POSSIBLE PULSE POINT – The Stern Building

The Stern Building at 2330 Clay, built in 1939, is a biomedical research facility. It also houses CPMC’s Infrasound Cancer Research Group. Given the nature of this research, specific lab equipment is required to keep cultures cooled to certain temperatures. Backup power generators as well as filtration systems are necessary to make sure critical processes aren’t interrupted and an optimal environment for best results is provided.

Before PG&E’s late October power upgrade and the start of the pulsing, I never noticed anything out of the ordinary with respect to the Stern Building. That all changed as I began to investigate the area surrounding my home. I identified the Stern Building as a potential pulse source.

After PG&E’s upgrade, I detected a hum coming from the Stern Building (YouTube video), most noticeable between midnight and the usual time most of us awake for work in the morning. In fact, the hum continued throughout most of the day too–seemingly petering off in the afternoon until late evening when it would crank up again.  The odd thing about the hum is that it cycles on and off. I’m not sure of the cycle periods, but they are long enough to become impatient while waiting for it to cycle on again.

I contacted the hospital by email and also talked to a hospital liaison about this. My assumptions were deemed unlikely to be coming from the Stern Building. I was instead directed to consider the possibility of it coming from 2360 Clay, a building supposedly outside CPMC’s jurisdiction (although it’s slated for replacement by the gigantic parking lot CPMC plans to build there eventually). The liaison promised to contact PG&E and CPMC engineering about conducting a field investigation with me. Although PG&E promised to meet with me on a particular night last week, I never received a call that night to participate in the search for a possible pulse source.

After throwing a tantrum in the ER the following night, not only did hospital staff admit hearing a hum in the doctors’ parking too but, I got an engineer and a security guard to investigate the hum with me. At first, when we arrived on the ramp to the Stern Building by the doctors’ parking lot (Buchanan side), nothing could be heard. Fortunately, when we moved around to the north end of the building (on the Washington side), there was a very brief hum cycling on, then off again almost immediately.

The engineer thought the hum was coming from the rooftop. Again, nothing could be heard when we first stepped out onto the roof. There were two large pieces of equipment–one each on the south and north sides, but of slightly different design (probably for different purposes). They were bolted into what appeared to be concrete bars, raising the equipment off the tarred rooftop by a few inches.

As we approached the south side equipment, it cycled up in intensity but wasn’t too terribly loud. There was a low pitch component to it, however, that matched the pulse in frequency if not periodicity.

Then, we checked the north side and as we approached the piece of equipment, it too cycled on, emitting a lot of noise. The engineer had me place my foot on the metal equipment itself above the bars. It was vibrating at a very fast rate, much faster than the pulse. The bars are used to dampen the effects of this vibration. The engineer promised to discuss our findings with his boss, the head of engineering for the Pacific Campus of CPMC, and see if there was something that could be done to reduce the noise.

When I spoke to the liaison later that day, she again denied the Stern Building as a possible source, cutting me off as I tried to describe the earlier investigative sojourn. I pressed on in my description and got silence, then a request for the name of the engineer. She would check with his boss about what transpired. She also promised to contact the Stern Building’s head of operations to see if anything could be a cause. I also mentioned my surprise at PG&E confirming a nighttime meeting with me that never took place. She promised to look into that situation too.

When PG&E called later the same day at the liaison’s request, I had a strange but informative discussion. Unbeknownst to me, PG&E had conducted its promised field investigation as planned but without me. They had discovered a pulse and noise in the 440 (dBA/Hz/kHz?)  range emanating from the hospital’s side of Buchanan. When I asked what this all meant, this is what I was told.

The upgrade was requested because the cable running along Washington near Buchanan was very old and prone to failure. There have been more frequent power outages within the past year particularly. All PG&E did was replace the cable. It would not cause any increase in “electrical juice” to surge through any hospital power lines, as hospital circuit breakers would prevent this. However, the power provided to the hospital and the neighborhood would now be more reliable. In other words, we could count on steady and reliable flow of “electrical juice.”

