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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAshley Ford 7-12-02HUBBLE ENGINEERING, INC. 701 S. Allen St..Suite 102 · Meridian, ID 83642 Phone 208-322-8992 · Fax 208-378-0329 MEMORANDUM Mayor and Members of the Council R cE wD JUL I 2 2002 CITY OF MERIDIAN CITY CLERK OFFICE FROM: Ashley B. Ford, Planning Director DATE: July 12, 2002 RE: Utility Subdivision Attached for your review is a summary of the Solid Waste Industry regulations that will be adhered to by the proposed transfer station. In addition, is a summary of the noise .. readings taken at the current location on West Franklin Road, locations near the proposed subdivision and a transfer station in Latah County. Summary of Solid Waste Industry Regulation Federal aclencies that requlate the waste industry include: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the management of household hazardous material, the storage and transportation of hazardous waste, and the landfilling of municipal waste. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates all aspects of workplace safety. The Department of Transportation regulates many aspects of the waste industry including standards for drivers such as the requirements for commercial drivers licenses and drug testing as well as standards for the maintenance and operation of trucks. State laws oertainincl to transfer stations include: The Idaho Board of Health has passed emergency rules for the regulation of transfer stations. To obtain a permit to operate a new transfer station will initially be required to complete a siting application that covers the following areas: 1. Flood plain restrictions 2. Endangered of threatened species restriction 3. Surface water restriction 4. Park, scenic or natural use restriction Upon successful completion of the siting application the transfer station owner and operator will be required to submit design requirements to IDEQ as follows: 1. Impermeable tipping floor 2. Leachate storage or management system 3. Building and construction design blueprints 4. Waste capacity calculations The transfer station owner and operator muSt prepare and gain approval through the 'CUP process for an Operating Plan that addresses the following areas: 1. Speculative accumulation 2. Signs 3. Waste'types 4. Waste monitoring and measurement 5. Communication 6. Fire Prevention 7. Scavenging and Salvaging 8. Nuisance control (includes vectors, odor, litter) 9. Bird Hazards to Aircraft 10. Open burning and fires 11. Storm water run-on run-off controls 12. Cleaning procedures for the tipping floor 13, Leachate storage or management system Once the station is operational the local health district will conduct routine inspections to determine compliance with the operational plan and the conditional use permit. If the transfer station ever closes it is required to submit a closure plan to the IDEQ and the local health department and notify the public. Sanitary Services Noise Survey To better L~nderstand the noise impact from a shop/office/transfer station on residential areas near the intersection on Ten Mile and Ustick roads, Sanitary Services and Latah Sanitation staff conducted a noise survey of the following locations on July 9-11: Sanitary Services current location at 722 W. Franklin in Meridian, Locations near the proposed Utility Subdivision Latah County transfer station (a similar size and waste load to the proposed transfer station.) All noise level measurements were collected using a Radio Shack digital sound level meter on the "A" weightings scale. The noise level readings detected at each of the above locations are discussed below. Sanitary Services current location at 722 W. Franklin in Meridian. The following noise level measurements were obtained on the morning of July 11 at our current location at 722 W. Franklin Rd. Standing in yard with fleet running: ' Standing across Franklin Road with fleet running Standing across Franklin Road with no trucks running 200 feet west of the office with fleet running 400 feet west of the office with fleet running 240 feet north of the office with fleet running 280 feet north of the office with fleet running 8O dB 60-80 dB 60-87 dB 49-55 dB 49-55 dB' 49-55 dB 49-55 dB Locations near the proposed Utility Subdivision On July 10, 2002 between 10 and 11 am the following noise measurements were made: Measurements were completed in Candlelight