Continuous Noise from Dominion Cove Point

[Cruiserchick]

We live about one mile from the LNG Export Facility. We have been barraged with noise in excess of 50 DB from this site. We, in the community, were resigned to the construction traffic and noise but were assured that noise would not continue once the construction was complete. The extreme noise has been occurring since the middle of March. Since 10/11, we have experienced 8 days and nights of continuous noise in excess of 50 DB and often approaching 68 DB. I contacted the EPA and they stated that people cannot sleep with noise in excess of 40 DB.
New York City is quieter as they regulate noise and have restrictions to 40 DB between sunset and 7 am. You know things are bad here in Southern Maryland when our environment is noisier than NYC! I have contacted the commisioners and Dominion since March and they are still looking into it! We just want to sleep and even use our yards, but I guess that is too much to ask. Guess the middle and lower classes in Southern Calvert County don’t matter. We can begin voting tomorrow so let’s show we do have a voice!

 

[Grumpy]

Since 10/11, we have experienced 8 days and nights of continuous noise in excess of 50 DB and often approaching 68 DB. I contacted the EPA and they stated that people cannot sleep with noise in excess of 40 DB.

How did you measure it and who did you report it to? Please share what you reported and to who. Thanks

 

[jrt_ms1995]

How did you measure it and who did you report it to? Please share what you reported and to who. Thanks

I think they simply invented the numbers without knowing much at all about sound levels, and reported it to you and me. https://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafety/Training/PPETrain/dblevels.htm

I couldn't sleep at all if it were as quiet as 40 db in my bedroom.

 

[glhs837]

My GOD!!!!! How are you standing those noise levels...... A bit louder than normal conversation.

 

[Blister]

Actually twice as loud if measured correctly.

Garbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). Car wash at 20 ft (89 dB); propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft (88 dB); diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB). Food blender (88 dB); milling machine (85 dB); garbage disposal (80 dB).
2 times as loud as 70 dB. Possible damage in 8 hour exposure.

Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB); freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge 10 a.m. (76 dB). Living room music (76 dB); radio or TV-audio, vacuum cleaner (70 dB).
70

Arbitrary base of comparison. Upper 70s are annoyingly loud to some people.
Conversation in restaurant, office, background music, Air conditioning unit at 100 feet.
60 Half as loud as 70 dB. Fairly quiet.

Quiet suburb, conversation at home. Large electrical transformers at 100 feet.
50 One-fourth as loud as 70 dB.

http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm

 

[Kinnakeet]

We live about one mile from the LNG Export Facility. We have been barraged with noise in excess of 50 DB from this site. We, in the community, were resigned to the construction traffic and noise but were assured that noise would not continue once the construction was complete. The extreme noise has been occurring since the middle of March. Since 10/11, we have experienced 8 days and nights of continuous noise in excess of 50 DB and often approaching 68 DB. I contacted the EPA and they stated that people cannot sleep with noise in excess of 40 DB.
New York City is quieter as they regulate noise and have restrictions to 40 DB between sunset and 7 am. You know things are bad here in Southern Maryland when our environment is noisier than NYC! I have contacted the commisioners and Dominion since March and they are still looking into it! We just want to sleep and even use our yards, but I guess that is too much to ask. Guess the middle and lower classes in Southern Calvert County don’t matter. We can begin voting tomorrow so let’s show we do have a voice!

BLAME OBAMA AS HE IS AT FAULT FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS BAD AND EVIL

 

[officeguy]

50? That's barely audible.

 

[nutz]

We live about one mile from the LNG Export Facility. We have been barraged with noise in excess of 50 DB from this site. We, in the community, were resigned to the construction traffic and noise but were assured that noise would not continue once the construction was complete. The extreme noise has been occurring since the middle of March. Since 10/11, we have experienced 8 days and nights of continuous noise in excess of 50 DB and often approaching 68 DB. I contacted the EPA and they stated that people cannot sleep with noise in excess of 40 DB.
New York City is quieter as they regulate noise and have restrictions to 40 DB between sunset and 7 am. You know things are bad here in Southern Maryland when our environment is noisier than NYC! I have contacted the commisioners and Dominion since March and they are still looking into it! We just want to sleep and even use our yards, but I guess that is too much to ask. Guess the middle and lower classes in Southern Calvert County don’t matter. We can begin voting tomorrow so let’s show we do have a voice!

Simple, move. Normal conversation levels are 60 DB.

 

[Cruiserchick]

My GOD!!!!! How are you standing those noise levels...... A bit louder than normal conversation.

