Locals who hear nagging noise feel validated after NBC CT Responds investigation

NBC CT Responds has heard from more viewers since our investigation aired into a nagging noise bothering locals in Bristol and beyond.

The Bristol-Burlington Health District said it has, too.

The sentiment we’re hearing is that folks feel validated that other people are hearing what they’re hearing.

Now, they want the sound to stop.

“With some news coverage more people are saying to themselves, ‘I have this problem too or that’s what it is,’” Ben Miller, of Bristol, said.

He started hearing the noise when he bought a home in Bristol last year.

Since our NBC CT Responds investigation aired last week about this sound, the Facebook group Miller created about the nagging noise has almost doubled in members.

“Covanta Noise Complaints” has become an online community commiserating and pushing for a solution.

“This would be like if you opened the back windows of your car and you’re driving down the highway, the fluttering sound, ‘wamp, wamp, wamp,’” Miller said.

NBC CT Responds recorded the noise heard in our report last month. We boosted the volume and removed the background noise so you can hear it better at home.

The noise is believed to be coming from the Covanta facility in Bristol that turns waste into energy.

The company hired a noise consultant to investigate the complaints and in a report summary released to the public, it said it did detect an “an unusual noise phenomenon…” and believed it to may be coming from the facility’s two induced draft fans.

Covanta has told us in part, “Should it be linked to us, we will promptly address and rectify the issue….”

Miller said since their complaints are getting attention, they’re “looking for our elected officials to step in and say halt production or halt your process.”

Miller and others we’ve spoken to hope for a meaningful timeline for mitigation, or at least a temporary solution to stop the facility’s operations at night, while noise machines and other tactics don’t mask the droning.

“Which then leaves people sleep deprived, increases anxiety, we all know that there is a myriad of health consequences of sleep deprivation and anxiety,” Miller said.

We’ve reached out to Covanta on Wednesday, but haven’t heard back.

Marco Palmeri, the health director of Bristol-Burlington Health District, said this continues to be a top priority for him and his team and they’re working with their consultant.

The health director said they’ll soon be reaching out to some Bristol complainants to take some audio measurements inside their homes.

You can send your concerns to Palmeri at MarcoPalmeri@bristolct.gov.