Volgograd Residents Complain About Hum from New Boiler House

Residents of new buildings on Glazkov Street in central Volgograd have recorded a video appeal to the authorities, asking to save them from the low-frequency hum and noise from a recently built boiler house near the former tractor parts and standards plant. Their attempt to complain to Governor Andrey Bocharov, according to residents, was unsuccessful.

In the appeal, one resident said:

We are residents of the new building of the residential complex «Tseh». We have gathered here to declare the impossibility of living in our homes, as well as the impossibility of walking on the playground. The problems are related to the round-the-clock low-frequency hum and vibration from the boiler house located next to the new building, built with budget funds under a state order. A threat to our lives and health hangs over us, our families, and our pets. We ask the authorities to recognize the problem. We ask the authorities and services to recognize the problem and take responsibility for violating our right to safe living, and to oblige the guilty parties to eliminate the violations.

Unacceptable noise levels were recorded by Rospotrebnadzor. Specialists from the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Volgograd Region found that in a number of apartments, permissible sound and pressure norms were exceeded.

Now residents are preparing to file a collective lawsuit. One local resident said that authorities led by Governor Andrey Bocharov came to inspect the boiler house, but residents were not allowed near him.

Therefore, the conversation about eliminating and regulating the issue did not take place. Moreover, city authorities comment that we, supposedly, «need to get used to it.» Although getting used to such noise is an impossible task. On the playground near the house, it is impossible to walk with a child and be near the house in principle, because the boiler house emits a strong low-frequency noise,

she said.

The governor of the Volgograd Region previously visited the new boiler house on a working trip. More than two billion rubles (approximately $20 million at current rates) were spent on the construction of the facility. During the visit, proactive residents who wanted to talk with Bocharov were turned away at the entrance to the enterprise.