CPMC is a significant client requiring services that merit a weekly meeting between PG&E and CPMC. My emails, which the liaison had forwarded to the appropriate contacts at PG&E had stirred up concern. PG&E kept asking if I was satisfied with PG&E’s actions to date and suggested I not continue to put everything in writing, advice I pointedly stated I was disinclined to follow. PG&E then promised to contact CPMC’s head of engineering and have him call me later. I asked that it be much later or the next day, as I planned to attend the SF Planning Hearing about CPMC’s expansion plans at City Hall in a couple of hours. I never heard from him.

To give CPMC credit, they enabled PG&E to confirm that there was a problem, even if to date no one has officially admitted anything being wrong. Also, the hum can no longer be detected when one stands outside the Stern Building or along Buchanan. So, something has been done to further dampen the rooftop hum. I am grateful to CPMC for this.

Unfortunately, the pulse persists, fainter but still disturbing enough to cause earaches, headaches and make it difficult to sleep. To make matters worse, the pulse is now almost an 18 to 20 hour event, cycling off for only brief periods between 2:00 pm and midnight.

I still believe it’s coming from the Stern Building rooftop equipment. But to be fair since I could be wrong, I shall present the results of my investigation of other potential pulse sources as well in future posts. I’ll leave you with a few puzzling questions.

Is it possible that the remodeling work, assuming it was seismic or bio-safety oriented, resulted in a tendency for the building to vibrate? Pankow did a $1.25M Level 3 civil engineering remodel of the Stern Building. I’m not sure when or what this entailed. Even though the permit xls-files are present on the web, no results show up when you use the sfgov site search–odd to say the least. I live within the circle drawn on the chart below (X marks the Stern Building as the center point).

Hum radiating from the Stern Building (X) and possible impact area (circle).

Perhaps sound from the rooftop machinery, even though it is assumed that it is now better dampened than a week ago, could be bouncing off the local geology on the Buchanan side? (See circle of speculated area of influence on the Google terrain map below.)

Google terrain map of the Stern Building vicinity.

Is equipment or machinery being used more frequently, or at a higher power usage, than before the upgrade? After all, power availability is much more reliable now.

UPDATE (December 3, 2009): CPMC’s executive office contacted me today to say they’ve done all they can to identify the source on their property. After all, they changed their Stern Building operations after I forced their hand, turning off the HVAC unit at night. Since I continue to experience the pulse after this concession, I’m on my own and free to pursue my complaint through government channels.

Recall that I mentioned above that their are two large rooftop vibrating units. The HVAC unit is the north side unit. Judging by the tubes marked with chemical compound symbols leading into it, the one on the south side is a cryogenic unit. Naturally, they made no mention of turning this unit off, understandably. Nor did they mention making any further efforts to dampen the humming vibration coming from it, which albeit very low, I can still hear from the doctor’s parking lot.

What You Cannot Hear Can Harm You

Long-term exposure to low frequency noise (LFN—0 to 500 Hz), which includes infrasound (0 to 20 Hz), may produce a phenomenon called vibroacoustic disease. Studies have been published in peer reviewed scientific journals, although a lot of debate on causes and effects, or whether it is a disease at all, still ensues.

Most research has been conducted outside of the US. Perhaps, this is because the military has classified information over the course of the last 40 years in its search to perfect the application of infrasound as a nonlethal weapon. It’s still very difficult to find public information on the topic, beyond a few research abstracts and articles.

San Francisco has ordinances that cover some, but not all, of these frequency ranges. These ordinances are focused on specific noise levels at specific times of the day, not subsonic vibration. However, OSHA covers more of the range for how machinery, air ventilators, and power generators can potentially impact workers or cause Sick Building Syndrome.

The more insidious aspect of the phenomenon is not a sound at all, but a low frequency vibration, usually caused by a mechanical vibration of a certain amplitude (wavelength). The strength of the vibration is a factor as well, in other words, the power applied to it. The debilitating effects are neurological in nature and pervasive as to how they affect the cells and organs in a human’s body.

Agents producing these sickening vibrations are largely unchecked and unregulated today, but receiving a lot more attention as the world begins to shift towards green energy. Apparently, a particular variant of a vibroacoustic disease, called Wind Turbine Syndrome, is devastating communities adjacent to wind turbine farms. It’s receiving the spotlight lately and a new book by Nina Pierpont on this subject is just being published.

