Site Visit Report - Environmental Protection AgencyCo. Laois IE Licence No. P1028-01 by Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd Unit 5, M-TEK Building I Armagh Road Monaghan Tel: 047 72060 April 2019

Site Visit Report

The site visit process is a sample on a particular day of an installation's compliance with some of its licence conditions. Where non-compliance against a particular condition has not been reported, this should not be construed to mean that there is full compliance with that condition of the licence.

Instructions and actions arising from the visit shall be addressed, or where applicable noted, by the licensee in order to ensure compliance, to improve the environmental performance of the installation and to provide clarification on certain issues.

The licensee shall take the actions specified to close out the non-compliances and observations raised in this Site Visit Report.

Licensee

Name of Installation Glanbia Foods Ireland Limited

Licensee Glanbia Foods Ireland Limited

Licence Register No. P1028-01

CRO Number 483892

Site Address Clonminam Industrial Estate, Portlaoise, Laois

Site Visit Reference No. SV17961

Report Detail

Issue Date 14/05/2019

Prepared By David Matthews

Site Visit Detail

Date Of Inspection 10/04/2019 Announced No

Time In 09:30 Time Out 17:00

Visited by on behalf of the EPA QED Engineering Limited

Licensee Personnel and Role See report.

Photo Taken No Samples Taken Yes Video Taken No

Odour Assessment No

Site Visit Report - SV17961 - Glanbia Foods Ireland Limited Page 1 of 24

Scope

This is a technical report of the monitoring of noise emissions.

Media

Air.

Site Areas Inspected

See report.

Documents Inspected

N/A



Noise Monitoring Report on behalf of

Environmental Protection Agency

At

Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd Portlaoise Co. Laois

IE Licence No. P1028-01

by

Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd Unit 5, M-TEK Building I

Armagh Road Monaghan

Tel: 047 72060

April 2019


Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd, Portlaoise, Co. Laois IE Licence No. P1028-01 Noise Monitoring Report on behalf of Environmental Protection Agency- April 2019 Issue Date 30/04/19

Prepared by: Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd, M-TEK Building I, Armagh Road, Monaghan Tel: 047 72060

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Table of Contents

Summary 2

1. Introduction 3 2. Methodology & Instrumentation 3 3. Results 4 4. Conclusion 8 Figure 1. Glanbia Noise Monitoring Locations 4 List of Tables 1. Noise Results 10-11th April 2019 5 2. Weather Data 10-11th April 2019 6 List of Appendix 1. 1/3 Octave Frequency Analysis Results 9 2. Calibration Certificates 16




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Summary

A noise survey was conducted at five noise monitoring locations at Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd. Portlaoise, Co. Laois, IE Licence No. P1028-01 between 10-11th April 2019 by Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd on behalf of the EPA. Four of the noise monitoring locations were at the site boundary; NML1 at the north east corner of the site; NML2 at the western site boundary; NML3 at the south west boundary and NML4 at the south east corner of the site and the fifth location was in Abbey Court to the south east. The noise survey was announced and Jonathon Hughes - OEE Inspector accompanied the Q.E.D Technician on-site from 10:30 to 12:30 on 10/04/2019. The oat mill and animal feed mill were in full operation. Seasonal grain dryers and cyclones were not operational. Noise monitoring results are presented and discussed in this report. Noise results at the noise measurement locations (NML’s) at the boundary of Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd were within the day, evening and night time limit values of LAeq 55dBA, 50dBA and 45dBA at one boundary location (NML3). Noise results exceeded the limit values for the three other boundary locations; at NML1 due to road traffic noise and at NML2 & NML4 due to site noise predominantly. No tonal or impulsive noise was detected at any boundary noise monitoring location as a result of Glanbia activities. Tonal noise was detected at NML1 during the night reading as a result of a refrigerated container across the road from the site. Noise results from Abbey Court were within the day, evening and night time limit values of LAeq 55dBA, 50dBA and 45dBA and no factory noise was audible at this location. No tonal or impulsive noise was detected at this location.




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1. Introduction

Noise Monitoring was conducted at Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd, Portlaoise, Co Laois, IE Licence No. P1028-01 by Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd, Authorised Agents of the EPA, between 10-11th April 2019. Monitoring was conducted by Anthony Meehan, BSc and Patricia Murtagh, BSc, MSc, AMIOA, of Q.E.D. Engineering Ltd at five Noise Monitoring Locations as specified in Table 2-1 of the IE licence; four of which are along the site boundaries (NML1 to NML4) and one in the nearest housing development (Abbey Court).

