me in 2008 describing horrific problems he experienced from living near gas compressors. He did extensive testing and research becoming an expert in the process. He's kind of a maverick hero. But back in '08 we had so many other major issues to address this one fell through the cracks. I'm glad to see someone bringing it back to public awareness.

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  5. Arlington City Council got us into this mess. We need to vote each one of them OUT and start repairing the damge !!!!!!

    Dan with water damage Arlington

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  6. Brian - Are you in Arlington, TX or Arlington, VA?

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  7. http://www.wellnesstimes.com/articles/can-noise-make-you-sick

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  8. This is August, 2014 just wanted to come document somewhere that I hear the low frequency hum living near Traders Village, since 11:30 tonight. I've been hearing this off and on late at night to early morning for at least 3 weeks. At first I thought it was in my head, but tonight it was so constant that I had to google "loud hum in arlington, tx". I thought it was probably something to do with the gas drilling, I'm sad to read about the health consequences and that the government doesn't recognize it as a noise problem, I thought about calling the police dept, possibly on a non emergency number to at least make an officially recorded noise complaint of this if later on someone tries to do anything about it. I would encourage any other people out there that have heard this sound to do the same.

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    1. I am sorry to hear you are dealing with such a tormenting issue. I completely understand what you are experiencing because we had MANY sleepless nights due to gas drilling activity near our home. Unfortunately, this is HEAVY INDUSTRIAL MINING. It is not clean or quiet. My suggestion to you would be to contact your city councilperson in Grand Prairie to see if there is any way to remediate the situation using noise abatement methods. This may help minimally ~ but not eliminate the problem as this is industrial activity.

      A couple of years ago when we called 911 in the wee hours of the morning because of continuous drilling noise, the operator said I should be thankful that our city is collecting revenue from gas drilling during this economic downturn and suggested that I wear earplugs. I hope Grand Prairie treats you better than Arlington treated us. Good luck, and keep us posted!

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    2. We will be happy to help if you will contact us at westchesterneighbor (at) gmail.com. at = the @ sign. These issues need to be documented with the City of Grand Prairie so that they know what's going on out in the communities. Feel free to join us on the Westchester Gasette page on Facebook or on our blog. Let us know (anonymously if you choose) how we might help. We are aware of the drilling site you are near. We look forward to hearing from you.

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