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Hark! Herald to Get Power Plant Noise Reduction: Cooling Tower Work, Sound Walls Expected to Lower Decibel Level.

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Loretta Kalb, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

May 30--Residents of Herald upset by noise from the new Cosumnes Power Plant should get some relief next year with completion of up to $3 million in noise abatement measures.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is working to reduce noise from the $435 million natural gas-powered plant that opened in south Sacramento County in March, said Jim Shetler, SMUD assistant general manager for energy supply. He said the modifications should be complete by winter.

The plant, next to the decommissioned Rancho Seco nuclear facility, is designed to generate 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 450,000 homes. A second phase, if approved, would allow the plant to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

Shetler said physical changes, from replacing eight fan motors at the top of mechanical cooling towers to building several new sound walls, will bring the plant within noise limits established by the California Energy Commission.

A 25-hour test, required by the commission for licensing, had revealed "a one- to two-hour period under certain weather conditions, in early morning, where the noise exceeded the CEC (California Energy Commission) standards," Shetler said.

The test recorded the above-limit noises at two locations, both one mile from the plant. One test recorded 46.2 decibels, above the 42-decibel limit set by the Energy Commission, Shetler said. The other noise level was recorded at 45.5 decibels, above the 39-decibel limit set for that station.

Shetler said the test showed the noise would exceed the commission standard about 5 percent of the time, or during a winter weather inversion, which intensifies sound.

The SMUD Web site, www.smud.org, describes 42 decibels as quieter than a private business office. The public health partnership Web site, www.dangerousdecibels.org, describes the hum of a refrigerator as 40 decibels.

In addition to replacing cooling tower fans and adding sound walls, SMUD will add fill material to the bottom of the towers to reduce the noise from splashing water.

The changes should please Herald Activists for Preserving the Peace, which formed to protest noise from the plant.

Shetler said the engineering work on the improvements has begun and that the utility met with residents May 11 to describe the planned noise mitigation work.

On Wednesday, Paul Fox said he will be pleased with any modifications SMUD makes that will protect the value of real estate in his Herald neighborhood.

Fox lives about a quarter-mile south of the plant. While he typically is not bothered by the sounds, he said, the noise was irksome on a day when plant personnel said turbines were being cleaned.

But, Fox added, "if it's running right now, I can't hear it."

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WHAT THE NEW PLANT CAN DO The Cosumnes Power Plant is designed to generate 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 450,000 homes. A second phase, if approved, would allow the plant to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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