Monitoring Location Detail ITM Co-ordinates

(Easting, Northings)

NML1 Northeast Boundary 646148 697514

NML2 Western Boundary 645979 697511

NML3 Southwestern Boundary 645960 697278

NML4 Eastern Boundary 646141 697291

Abbey Court East of site 646934 697147

The objective of the noise survey is to assess compliance with Condition 6.14 and Schedule B.4 of the Company’s IE Licence P1028-01. Schedule B.4 sets the following limit values.

Daytime dB(A) LAr (30 minutes)

Evening-time dB(A) LAr (30 minutes)

Night-time dB(A) LAeq (15-30 minutes)

55 50 45 Note 1. There shall be no clearly audible tonal component or impulsive component in the noise emissions from the activity at

any noise sensitive location.

2. Methodology and Instrumentation

Noise monitoring was carried out using two noise meters as follows;

• NTi Audio XL2 Sound Level Meter, Serial No. A2A-12097-E0 with microphone NTi Audio M2230, Serial No. 6840 and Preamplifier MA220. The instrument was calibrated on 31/1/2019.

• Rion NA-27 Real Time 1/1, 1/3 Octave Band Logging SLM, Serial No. 00380685. This meter was last calibrated on 17/5/18.

A GA607 Dual Level Calibrator, Serial No. 036341 was used to calibrate both sound level meters and this was last calibrated on 17/05/18. The instruments were calibrated before measurements to 94dB and checked after measurement and were found to be satisfactory. Certificates of calibration for instruments are provided at the end of the report. Weather data was continuously recorded during the survey using an Aercus WS2083 Pro Wireless Weather Station, which recorded temperature, wind speed and rainfall over 30 minute periods for the measurement duration. The weather station was placed in the lawn at the front of the factory. Weather conditions during monitoring were dry, mild and calm.




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The day time noise survey was undertaken between 11:21-17:07 on 10th April 2019. The evening time noise survey was undertaken between 19:07-23:05 on 10th April 2019. The night time noise survey was undertaken between 23:15-04:21 on 10-11th April 2019. A site map showing noise monitoring locations is provided in Figure 1. Regard was paid to the EPA Guidance Note for Noise: Licence Applications, Surveys and Assessments in Relation to Scheduled Activities (NG4) 2016 in conducting the survey.

Figure 1. Glanbia Noise Monitoring Locations

3. Results

Results of noise readings for the noise monitoring locations are provided in Table 1 for day, evening and night noise for the five monitoring locations and the derived average for each monitoring period is also provided. 1/3 Octave Frequency Analysis results to assess the presence of tonal noise at the noise monitoring locations are provided in Appendix 1. Weather conditions during monitoring showing the average temperature, average wind speed, maximum gust and rainfall are shown in Table 2.

AN2

AN3

AN4

Abbey

Court

NML1

NML4

NML3

NML2

Weather Station

Location

N




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Table 1. Noise Results 10-11th April 2019 Ref. No.

Day / Night

Time LAeq

dBA 30 min

LA10

dBA 30 min

LA90

dBA 30 min

IE Licence

Limit LAr

Tonal/ Impulsive

Noise

Comments

NML1 Day 11:21-11:51 62 64 51 55 No Lawnmower on site and traffic on site audible Road traffic is predominant noise along with noise from site across road.

11.52-12-22 60 60 50

12.27-12.57 60 60 50

Average 61 61 50

Evening 19:07-19:37 64 69 52 50 No Road traffic noise predominantly

19:37-20:07 64 68 52

Average 64 69 52

Night 23.15-23.45 58 57 47 45 Yes, tonal @ 160Hz due to refrigerated container across road,

Low hum from animal feed mill on site when road traffic was not present Road traffic Loud refrigerated container on and off at site across road

23.46-23.16 59 58 47

00.16-00.46 58 58 47

Average 58 58 47

NML2

Day 13:22-13:52 55 57 54 55 No Site noise from animal feed mill and boiler & compressor house dominant Noise from adjoining property audible.

