Specialty
Noise / Vibration
SECTOR
Industrial
TYPE
Permitting / Compliance
CLIENTELE
Private Sector
TIMESPAN
2009-2010LOCATION
Schenectady, NY
Project Number:
3274GE Transportation
SERVICE:
Noise Impact Analysis for Battery Plant
DESCRIPTION:
Tech Environmental was retained by GE Transportation to conduct a noise assessment for the proposed battery production plant at General Electric's Headquarter Plant in Schenectady, NY. GE Transportation needed to satisfy the New York State Department Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) requirements. The existing 150,000 square foot building, used for producing steam turbines, will be renovated to accommodate battery production equipment. The major sources of noise associated with the facility will include scrubbers, exhaust fans, natural gas generators, chillers, dust collectors, and truck noise at the loading dock area.
The first step was to measure existing sound levels at locations surrounding the project site. The purpose of these measurements was to document the baseline acoustic environment. The next step was to use the Cadna/A acoustic model to calculate future neighborhood sound levels using the equipment maximum sound levels,assuming simultaneous operation of all regulated sound sources at their maximum loads. All projected sound level increases were less than 6 dBA and all future Leq sound levels are below 65 dBA, below the level considered to be a significant adverse noise impact.