PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Repairs to a steam leak are taking place at an energy plant in Grays Ferry. That is music to the ears of nearby residents, who had been frustrated for days by a mysterious and very loud noise that the leak was causing.
In the neighborhood where the Vicinity Energy facility is, at 26th and Christian streets, it used to sound like a really loud power washer or the jets of a car wash were blasting away at something.
“The last three days have been really loud. It sounded like something was being fixed, from a water perspective,” said Dan who lives across the street from the plant. “There’s always kind of a constant white noise, but it’s more low level. The last three days have made us wonder if there was something wrong with the steam plant or the power station across the street.”
“We apologize for the loud noise! Vicinity has identified a steam leak on a small auxiliary line inside its facility and plans to repair the leak once the temperature moderates on Tuesday morning. We apologize for any inconvenience or disturbance this has caused you,” the company said in a reply to a resident.
Dan says the sound was inescapable. His family and others who live nearby had to put up with the noise with few answers. They finally got some relief after repairs began on the leak.
On Monday, Vicinity tweeted an apology to the neighbors and said a steam leak was coming from an auxiliary line at the plant, and that’s where all the noise was coming from. A company spokeswoman said repairs started at midnight.
About 6 hours later, Dan says, he noticed the situation had improved.
“It’s good to see the sound is a bit lower now.”
Vicinity said work would continue throughout the day and there are no health or safety concerns in the neighborhood.