So neighbors, should you think that my problem is not your problem—because you cannot hear a pulse—think again!

Something is causing a now (as of the last few days) almost 24/7 continuous pulsing vibration to issue forth from the California Pacific Medical Center Buchanan Campus. The hospital’s staff is protected by OSHA. Measures are in place to block debilitating sound within hospital buildings. However, for anything generating such sounds outside of hospital buildings, there is nothing to protect the immediately surrounding community.

~Stress on the Brain

[S]ounds pitched too low to hear, [are] called subsonic or infrasonic sounds. Medical research over the past four decades shows that exposure to infrasound can have devastating effects on the human body and mind that go far beyond mere hearing loss.

This controversial medical condition, vibroacoustic disease, has only been recognized since the 1970′s, said Dr. Robert Fifer, Director of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami.

“You don’t see it much outside an industrial or military environment,” Fifer said. “You see it once in a while in a ‘sick building,’ but everybody in that building will show some type of stress-induced illness.”

~Infrasound: I’m all shook up! by Malcolm Brenner, 08/24/03, Miami Sun Herald

The culprit isn’t so much the infrasound’s frequency, or pitch, as it is its amplitude, or loudness, measured in a logarithmic unit called decibels. … The low end of the human hearing range is about 20 Hertz, or cycles per second. Loud infrasound in the range of 0.5 to 10 Hz is sufficient to activate the vestibular, or balance system, in the inner ear.

Low frequencies carry more power than high frequencies, and at loud enough volumes they can literally shake an object to bits the same way a soprano’s high notes can shatter a wine glass. … Ear protection can reduce the volume of infrasound, but some researchers suspect that it can vibrate the body, causing cells in susceptible areas to rub against each other. This could account for the thickening of the heart membranes, lungs and other body systems observed in some infrasound victims, but so could the stress hormones produced.

“It’s still up for debate as to whether the direct cause of the damage is sound waves or stress hormones. If you are undergoing whole body stress and you’ve got these potent hormones going five or six days a week, for years, the body will show some kind of physical changes as a result of that stimulation.”

~Vibroacoustic disease: biological effects of infrasound and low-frequency noise explained by mechanotransduction cellular signalling (Abstract)

“Vibroacoustic disease (VAD) is a whole-body pathology that develops in individuals excessively exposed to ILFN. VAD has been diagnosed within several professional groups employed within the aeronautical industry, and in other heavy industries. However, given the ubiquitous nature of ILFN and the absence of legislation concerning ILFN, VAD is increasingly being diagnosed among members of the general population, including children.”

~Wind Concerns Ontario Blog (about wind turbine syndrome, but relevant)

“[T]he human vestibular system is also extremely sensitive to low-frequency and infrasound vibrations by making use of a new technique for measuring vestibular activation, via the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). We found a highly tuned response to whole-head vibration in the transmastoid plane with a best frequency of about 100 Hz. At the best frequency we obtained VOR responses at intensities of less than −70 dB re 1g, which was 15 dB lower than the threshold of hearing for bone-conducted sound in humans at this frequency. … These results extend our knowledge of vibration sensitivity of vestibular afferents but also are remarkable as they indicate that the seismic sensitivity of the human vestibular system exceeds that of the cochlea for low frequencies.”

“Not just loud or sudden noises provoke a stress response. Chronic low-level noise also negatively influences the brain and behavior. Whether from the road or in the office, low-intensity noise has a subtle yet insidious effect on our health and well-being. …

‘Background noise had a significant effect on stress levels,’ said Lercher. Therefore, chronic exposure to nearby sounds from roads and train lines are a concern. …

‘What we think is happening is that neighborhood stress influences the biological processes that promote disease risk,’ said Dr. Andrew Steptoe of University College London.”

~Infrasound, Brief Review of Toxicological Literature, NIH, 2001 (Updated 2002, PDF)

Sleep Deprivation

As of this post, I have slept through the night only thrice in the last 21 days, and once was after taking generic Dalmane (a potent sleeping pill). I’m bone tired, frustrated and angry. Why are so few people willing to help? Surely, I am not the first to complain about disturbing and disruptive sounds coming from the CPMC hospital campus.