View attachment 125401

The noise from Cove Point is constant. Do some further research, if you are able. A normal person cannot sleep with a constant decibel noise over 40. We have tried all sorts of earplugs but they don’t have an impact on low rumbling sounds. If someone spoke into your ear all night, unless you are totally deaf, I doubt you would sleep.

 

[Cruiserchick]

Cove Point Noise Problems

To measure the noise we have downloaded a decibel reader on our phones and laptops. My husband has also borrowed one from his workshop. In the FERC report on Cove Point, Dominion started that the noise would be no greater than 48 DB measured at a point 700 feet away at night after they completed construction. We are over 4000 feet from Dominion and we would be happy to have only 48 DB. When they were not operating in October our noise level was 28 DB. Understand that we are on a five acre wooded lot on a dead end street.

For those who say we should move, how would we sell a house with this level of daytime and evening noise! It can’t be done judging by the number of vacant homes in this area. We have been here over 22 years and have only had noise problems since Dominion. We don’t mind neighbors having parties, dogs barking etc. al part of living in a neighborhood. We did not buy a house in an industrial area but that is what we have now. Ask other folks living in the Cove Point area, this is a common issue. We have repeatedly notified the commissioners, Dominion and more recently the EPA and FERC. One of the commissioners stated Dominion could be charged for violating the FERC agreement.

 

[Misfit]

I live near there and never mentioned it out loud because I thought it was in my head.

That and the tinnitus has a psychotic symphony going on in there.

 

[Gilligan]

Yours is not the first complaint I've seen about the low rumbling noise issue. It does sound like something in their processes is radiating more airborne noise than someone had previously predicted it would. They'll have to address it eventually, I would think.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

To measure the noise we have downloaded a decibel reader on our phones and laptops. My husband has also borrowed one from his workshop. In the FERC report on Cove Point, Dominion started that the noise would be no greater than 48 DB measured at a point 700 feet away at night after they completed construction. We are over 4000 feet from Dominion and we would be happy to have only 48 DB. When they were not operating in October our noise level was 28 DB. Understand that we are on a five acre wooded lot on a dead end street.

For those who say we should move, how would we sell a house with this level of daytime and evening noise! It can’t be done judging by the number of vacant homes in this area. We have been here over 22 years and have only had noise problems since Dominion. We don’t mind neighbors having parties, dogs barking etc. al part of living in a neighborhood. We did not buy a house in an industrial area but that is what we have now. Ask other folks living in the Cove Point area, this is a common issue. We have repeatedly notified the commissioners, Dominion and more recently the EPA and FERC. One of the commissioners stated Dominion could be charged for violating the FERC agreement.

I can tell you that unless your meters are calibrated, they mean squat. I highly doubt a phone dB meter is calibrated and when you discuss "violating FERC agreement" a phone sound meter won't cut it.

I'll also say that a video would help.

 

[Gilligan]

I can tell you that unless your meters are calibrated, they mean squat. I highly doubt a phone dB meter is calibrated and when you discuss "violating FERC agreement" a phone sound meter won't cut it.

I'll also say that a video would help.

She said

My husband has also borrowed one from his workshop.

We have a very nice portable B&K unit at our shop...how do you know that the one her husband borrowed was not of that grade of instrument? ;-)

 

[Cruiserchick]

She said

We have a very nice portable B&K unit at our shop...how do you know that the one her husband borrowed was not of that grade of instrument? ;-)

My husband’s is at least 25 years old. We would welcome having Dominion put one of their measuring devices in our yard. We have requested this since March. Funny how they don’t respond or say that they are working on reducing the noise. They supposed have or had two, one on Cove Point RD and one a little north on 765. I believe the one from my husband’s workshop cost over 1K when he had to buy it for OSHA reasons. We wern’t sure it still worked which is why we loaded the apps on our phones and computers.

Would love to hear more comments from residents in the Cove Point area. We were never part of any protest group because we made the mistake of believing what Dominion said, now we are paying the price.

 

[Gilligan]

My husband’s is at least 25 years old. We would welcome having Dominion put one of their measuring devices in our yard. We have requested this since March. Funny how they don’t respond or say that they are working on reducing the noise. They supposed have or had two, one on Cove Point RD and one a little north on 765. I believe the one from my husband’s workshop cost over 1K when he had to buy it for OSHA reasons. We wern’t sure it still worked which is why we loaded the apps on our phones and computers.

Would love to hear more comments from residents in the Cove Point area. We were never part of any protest group because we made the mistake of believing what Dominion said, now we are paying the price.