13:52-14:22 57 60 54

14:22-14:52 56 58 53

Average 56 58 54

Evening 20.23-20.53 56 57 54 50 No Noise from adjoining property dominant and noise stopped at 21:26. Site noise from animal feed mill and boiler and compressor house audible

20.56-21.26 55 56 55

Average 56 57 55

Night 01:03-01:33 53 54 52 45 No Site noise from animal feed mill and boiler & compressor house dominant

01:33-02:03 52 53 52

02:03-02:33 52 52 51

Average 52 53 52

NML3

Day 13.19-13.49 55 62 43 55 No No site noise audible. Chainsaw audible from neighbouring property on first reading and fans from adjoining property near NML2 for all readings. Birdsong

13.50-14.20 47 49 44

14.21-14.51 50 52 41

Average 51 54 43

Evening 20:15-20:45 50 52 42 50 No No site noise audible. Traffic from surrounding roads audible and hum from adjoining property near NML2.

20:45-21:15 48 49 45

Average 49 51 44

Night 00.51-01.21 43 45 40 45 No Faint noise from animal feed mill audible Motorway traffic clearly audible

01.23-01.53 43 45 40

01.56-02.26 44 46 40

Average 43 45 40




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Table 1 (continued). Noise Results 10-11th April 2019 Ref. No.

Day / Night

Time LAeq

dBA 30 min

LA10

dBA 30 min

LA90

dBA 30 min

IE Licence

Limit LAeq

Tonal/ Impulsive

Noise

Comments

NML4 Day 11:44-12:14 49 51 46 55 No

Site noise, loading, off-loading, lorry washing, forklift movement

12:14-12:44 56 61 46

12:44-13:14 57 60 47

Average 54 57 46

Evening 19.19-19.49 49 51 45 50 No Site noise from animal feed mill, distant traffic noise clearly audible, some birdsong

19.49-20.19 50 52 46

Average 50 52 46

Night 23:22-23:52 46 48 44 45 No Hum from animal feed mill on site Off-site distant road traffic audible Some clicking and banging audible from animal feed mill

23:52-00:22 46 48 44

00:22-00:52 45 46 43

Average 46 47 44

Abbey

Court

Day 15:37-16:07 51 54 46

55 No No site noise audible. Road traffic noise dominant and some passing traffic in estate. Birdsong

16:07-16:37 52 54 45

16:37-17:07 51 54 45

Average 51 54 45 Evening

21:35-22:05 45 46 41 50

No

No site noise audible. Road traffic noise dominant and some passing traffic in estate.

22:05-22:35 47 48 42

22:35-23:05 47 48 41

Average 46 47 41 Night

02:51-03:21 43 46 38 45 No No site noise audible

Road traffic noise dominant

03:21-03:51 43 45 38

03:51-04:21 42 45 37

Average 43 45 38

Table 2. Weather Data 10-11th April 2019

Period Temperature 0C

Average Wind m/s

Gust m/s

Wind Direction

Rain mm

Day 10.7 1.5 2.7 East 0 Evening 9.9 0.8 1.7 South East 0 Night 7.1 1.4 3.1 South 0 The EPA guidance note NG4 requires an average wind speed of less than 5m/s during periods when noise measurements are being taken and these conditions were met during the day, evening and night measurement surveys at Glanbia.




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NML1 is located at the north east site boundary along the front of the site at Fr. Brown Avenue. The predominant noise source in this area is road traffic and a cold store across the road at night time. Noise at this location exceeds the LAeq day time limit value of 55dBA, the LAeq evening time limit value of 50dBA and the night time LAeq limit value of 45dBA. This is due to traffic noise on the roadway and not due to site noise, as can be seen from the large difference between the LA90 and LA10 readings. No impulsive noise was audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings. Tonal noise was not detected by 1/3 octave analysis during the day and evening readings, but it was detected during the night readings at 160Hz and this was due to a refrigerated container running intermittently across the road from the factory and not due to Glanbia noise.