My questions seem simple enough. What is causing the low pulsing? Why did it become a daily event from October 31st onward, after CPMC requested a PG&E power infrastructure upgrade? How does the PG&E power upgrade on October 22nd play a part in this? Why does it ebb and wane, stronger sometimes but fainter at others? What can be done to fix it? Who is responsible? Who will help? Does anyone else hear it or something similar?

I’ve contacted PG&E, CPMC, local government officials, the police, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

While CPMC responded to my initial complaint with the likelihood that someone else was at fault, I hadn’t heard anything more from them until four days ago, two days before the hearing. This may be due to my periodic rants in the ER reception area lately, on nights when loud disturbing sounds were issuing from numerous sources. Action plans were discussed, but the only action to date has been to pass the buck to PG&E. I’ve also heard from executive management of the Pacific Campus about scheduling a meeting to walk the campus in the afternoon or evening–the only hours during the day when the pulse seems to stop. I’ve suggested between midnight and noon, preferably before 5:00 am when the hospital ramps up for its workday and lots of other noise may interfere. I’ve yet to hear back about possible appointment times.

PG&E is the only organization that has actually done anything about the pulse. Initially, they sent a technician out to check to power box and the upgraded cable, reporting back that all is as it should be. Most recently, this week, they checked again. They confirmed a pulse and a hum in the 440 range (not sure if this is dB or kHz or Hz) on Buchanan. The power upgrade was a replaced cable to insure more reliable power continuously. Someone or something is taking advantage of this, either by running machinery longer or more robustly than before.

The police suggest taking up the issue with the hospital, an endless circle. The Chronicle sent me a request for a subscription, something I haven’t received in quite a long while now. I’ve heard nothing from local government.

SF Planning Hearing

The hearing yesterday was an eye opener, an education, for me. I’ve never attended such before. Mostly politically agnostic, my presence was a direct result of my sleep deprivation and frustrated need to get someone to listen to what we, as neighbors, are exposed to now–never mind after more CPMC / Sutter Health development.

As explained when the hearing opened, the objective was to collect concerns from the community members affected by the plan, not to defend or endorse the plan per se. You could have fooled me with what transpired.

Attendance was padded by CPMC / Sutter Health employees, outnumbering community members 4 to 1. I was told employee attendees are rewarded to attend these meetings–through compensatory time off or free lunch or some such thing. I don’t know if this is true, but it was clear that the entire hearing was orchestrated to promote CPMC’s / Sutter Health’s plan while raising barriers to community dissent. For instance, employees congregated around the entrance to the hearing room, ready to surge in and grab seats when the meeting room door was opened to the public, effectively blocking community members from prominent positions and forcing them into the overflow room (3 stories down). Is this a strategy you would expect from an organization that has nothing to hide and the best interests of the community at heart?

Even in the overflow room, where I wound up, the audience majority consisted of employees. Every time an employee spoke at the hearing the employee audience majority clapped, as if this were a winning point in a debate–although nothing got debated–or, some sort of Roman arena entertainment where the citizens were being fed to the wolves. It was almost farcical, if there wasn’t so much at stake. Rather, the effect was surreal, as if I were in some parallel universe–like the one portrayed in the movie, Rollerball (1975)–where a corporation rules the world and the rest of us are enslaved to it. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not against Big Business, as I’ve spent most of my career happily in it. But, this all seems so unethical and calculating in not a good way.

The time allotted for commentary skewed towards a PR campaign for CPMC’s / Sutter Health’s development plan, with the normal citizen getting the shaft (in this case a one-minute buzzer). It’s very hard to make a point in 60 seconds. Even the scripted employees had some difficulty with this limit. After talking to others there, I learned the last hearing ran very late because of all those who wished to voice concerns. The minute limit was put in place here as a result.

