Rumble still rattles Windsor residents

The mysterious rumbling noisesin severalareas aroundWindsor will be the subject of a public meeting later this month.

City councillor Al Maghnieh is arranging it as the search for the source of the noise continues. However, the councillor and residents are now pointing their fingers at the Brighton Beach power plant on the shores of the Detroit River.

Maghnieh said he continues to get phone calls about the sounds and vibrations. A combined 30 people phoned or emailed Sunday night to report the rumblings. Most calls came from the Brighton Beach area.

"It is a significant annoyance," Maghnieh said. "I've had pregnant mothers call saying they're not able to sleep it's bothering them. I've had seniors saying this is something they've never heard in their lives and now all of a sudden in the last year or so, it's really bothering them, and particularly families that are suffering from this, children."

Windows rattled

Joan Roath lives in the area. She and a friend were on Roath's backyard patio when they heard and felt the noise and vibrations.

Roath said the noise began just before 7 p.m. The noise grew louder for about a half hour. She said the windows and awnings of her home shook during the event.

She and her elderly neighbours are now seriously concerned about her well-being.

"Theyre concerned for their life," Roath said. "Is it underground? Are our houses going to sink? Should we move out?"

Residents across the city, particularly in the west end, began reporting the phenomenon in February.

Maghnieh said residents are frustrated.

'They're concerned for their life. Should we move?' Joan Roath, west-end resident

"We need a government agency to come out here, do the testing, interview people, find scientific explanations and get to the bottom of it," Maghnieh said.

Is power plant the source?

Roath and Maghnieh both speculate the source of the noise is the Brighton Beach power plant.

"In the beginning the common denominator was that most people thought it was their furnaces," Roath said.

That's essentially what the power plant is; a gas-powered furnace that heats water to turn turbines and generate electricity.

Maghnieh said the reports, calls and complaints essentially "pinpoint" the Brighton Beach area.

"It only appears now that when the weather gets a little warmer the number of complaints gets a little higher," Maghnieh said.

The power plant manager confirmed to CBC the plant was in startup mode Monday but not running Sunday at the time of the 30-plus reports.

Ministry can't find source

The Ministry of Environment has repeatedly said it can't link the noise to anything industrial in Ontario. It has not ruled out the heavily industrialised Zug Island across the Detroit River as the source.

The ministry will continue to investigate, a spokesperson said.

Officials with the provincial Ministry of Environment are scheduled to attend the public meeting. Maghnieh says everyone is invited to the meeting on Sept. 29.