Dorothy DiCicco has been reduced to tears. The mysterious noise that is coming from somewhere outside her Tonnelle Avenue trailer park home, which has been confirmed by neighbors and recently attracted attention from various media outlets, continues. And no one knows where it’s coming from.
“I don’t usually cry,” DeCicco said. “But there is no solution to this. I’m so upset and so disgusted now that I don’t know what I can do. Maybe I have to move. I’ve been here for 20 years and never had a problem before. Now, people think I’m nuts because I’m hearing the noises. But I’m not alone.”
DeCicco is not alone. About six other local residents have been tormented by the sound, w
hich has been described by some to sound like steam escaping and by others as a loud buzz and hum. The sound has gone on irregularly for approximately six months.
It was believed for the longest time that the annoying noise was being caused by a temporary PSE&G transformer and generator that has been parked across Tonnelle Avenue since June. However, according to public affairs officer Richard Dwyer, who has made countless visits to the trailer park to listen to the concerns and the pleas of the residents, experts have now determined that the mysterious noise has nothing to do with any PSE&G facility.
Verizon, the telephone company, was planning a visit to a telephone pole near the trailer park Thursday to determine if the pole was the culprit. The results were not known as of press time.
“We met with about six residents on Monday and again on Tuesday, to try to determine the origin of the noise,” said PSE&G’s Dwyer last week. “But our engineers have determined that the noise has nothing to do with us and could possibly be coming from a telephone pole that is nearby. It seems to be that’s where the people all think the noise is coming from.”
After DeCicco’s first call for help in December, PSE&G turned off the temporary transformer across the street. It just sits there right now, with no power connection. It was then thought that perhaps the street lamps were causing the noise, so Dwyer had some of the bulbs replaced. However, the noise persisted.
After meeting with the residents, Dwyer said that he still wants to be of service to them, but the noise is not PSE&G’s fault or responsibility.
“Sometimes, our lights have that buzzing sound when they’re not operating correctly,” Dwyer said. “We changed the lights, but Ms. DeCicco says that the noise is still there.”
DeCicco has kept a list of the times at which the noise begins and ends, and has given it to Dwyer. DeCicco has noted that there has been no pattern.
DeCicco even went as far as to purchase a tape recorder in order to record the sound when it goes off.
“I’ve been recording the sound for others to hear,” DeCicco said. “I really don’t know what else I can do. People are telling me that it’s only in my ears. But that’s not true, because other people have heard it.”
DeCicco has also reached out to the Hudson Regional Health Commission, located in Secaucus. HRHC senior environmental specialist Joseph Lepis has visited the site. DeCicco has also contacted township officials and has made a noise control complaint to the North Bergen police department.
Local media outlets have now become intrigued by the story. Channel 7 Eyewitness News planned to send a camera crew and reporter there this weekend to further investigate the noise. DeCicco has received phone calls from other reporters from area newspapers. Several articles already have appeared in the North Bergen Reporter about the issue.
“I’m so aggravated that nothing is getting done,” DeCicco said. “I know people are trying to help and I appreciate their concern. But it goes on and on. I can’t even stay in my home. It’s driving me nuts and I want it to stop.”
DeCicco said that Sunday morning at 1 a.m., the noise was so loud that she had to leave her home and sit in her car in the parking lot of a supermarket to get some rest. She has purchased two huge sets of headphones, trying to block out the sounds.
“My poor ears can’t take the plugs anymore,” said DeCicco, fighting back tears. “I’m sick, nauseous. I can’t sleep. I don’t even want to stay home. It seems to sneak up on you and get louder and louder. It’s eerie, like a shadow. I just want to get away from it all.”