Low Frequency Noise Nuisance

Do you know what's actually causing the noise?

The BMW Mini factory.
I am planning to make it "official" & have spoken with the Parish Council, but are afraid that unless it can be measured & unless we can find more people who are sensitive to it, it will be a tough nut to crack as its only a problem for one person.

I have seen this issue from the other side. Our mine processing plant produced LF vibrations that some of our near neighbours didn't appreciate. It is perceived not through the ear canals directly, but by other parts of the body including transmission through the bones of your skull to the inner parts of the ear. Different people have different levels of susceptibility and hearing tests don't really give a guide to who might be bothered by it.

My advice would be to communicate with the business that is causing the issue. Do so politely and in a non-confrontational way. Learn who it is that can make decisions that might affect the production of the sound and establish communications with them.

There are various things that can sometimes be done. The operation of the equipment can sometimes be re-scheduled to less problematic times. The equipment can be mounted in vibration isolating mounts. None of these things can be done for free, so you asking the business owners to pay for your comfort. The things that would cause them to do this, in order of descending preference:

1) They like you and wish to solve this from an altruistic perspective
2) They have an overall corporate policy that encourages them to do this as it will help their "reputation"
3) Regulatory authorities will enforce compliance with standards (This is hard, as proof of effect is usually very difficult)
4)They fear litigation by you and your neighbours
5)You sue their @r$e

Good luck with it. Start with a super-friendly attitude, but insist on communicating and forming a relationship directly with the person who has the authority to effect change.

Winky

quote:

Originally posted by Mike-B:
The BMW Mini factory.
I am planning to make it "official" & have spoken with the Parish Council, but are afraid that unless it can be measured & unless we can find more people who are sensitive to it, it will be a tough nut to crack as its only a problem for one person.

I've toured the Mini factory. I suggest you do the same if you haven't done so. They offer public tours that are great. You might even spot the bit of the process that seems to be causing the problem.

Many years ago we had some "awkward" neighbours near the telephone exchange I worked at.They were complaining of a low frequency sound, it was quite a long time before any one else heard it, the source was eventually found to be a power unit on the exchange roof, it's silentblock mounts had perished, it couldn't be heard in the building though, engineers thought it was travelling thought the steel frame of the building into the ground.

Apologies were gushing, not sure if any money passed hands though.

Mike
I sympathise with your problem, and LF noise can be very difficult to assess, but there's a lot of work been done on it - search for Geoff Leventhall or Victor Krylov for a host of references. Occasionally the Institute of Acoustics hold meetings on the subject, so I'd recommend you contact them too. This issue is also becoming more important, as more and more windfarms pop up, although the windfarm lobby say there's no problem - they would say that wouldn't they.
Your parish council won't be much help, but certainly you should contact the Environmental Health Dept of your local council (Oxford City? Vale of White Horse?). They should be able to come out and do some monitoring, although any environmental noise standard will talk in terms of A-weighted noise levels, which conveniently gets rid of most of the low frequencies. Most of these councils are not very well equipped for these types of measurement or understand it I'm afraid. But if you can prove the noise is intermittent, or is related to a process/source identified at said factory, then you should be able to move forward from there - however, the next step would be to get a consultant in, which costs money
Apart from the noise outside, which you may not be able to do much about, unless it affects a huge number of people, you may be able to mitigate what is audible in the house. For example, low frequency noise may be exciting a fundamental room mode in your bedroom - does it affect your wife as much if she sleeps in another room?
I has a similar problem a few years back, and my local council were as useful as a chocolate teapot. However, after a lot of monitoring, we found the source, and the problem was sorted, but we also found the frequency concerned (37Hz) was amplified by around 20dB in one particular room, simply by a coincidence of modes.
Good luck
Cheers
John

Don't assume that you have to go to the "authorities", or that it would even achieve anything. Talk to the right people at the business causing the problem. Seriously. All this talk of councils, departments and agencies goes nowhere. They won't care. They won't come out and do monitoring.

Talk to the guy/gal in charge at Mini. They're people just like you and me.

Thanks for all the ideas folks
I was in contact with the County Council today and am happy to say we have a plan
We have also spoken to numbers of people over the last 3 or 4 weeks, including a a person who's done some years of research on this problem, a local industrial noise consultant, our local medical practice & our local mega size teaching hospital.

1st My wife must get her hearing tested by a specialist who understands the problem. It is a high-sensitivity physical condition & needs to be assessed as such.
2nd Carry out a local survey on up to 50 neighbours & areas around the village to see if
(a) they are hearing it at a nuisance level
(b) they can hear it but are not bothered about it
(c) they can't hear anything (provided they have good hearing & not known to be hearing impaired)
3rd Record times over one continuous 14 day period noting times when its heard, weather conditions, wind directions etc..
4th Go formally to the County Council in writing with the medical assessment, neighbours survey & recorded times

Its not recommended to go to the suspected noise source at this time as its not proven to be the source. Problem is there are no other obvious candidates, unless I go out 10 miles or more.
However I have been told BMW are very receptive to local environmental issues, but we need a good case beforehand.
One thing for sure is the whole factory site it is a very quiet location, I have been there at midnight when my wife was tuned in and can only hear a low level fan noise.