The fact that employees are allowed to speak at all at a hearing supposedly constructed to allow community members to voice their concerns seems unfair–unless in direct rebuttal or response to those concerns. The hospital participants never discussed the concerns, only the business benefits of plan, couched in vague, even dubious community healthcare improvements. My favorite was the piece of CMPC’s / Sutter Health’s opening presentations, where the speaker admitted an important aspect of the plan probably wouldn’t benefit 95% of the city’s population, but was critically important for the remaining 5% towards which it is geared. Certainly, for this, it’s worth tearing down an existing facility and replacing it with a specialized unit that concentrates CPMC’s /Sutter Health’s resources and saves them money. After all, they are space constrained, property being so expensive here. That Kaiser and UCSF have solved this problem got only one reference during the following comments.

The best part of the hearing was where the community groups were given 10 minutes to state their concerns. A number of the comments were elegantly composed, even if they had to be translated into English. Some were short and powerfully to the point.

I spoke but hadn’t planned to do so. Against the backdrop of lives facing significant hardship if CPMC’s / Sutter Health’s plan goes through, I felt my message to be somewhat out of place. Supposedly there is a follow-on Environmental Impact hearing yet to be scheduled. Perhaps, that would have been a better venue in which to speak. But, how many nights can one go without sufficient sleep? I wasn’t sure I could wait, even if the timing of voicing my concern was inopportune.

Listening especially to those who would be displaced by the Cathedral Hill development plans, losing their homes and local businesses, I couldn’t help but think of the Fillmore Urban Renewal Project which destroyed a whole section of San Francisco in the 1950s. It wreaked havoc on the lives of those who lived there. It’s an odd coincidence that I saw an independent film a few nights ago called Medicine for Melancholy by writer and director Barry Jenkins. He thematically includes the Fillmore fiasco in his film as it gives the reason for the exodus of blacks from this city as a result. Will large conglomerate plans, bolstered by the renewed strength of political “old boy” connections, be the cause of a new exodus–this time, not just of the poor but, of the middle-class too in the neighborhoods impacted? I hope not. It’s my belief that there is very little medicine and a lot of melancholy in CPMC’s / Sutter Health’s plans for the communities it supposedly serves.

Pulse Backgrounder

On October 22, 2009, PG&E upgraded power infrastructure at California Pacific Medical Center’s request on Washington Street near Buchanan. The pulsing hum started within a couple of days and has become almost continuous since October 31, 2009. CPMC, PG&E, and local government were contacted, in an effort to find the source.

PG&E sent a technician out to investigate. Everything checked out as it should be. To be honest, I couldn’t detect anything coming from the green power box on the corner of  Washington and Buchanan either. I don’t believe PG&E is behind the problem.

The community liaison from Sutter Health, CPMC’s parent, suggested faulty street lights are to blame and deemed the issue to be the responsibility of the Department of Public Works. I seriously doubt this, as the frequency of sputtering street lights does not match the pulsing hum.

The hum is not new. It occurred before the power upgrade. Every so often, the hum would start in the early morning hours after midnight and continue until most of us begin our workday. These occurrences would be one-night stands, separated by weeks or even months. Not pleasant for those affected, but one night of poor sleep is bearable if it is infrequent. In the past year though, the occurrences have become more frequent. They were beginning to happen every couple of weeks, although there had been a bit of a lull between events just prior the power upgrade.

The power upgrade changed everything. As if testing the new infrastructure, two nights after the upgrade on the weekend, there was a pulsing hum event. This was followed by another during Tuesday, October 27th’s early morning hours. Then, the pulsing became a daily event starting Saturday, October 31st. It’s also no longer confined to early morning hours, but seems to continue until about 3 pm in the afternoon.

The nature of this pulsing hum is best described as a vibration more than a noise. It is almost below audible range. It also varies in strength, at times very noticeable, fainter at others. When I compare it to my own pulse, it has a frequency that is longer than one blood pulse, but shorter than two. Thus, it’s slightly out of sync with my body’s natural pitch–very disturbing to say the least. If I try block the pulse in any way–with earplugs or a pillow thrown over my head–the pulse is more distinguishable, as if amplified by the lack of competing noise.

It is my belief that CPMC is the source of this pulsing hum. However, I need help in proving this. I’ve created this blog to exchange information on this mystery. If you are affected, please comment as it may help solve the puzzle.