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Study concludes Saia violated Burr Ridge noise rules
Updated: July 15, 2012 2:49PM
Burr Ridge trustees are pondering what to do next after a noise study concluded Saia Motor and Freight has violated the village’s noise ordinance.
Dave Kwasiborski of ECS Midwest LLC presented the results Monday of his company’s three-day study on the site, which took place between April 30 and May 3. Kwasiborski said his team recorded noise readings from three different locations around Saia, one of which was 750 feet west of the Saia property line on the balcony of a Chestnut Hills building, where residents have complained about noise from the facility.
The readings were recorded between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. each day, as most complaints were about evening and overnight noise.
While showcasing the data Monday, Kwasiborski said his team recorded the time and decibel level of every noise emanating from the facility and compared them to the Burr Ridge village ordinance level of 45 decibels.
“I tried to factor out ambient noise to get an approximate value of actual noise coming from that facility,” Kwasiborski said. “Even when I factored out background noise levels, we were still above the standard 45 dBA.”
According to his data, Kwasiborski said, after factoring out background noise, 12 recordings from day one fell below the village ordinance level. He said every reading from day two and day three exceeded the village rule after factoring out background noise.
Mayor Gary Grasso noted a majority of the recordings occurred after 10 p.m., while Kwasiborski added the noises, “really got going later in the evening.”
Kwasiborksi said his technician believes most of the noise comes from the dropping of trailers and forklifts loading and unloading trucks, though the technician could not see the cause of every reading.
Kwasiborski said noise dissipates six decibels as distance doubles. The Chestnut Hills reading, more than 700 feet away from the facility, could be has high as “80 to 100 decibels” at the source.
Trustees asked village staff to look into DuPage County’s noise regulations and compare them to the village’s ordinance before pursuing any action.
Village Administrator Steve Stricker said the Burr Ridge ordinance is the “nighttime standard.”
Chestnut Hills resident Steve Less said he knows a solution to the noise will take work. He did not expect anything to be done immediately.
Trustees further discussed the issue in closed session Monday night.
“There will be future discussion,” Stricker added.
