The NPC-300 noise guideline…

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019-3996

Comment ID

58245

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Individual

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Comment

The NPC-300 noise guideline is not sufficient to protect human health.
The NPC 300 does not measure lower frequency noise properly from sources such as diesel equipment, trains, trucks etc. The noise from these sources can travel many km, can cause hi levels of annoyance, loss of sleep and have adverse effects on quality of life and health. The health study must be done at least within a 5km radius of all sources of noise.
Noise from the trains and other heavy noises, will keep me awake at night and are very disturbing. The noise penetrates all forms of noise mitigation measures such as ear plugs and white noise machines.
It is not possible to mitigate this noise at the point of contact, so this must be done at the source.
Immediate measures must be implemented to reduce nighttime noise.

A health study must be done to determine the adverse effects from noise, from all of vales operations including associated train and truck routes. With a particular attention to LEQC readings. The LEQA method (which the NPC 300 uses) is not sufficient to determine the level of these lower level noises. The LEQC method should be used.
Both LEQA and LEQC methods must be used to measure noise levels at all times.

https://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/p80054/119378E.pdf
C-weighting (dBC): A weighting of the frequencies in a sound that approximates the response of the human ear to frequencies in very loud sounds. It emphasizes the low frequencies of a sound much more than the A-weighting.

https://www.who.int/docstore/peh/noise/Comnoise-4.pdf
4.3. Specific Environments Noise measures based solely on LAeq values do not adequately characterize most noise environments and do not adequately assess the health impacts of noise on human well-being. It is also important to measure the maximum noise level and the number of noise events when deriving guideline values. If the noise includes a large proportion of low-frequency components, values even lower than the guideline values will be needed, because low-frequency components in noise may increase the adverse effects considerably. When prominent low-frequency components are present, measures based on A-weighting are inappropriate. However, the difference between dBC (or dBlin) and dBA will give crude information about the presence of low-frequency components in noise. If the difference is more than 10 dB, it is recommended that a frequency analysis of the noise be performed.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1260/026309209788056357
The primary and the most frequently perceived adverse effect of low frequency noise (LFN) is annoyance. It is frequently perceived at relatively low sound pressure levels (slightly above the hearing threshold) and increases rapidly as the level grows1,2,3,4 Low frequency noise has been recognized a special environmental pollutant, affecting mostly sensitive people in their homes.
The contribution of outdoor sources of noise, such as pumps, compressors, diesel engines, gas turbine etc., could also be considerable because of a poor attenuation of low frequency components by the walls, floors and ceiling2,3,12.