WV: Rig ‘n Frac Noise Irks Residents in Bethany

Fracking Noise Irks Residents in Bethany by Alan Olson, Oct 5, 2019, The Intelligencer

While fracking has stopped for the season at the Sam Jones well pad in Bethany, local residents have complained of excessive drilling noise from the machinery at the site.

City officials are hoping to work with Southwestern Energy to provide better relief from the noise, which Mayor Shirley Kemp said is keeping residents from sleeping.

“The noise was such that we had residents who were unable to sleep, it was so loud,” Kemp said Thursday. “They had been voicing their complaints since it started going on, … which has been a couple months.”

Kemp said about 10 residents around Church and Roosevelt streets have spoken out against the noise over the past couple of months, and that Southwestern Energy had put up mufflers and other sound barriers, but had not been completely effective in quieting their work.

“We’re going to talk to them before they start again to see if we can get other sound barriers in place,” Kemp said.

In the meantime, with fracking work temporarily halted at the Sam Jones pad, Kemp hopes that the residents will be able to rest easy.

“We should be quiet for a while,” Kemp said.

Officials at Southwestern could not be reached for comment Friday.

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The straw bale did not reduce the compressor noise at Ernst’s property.

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