Mike Wakefield, North Shore News files<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
People can hear it. People can feel it. What\u2019s the buzz in Central Lonsdale?<\/p>\n
A strange, low-frequency hum is being reported all around the neighbourhood, prompting complaints to the City of North Vancouver and an investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like this really loud humming,\u201d said Linda Cameron, who lives at 16th Street and St. Georges Avenue. \u201cIt\u2019s totally permeating my apartment. I had to keep all my windows shut. I put up two-inch Styrofoam sheets against my windows. Like nothing would keep that noise out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cath Ennis, who lives at 14th and St. Andrews described it as \u201cmore of a vibration than noise,\u201d and it only comes up intermittently. She tried to record it with her phone but the mic didn\u2019t pick it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to be on a slow pulse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Craig Galbraith, who lives at 18th and Lonsdale, has been asked by some of his building\u2019s strata members to look into it after losing many nights of sleep. One recorded a video of the hum causing ripples in a glass of water.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of theories as to where it\u2019s coming from \u2013 train engines or waterfront terminals, construction equipment, Lonsdale Energy Corp.\u00a0infrastructure. But most complainants suspect the noise is emanating from Lions Gate Hospital.<\/p>\n
Galbraith said the city staffer he spoke with told him it is likely coming from the HVAC system at the hospital, or somewhere nearby.<\/p>\n
Cameron said it seems to be loudest next to Lions Gate Hospital\u2019s expansion project construction site \u2013 but the noise persists even when work is done for the day.<\/p>\n
Several people reported that the noise has been worse over the last two months.<\/p>\n
Noise pollution is more than an annoyance, Cameron noted. It is a well-documented source of stress and it is a threat to public health, which is why environmental noise complaint investigations are handled trained Vancouver Coastal Health technicians with sophisticated instruments.<\/p>\n
The irony of a public health facility possibly causing a public health disturbance is not lost on Cameron,.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t want to hear something that keeps you up all night,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s bylaw department received eight official complaints about the hospital\u2019s rooftop mechanical systems during the summer, said bylaw manager Paul Duffy.<\/p>\n
At the city\u2019s request, VCH environmental health officers did come to take noise measurements from around the hospital but the results were inconclusive, and, in any case, the decibel reading was not high enough to be in\u00a0violation of the city\u2019s noise bylaw, Duffy said.<\/p>\n
Ambient noise in the area is already quite high due to the bustling nature of the neighbourhood, Duffy said, and tracking a noise to its source can be extremely difficult, especially when it\u2019s a low frequency.<\/p>\n
Recent posts on the online forum Reddit showed people having issues with the vibrations from Lower Lonsdale to Lynn Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat stuff can travel miles and it’s hard to pinpoint because it just bounces off whatever is in front of it and changes direction,\u201d\u00a0 Duffy said. \u201cI wish I could pinpoint it and make it go away but we haven’t been able to fully source it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact the hum doesn\u2019t even constitute a bylaw infraction is part of the problem, Cameron said. Already, living in the City of North Vancouver can be unforgivingly loud, but with housing costs being what they are, it\u2019s not like one can easily pick up and move somewhere quieter.<\/p>\n
Last November, city council passed a suite of bylaw changes aiming to crack down on urban noise<\/a>, including higher fines and reduced allowable construction hours on Saturdays.<\/p>\nVancouver Coastal Health declined\u00a0the North Shore News’\u00a0request for an interview about the noise investigation. Instead, the health authority sent a statement saying they are aware of the complaints and take them seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cVCH is committed to the health, safety and security of everyone in our care, and the community we serve,\u201d it read. \u201cVCH is working with the City of North Vancouver to mitigate any noise impacts determined to be related to the operation of the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy said he\u2019s been made aware that VCH plans to replace and upgrade the rooftop mechanical infrastructure at the hospital \u201cvery soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.nsnews.com\/local-news\/mystery-hum-noise-annoys-residents-in-north-vancouvers-central-lonsdale-video-4982373<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Official investigations can’t find low-frequency hum’s source Brent Richter Jan 23, 2022 10:35 AM Crews deliver the new steam tower for the new Lions Gate Hospital power plant in June 2019. Complaints about noise coming from the area of the hospital have been cropping up in recent months.\u00a0Mike Wakefield, North Shore News files […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[345,346,357,17,103,28,3,423,794,434,385,43,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4g","category-5g","category-5g-antenna","category-bc","category-canada","category-cell-tower","category-health_and_safety","category-hum","category-immune-system","category-millimeter-wave","category-ringing-in-the-ears","category-vancouver","category-wireless_devices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18657,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18656\/revisions\/18657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}