Subdivision and Englewood Subdivision to determine the background noise levels with no cars operating in the neighborhood On the corner of Firelight PI. and Burley Way: On the corner of Niemann and Burley Way: In front of 3168,Valum 100 yards east of Mr. Crane home on Ustick <50-54 dB 53-59 dB 53-60 dB (car) 63 dB (trUck) 70 dB (car) 82 dB (truck) Latah County Transfer Station The Latah County Transfer Station was used as a surrogate for the proposed transfer station that may be constructed in the futUre. It currently handles about 100 tons per day (similar to Meridian's current waste load) and its approximate 10,000 square foot size and construction materials are identical to the proposed facility. All measurements were completed while the station was in full operation with the loader within the building pushing waste into the transfer trailer. Starting inside the building and moving in the direction of the open end of the building (this would be toward the wastewater treatment plant on our property) the measurements were as follows: Inside the building · 99 dB At 125 feet 82 dB At 400 feet 67 dB At 800 feet 53 dB Starting inside the transfer station and moving in the direction opposite of the open end of the building (this would be toWard the reSidential neighborhoods and Mr. Crane's house) the measurements are as follows: Inside the building 99 dB At 125 feet 70 dB At 400 feet 54 dB At 800 feet 50 dB Conclusions Current noise impacts to the neighborhoods near our proposed shop and office are from traffic on Ustick and Ten Mile Roads. The transfer station and truck · fleet operations will not generate noise at any greater level than is currently experienced by the nearby residences. In other words they will not be able to hear the noise generated from our facility over the traffic noise. All noise readings were taken without the benefit of landscaping and berms that will be installed. Decibels Page 1 of 2 DECIBELS A tenth of a Bel? The decibel (abbreviated dB) must be the most misunderstood measurement since the cubit. Although the term decibel always means the same thing, decibels may be calculated in several ways, and there are many confusing explanations of what they are. The decibel is not a unit in the sense that a foot or a dyne is. Dynes and feet are defined quantities of force and distance. (You can go tO the National Bureau of Standards and look at a foot or a dyne if you want to. They never change.) A decibel is a RELATIONSHIP between two values of POWER. Decibels are designed for talking about numbers of greatly different magnitude, such as 23 vs. 4,700,000,000,000. With such vast differences between the numbers, the most difficult problem is getting the number of zeros right. We could use scientific notation, but a comparison between 2.3 X 10 and 4.7 X 10 to the 12th is still awkward. For convenience, we find the RATIO between the two numbers and convert that into a logarithm. This gives a number like 11.3. As long as we are going for simplicity, we might as well get rid of the decimal, so we multiply the number times ten. If we measured one value as 23 hp and another as 4.7 trillon hp, we say that one is 113dB greater than the other. Power difference in dB= 10 log powerA power B The usefulness of all this becomes becomes apparent when we think about how the ear perceives loudness. First of all, the ear is very sensitive. The softest audible sound has a power of about 0.000000000001 watt/sq, meter and the threshold of pain is around 1 watt/sq. meter, giving a total range of 120dB. In the second place, our judgment of relative levels of loudness is somewhat logarithmic. If a sound has 10 times the power ora reference (10dB) we hear it as twice as loud. If we merely double the power (3dB), the difference will be just noticeable. [The calculations for the dB relationships I just gave go like this; for a 10 to one relationship, the log of 10 is 1, and ten times 1 is 10. For the 2 to one relationship, the log of 2 is 0.3, and I0 times that is 3. Incidentally, if the ratio goes the other way, with the measured value less than the reference, we get a negative dB value, because the log of 1/10 is -1.] Converting vOltage or pressure ratios to decibels Remember that the dB is used to describe relationships of POWER. Power is not often conveniently measured, especially in electronic devices. Most often we measure voltage and use the formula P=E squared over