While Chris' point about instrument calibration was valid, you can still rely in a general way on the simple fact that what instruments you did use appeared to confirm what your lying ears are telling you. At that point, it is on Dominion to prove you wrong, not the other way around.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

You should know that while FERC requires under 55dB noise generation, it's not a one-time thing, but an average. This is explained in Dominion's noise survey they were required to complete (completed in April).

Day-Night Level. The Day-Night Sound Level (LDN), as its name implies, is a simple, calculated value representing the average of twenty-four (24) hour-long LAEQ samples. An hour-long LAEQ is a simple, calculated value that is ‘equal’ in energy to the actual fluctuating noise for a 1-hour measurement period. As shown in Figure 2, a constant noise level of 50 dBA (LAEQ) for a period
of 1-hour is equivalent in energy to the fluctuating noise for the same period, produced by the car and truck passes, which vary in level from less than 30 to more than 60 dBA. Before averaging together 24, hour-long LAEQ samples, a 10-decibel ‘penalty’ is added to the samples collected between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. in order to account for the potential of increased disturbance when people are resting, relaxing or sleeping. LDN is the preferred metric for the assessment of environmental noise by federal bureaus such as FERC. When the sound level (LAEQ) from a facility is steady or constant (such as during DECP baseload operating conditions) then the Day-Night sound level (LDN) can be more easily calculated by adding 6.4 dB to the measured LAEQ level (LDN = LAEQ + 6.4 dB). The 6.4 dB adjustment is a result of the 10-dB nighttime ‘penalty’.

Michael Theriault Acoustics, Inc. (MTA) conducted a noise level compliance test on April 12, 2018 while DECP operated at high loads, in order to verify compliance with FERC performance
standards for the control of noise.

As shown in Figure 1, noise level measurements were collected at:
NSA 1 - 2115 Cove Point Road
NSA 2 - 1520 Cove Point Road
NSA 3 - 10952 Chesapeake Drive

Table 1 summarizes measurement results obtained during the compliance test. As shown, DayNight sound levels ranged from approximately 48 to 54 LDN at the nearest noise sensitive
areas while DECP operated at high load, which wholly comply with FERC regulatory limits for the control of noise (< 55 LDN).

http://covepointbeach.com/wordpress.../06/PUBLIC-Cove-Point-Condition-24-Part-1.pdf

Hope this helps. Note that the County website on Cove Point says:

84. What will the noise from the facility actually sound like when running?
The liquefaction operation will be required to comply with the current sound limits set by regulators. Initial operation may cause some intermittent noise events, but the sound level will decrease and become not notably different from what it is now.

https://www.co.cal.md.us/faq.aspx?TID=50

 

[black dog]

Why would someone that buys a home near a heavy industrial business not expect noise?
It's like buying a lot next to a pig farm and not expecting to hear or smell them.

It's not like that plant hasn't been there for what, 40 years now.

 

[Gilligan]

Why would someone that buys a home near a heavy industrial business not expect noise?
It's like buying a lot next to a pig farm and not expecting to hear or smell them.

It's not like that plant hasn't been there for what, 40 years now.

Well, to be fair, the new liquefaction and export plant is all new and quite huge (and power thirsty) compared to the import activity they always had there. Offloading LNG and feeding a pipeline or storage tank is a lot quieter and much less energy-intensive an operation.

I'm a huge fan of exporting our LNG and other petroleum products, but the impact of the Cover Point plant was predicted, defined and approved and if...IF..those approved and specified noise limits are being exceeded, then the adjacent/affected homeowners certainly have a legitimate beef, IMHO.

 

[black dog]

Well, to be fair, the new liquefaction and export plant is all new and quite huge (and power thirsty) compared to the import activity they always had there. Offloading LNG and feeding a pipeline or storage tank is a lot quieter and much less energy-intensive an operation.

I'm a huge fan of exporting our LNG and other petroleum products, but the impact of the Cover Point plant was predicted, defined and approved and if...IF..those approved and specified noise limits are being exceeded, then the adjacent/affected homeowners certainly have a legitimate beef, IMHO.

I understand that, but like any property, things change over time.
I see it as no difference than you build a house one lot off Rt4 just south of Dunkirk, and the house on Rt4 sells and gets rezoned business and now your side yard is a 4 business strip mall.

When I was a kid hearing semi's upshift and downshift along with jakebrakes on 495 and the Old Georgetown Rd exit were normal sleeping sounds. Now that trucks and cars are quieter than ever folks complain and 10's of millions are spent for sound walls for homes that were built long after the beltway came about.