MIDDLESEX TWP — Neighbors of the controversial Geyer gas wells came to the township supervisors meeting Wednesday night to complain about the noise at the work site.

The five Rex Energy natural gas wells on the Bob and Kim Geyer farm on Denny Road received permits last year from the state Department of Environmental Protection, and initial site preparations were completed.

But a group of residents and two environmental groups appealed a township zoning ordinance regarding shale gas operations, and work stopped on the site.

When the ordinance was upheld by the zoning hearing board, the group appealed to county court. When Judge Micheal Yeager upheld the ordinance last month, work was allowed to begin at the site.

A group of Mars School District parents have protested the wells because of their proximity to the schools, and some residents of nearby Weatherburn Heights have also voiced concerns about the wells.

Brent Wagner of Marsh Drive told the supervisors that since work began on Monday, the noise at the site has been increasing. He said it is particularly noisy between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.

“I’d like to know what the township is doing to monitor and enforce sound restrictions on the site,” Wagner said.

Rex Energy has installed sound barrier walls, Wagner said, but he said they are ineffective in Weatherburn Heights because it is on a hill above the top of the walls.

“It really just started picking up in the last two days,” Wagner said.

Supervisors Chairman Mike Spreng said Rex Energy should be contacted about the noise.

Patrick Creighton, a Rex spokesman, said the company received two inquiries from homeowners regarding noise at the well pad, and said the company investigated the claims within 24 hours

“Following an investigation by a professional sound abatement company — which included sound readings from locations in Weatherburn Heights and from the locations of the two residents who contacted Rex — and in the spirit of being a good neighbor, we are in the process of deploying additional measures to further mitigate noise that may be emanating from our operations,” Creighton said in a statement.

Sharon Sheehan said her daughter woke up at 4 a.m. as a result of the noise. She said other Weatherburn Heights residents have also complained that their children cannot sleep because of the noise.

“Prisoners are treated better than that,” Sheehan said.

The level of noise is over and above the 60-decibel limit allowed in the township’s zoning ordinance, Sheehan said.

Township manager Eric Kaunert told Sheehan he would discuss the matter with her during business hours because the meeting’s public comment session is not a question-and-answer period with supervisors.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no comment’ from you,” Sheehan told the supervisors.

Township solicitor Mike Hnath said information about the well has been provided by Rex Energy to the school district, which has placed the information on its website, www.marsk12.org.

Janet Kennedy, whose farm is beside Weatherburn Heights, refuted the claims of excessive noise from the well.

“Last night, I was sitting in my kitchen from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., and I heard nothing other than the ordinary hum that is coming from the place,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy added that any noise coming from the well is temporary, unlike the seven years of construction noise she has tolerated as Weatherburn Heights has been developed.

She said Weatherburn Heights residents should have researched the area before buying their homes because the Geyer well was planned before the development was built.

“Rex Energy does everything it can to keep the noise down,” Kennedy said, “but it is what it is.”

After the meeting, Spreng said he and Kaunert spent time in Weatherburn Heights on Monday to get an idea of the well work’s impact on the neighborhood.

He said he did not detect anything intolerable, and that the same work goes on around the clock.

“It can’t be any noisier at night,” Spreng said.

The supervisors took no action on the matter, except to say that Rex Energy would be told of the complaints.