R to get power. Squaring a value doubles its logarithm, so our dB formula becomes: Power difference in dB = 20 log Voltage A Voltage B Power of soUnd varies as the square of pressure, so this formula is also appropriate for SPL (sound pressure level) calculations. Reference Levels The final confusion comes from the concept of RELATIVE power. The question "relative to what?" has no single answer. The standard level (0dB) is chosen to be some convenient value for the application. For acoustics, 0dB often means the threshold of hearing, 0.0002ubar (Microbars: a bar is the "normal" pressure of air). Acousticians deal with positive values and call their measurements dB SPL. Electrical engineers use several meanings for 0dB. They sometimes remember to add a letter to the dB symbol to indicate which is intended. 0 dBj = 1 millivoit 0 dBk = 1 ~killoWatt 0 dBm = 1 milliwatt at 600 ohms 0 dBv = 1 volt http ://arts. ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/TE-O6/t~eces_O6.html 7/11/02 decibel levels chart-Env. 10 Page 1 of 1 NOISE LEVELS IN DECIBELS Noise Source Jet takeoff (25 M) Aircraft Carrier Deck I Jet takeoff (100 M) Thunderclap, Live Rock Music, Chain Saw Steel Mill; Riveting, auto horn at 1 M Jet takeoff (305 M), Outboard motor, power lawn mower, motorcycle, farm tractor, jackhammer, garbage truck Busy urban street, diesel truck, food blender t Garbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (15 M) Freeway Traffic at 15 M, vacuum cleaner Conversation in restaurant, office, background music Quiet suburb, conversation at home Library iQuiet rural area iWhisper, rustling leaves Breathing [~ Introduction to the Environment Home Page Decibel Level 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 5O 4O 30 20 10 0 Noise Effect [tEardrum rupture Earphones at high level Human Pain ' Threshold Serious heating damage (8 hrs) Hearing damage (8 hrs) Possible Heating damage IlAunoying I IlQuiet I I livery Quiet []Threshold of hearing http ://www.temple.edu/CETP/t emp/dcblevel.html 7/11/2002 : Coolmath.com - Karen's Decibel Levels Page! Page 1 of 2 The Web site cannot be found The Web site you are looking for is unavailable due to its identification (This page contains a list of decibel levels of everything from guitars to jet engines!) SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS (in deCibels - dB) (The following is a table of common everyday sounds along with sounds common in music. The red numbers are the sound levels measured in decibels. Wherever possible, I have included the distance at which the sound level is being measured.) Jet engine - close up Threshold of pain Pnuematic (jack) hammer planes on airport runway 160 150 140 130 120 Power tools 110 Subway (not the sandWich '!00 shop) 90 Heavy truck traffic Snare drums played hard at 6 inc~hes away Trumpet peaks at 5 inches away Rock singer screaming in microphone (lips on mic) Cymbal crash Fender guitar amplifier, full volume at 10 inches away http ://www.coolmath.com/decibels 1 .htm 7/11/2002 : Coolmath.com - Karen's Decibel Levels Page! Page 2 of 2 Average factory Busy street Average office noise Quiet conversation Quiet office Quiet living room 8O Typical home stereo listening level Acoustic guitar, played with finger at 1 foot away 7O 6O 5O 4O 3O 2O 10 0 Small orchestra Conversational speech at 1 foot away Quiet recording studio Threshold of hearing for healthy youths Teachers: Here is a boring black and white copy that you are free to print out and distribute to your students. I just ask that you leave my little advertisement at the bottom. I home I about us [ awards I media kit I press kit I link to us I what's new safe surfing [ privacy policy I terms of use I Thanks for visiting Coolmath.com © 1997-2002 Cooimath.com, Inc http ://www.coolmath.com/decibels 1 .htm 7/11/2 002 Decibel Levels of Everyday Sounds Decibel Levels of Everyday Sounds ISoft whisper JRefrigerator ILight traffic INormal conversation Daytime sound in a quiet suburb~n neighborhood Noisy restaurant Vacuum cleaner Dishwasher Washing machine Blow dryer iElectric razor Lawn mower Roar of Crowd at sporting event Garbage truck Power tools Leaf blower Stereo headset Subway train screech Rock concert Thunderclap .22 caliber rifle ILow flying aircraft IJet take-off - !Toy cap gun, firecracker IHigh-powered shotgun IRocket launch Page 1 of 1 Back to Lists &Tables http ://www. stuartxchange, com/Decibels.html 7/11/2002