Anyhow looks like we need to be and are all set for a long haul
Thanks again for your contributions
If I get a result in the next lifetime, I will dig this post up & let you know

As usual the authorities fail to be pro active, make you do the leg work in the hope that you'll get fed up and forget about it. You are being told that they cannot do some background tests? Local councils must have access to measuring gear or people who could do some measuring.
Somebody else's problems are so much easier to deal with.

One wonders what would be done if it was the Mayors wife or council chief hearing the sound?

If it was a "dirty" TV programme tomorrow night you , one single person can get it stopped /postponed.

Love the way priorities work.

Good luck - I'd be interested how it goes

Check out if there any departments in the various parts of the nearby University that are into sound issues, you might get them interested in helping you.

Derek, per my previous note ....
... including a a person who's done some years of research on this problem ...
He lectures at Oxford & is working on the physical affects of sound - guiding PhD studies - under the Uni Medical Research Dept. He is not involved with the case, only gave me some advise. My daughter knew him from her PhD days & he lives locally & likes a pint & rugby, so guess what we did on Saturday afternoon.

BigH, agreed - but
The council are urging us on but need a proven case to go forward. As said to me at my meeting, we get a lot of complaints from people who have less than serious reasons for a complaint - the farm smells, the sheep make a noise, the church bells wake me up on Sunday; we have limited resources & budget & need to be sure its a real complaint before we engage.

Anyhow, enough, time to get working.

Yes I understand Mike , good luck with you mission.

It sounds like you are following a good plan, and Winkyincanada comments are very helpful too.

Once you have done some ground work, and also been in contact with the factory, if nothing is moving forward, there is a route outside councils and the law that you can explore, you could contact consumer and news media.

TV programmes like 'Watchdog', 'You and Yours' on Radio 4, perhaps even news programmes. It might also be of interest to local papers. Web blogs or campaign groups may exist who you could add your voice to.

This might seem like throwing confetti in the wind, but companies take their public image very seriously, they spend a huge amount of money on advertising and do not want their name to be in the media in a negative way.

Many years ago a farmer I knew was being given the run around by a machinery supplier (I think), they were dealing through the normal kind of measures you would expect and getting nowhere, they were frustrated and then mentioned that they would write about their story to 'That's Life' (70's BBC consumer programme with Ester Ramsom, for those who do not know it), the fear of bad publicity worked and the problem solved within a couple of weeks.

Perhaps a lucky case, but worth adding to your options if things do not progress through other means.

I would just add, don't go down the media route while thing might be progressing elsewhere, if someone is trying to help, they could be insulted by doing this, so it is only a method to try if things stall. Similarly it is not a good story for the media until there is an intransigent bad guy, be it either the nuisance maker, or the ineffectivness of those who should be helping.

Good luck.

JamieL_v2, thanks for your comments
I am not too concerned with the factory that I suspect is the noise source, I have satisfied myself that they have a policy to work with the local community - even me at 3 miles away - & avoid environmental issues. The last thing I want is conflict, that just drives people into their silo's in my experience.
My first move is to prove that my wife does have a problem & that others in the neighbourhood also hear it; then the CC will trace the noise & it will be they who contact the noise source.

This afternoon I received some Feb 2009 papers on local noise complaints that lists the known sources. Its amazing how many places are on the list, some over 10 miles away.

People in Ontario are beginning to accept that the windfarm windmills are causing low frequency sound issues to nearby residents ...

My sister in Corvallis OR is greatly annoyed with trains that go thru the valley. It seems to change with atmospheric conditions and is a rumble in the earth. They tried building a cinderblock room but that didn't help. But then she is a bit strange.

Update on the noise issue

We have followed all the required checks & pre-study tasks such as polling neighbours & involving the local & county councils with our findings.
The problem is a lot more extensive than we could imagine, it is a worldwide problem.
It is recognised by the medical profession, people are more sensitive than others & it can disappear & return & most local authorities will know something about it - but not be too willing to get involved.
The factory who we suspected as the source has been heavily involved for a number of years over this type of problem & they are satisfied their emissions during any of night time hours irrespective of factory working mode are below 50dB at the site boundaries. I have confirmed this with my professional grade sound meter. Also even when wife can hear something, my meter does not register anything that correlates with her changing noise perception. This with background noise levels well below 20db frequently below 10dB, & in both A, C & D weighted.

Where are we with my wife's problem ?
Well, she can't hear it anymore, so I guess that's it as far as I am concerned until she gets it back again.

Interesting research was found on www from all over the planet
- one of which is about "The Bristol Hum" but included replies from all over UK & I guess "a town near you"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/br..._8055000/8055907.stm

Mike

You said the sound came from the BMW factory.

Is this Swindon, if so I know a few councillors.

Regards

Mick

Thanks Mick, but its Oxford (Cowley) The Mini plant.
But as I said in my post this pm, "the factory who we suspected as the source" is not the problem.
The whole plant is practically silent at all boundary fences
(Boundary fences are the noise nuisance standard measuring point for the local authorities)
The predominant background noise at 12 midnight is the Oxford Ring road.