NML2 is located at the western boundary along the side of the site and another industrial unit adjoins the factory at this boundary. The site noise at this location includes the animal feed mill, boiler house and compressor house. Noise from the adjoining property was audible at this location during the day and evening readings, but not during the night readings. Noise at this location exceeds the LAeq day time limit value of 55dBA, the LAeq evening time limit value of 50dBA and the night time LAeq limit value of 45dBA.There are no noise sensitive locations near NML2. No impulsive or tonal noise was audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings and tonal noise was not detected by 1/3 octave analysis. NML3 is located at the south west corner of the site and a noise sensitive location adjoins this corner of the site. There is very little site noise at this location. During the first day noise reading, a chainsaw was audible from the adjoining property. During the day and evening noise readings, noise from the adjoining factory (at NML2) was audible. During the night reading when there was no noise from the adjoining factory so a faint noise from the animal feed mill on site was audible and motorway traffic was also clearly audible. Noise at this location did not exceed the LAeq day time limit value of 55dBA, the LAeq evening time limit value of 50dBA and the night time LAeq limit value of 45dBA. No impulsive or tonal noise was audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings and tonal noise was not detected by 1/3 octave analysis.

NML4 is located at the south east corner of the site. The nearest noise sensitive location to here is the Abbey Court Estate, located to the southeast. The site noise at this location includes the animal feed mill and site lorries loading and unloading during the day, along with lorry washing and forklift movement during the day. During the evening and night, the animal feed mill on site was the main noise source and distant road traffic off-site was clearly audible also. Noise at this location exceed the LAeq day time limit value of 55dBA on two of the three monitoring events. The noise did not exceed the LAeq evening time limit value of 50dBA and noise exceeded the night time LAeq limit value of 45dBA on two of the three monitoring events. No impulsive or tonal noise was audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings and tonal noise was not detected by 1/3 octave analysis.

Abbey Court noise monitoring location was in the green area to the front of the estate, approximately 500m from Glanbia site boundary. There are a number of houses in this area. There was no site noise audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings. The main noise source was traffic on the nearby




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roads and traffic in the housing estate. Noise at this location did not exceed the LAeq day time limit value of 55dBA, the LAeq evening time limit value of 50dBA and the night time LAeq limit value of 45dBA. No impulsive or tonal noise was audible at this location during the day, evening or night time readings and tonal noise was not detected by 1/3 octave analysis.

4. Conclusion

Noise results at the noise measurement locations (NML’s) at the boundary of Glanbia Foods Ireland Ltd were within the day, evening and night time limit value of LAeq 55dBA, 50dBA and 45dBA at one boundary location (NML3). Noise results exceeded the limit values for the three other boundary locations; at NML1 due to road traffic noise and at NML2 & NML4 due to site noise predominantly. No tonal or impulsive noise was detected at any noise measurement location as a result of Glanbia noise. Tonal noise was detected at NML1 during the night reading as a result of a refrigerated container across the road from the site. Noise results at Abbey Court were within the day, evening and night time limit value of LAeq 55dBA, 50dBA and 45dBA and no factory noise was audible at this location. No tonal or impulsive noise was detected at Abbey Court.

Signed:____ _ Date:_30/04/19____ Patricia Murtagh, BSc, MSc, AMIOA




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Appendix 1. 1/3 Octave Frequency Analysis Results NG4 states to use BS4142:2014 Annex C (normative): Objective method for assessing the audibility of tones in sound: One-third octave method. This method determines if a prominent, discrete-frequency spectral component (tone) is present if the level of a one-third octave band exceeds the level of the adjacent bands by some constant level difference. The appropriate level differences vary with frequency. They should be greater than or equal to the following values in both adjacent one-third-octave bands:

• 15dB in low-frequency one-third-octave bands (25Hz to 125Hz);

• 8dB in middle-frequency bands (160Hz to 400Hz), and;

• 5dB in high-frequency bands (500Hz to 10,000Hz). Results of the one-third frequency spectrum for day, evening and night time noise at each measurement location are provided in the following tables and frequency graphs are provided also.




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Noise Monitoring Locations – 1/3 Octave Data LZeq dB NML1 NML2 NML3 NML4 Abbey Court

Hz Day Evening Night Day Evening Night Day Evening Night Day Evening Night Day Evening Night

12.5 57.5 54.8 46.9 58.7 53.9 48.3 53.6 49.3 44.9 54.5 52.1 54.1 55 48.3 46.6

16 64.1 60.8 51.8 63.1 62.4 53.2 53.5 52.6 48 58.5 55.4 57.4 55.8 50.9 49.5

20 61.1 61.5 52.6 58.9 61.2 55.3 52 51.8 46.8 56.8 57.3 57.6 54.4 52.3 51.5

25 64.2 59.5 60.5 62 61.1 57.7 55 55.7 45.4 57.3 53.9 57.1 57 49.6 48.4

31.5 63.2 59.9 50.4 63.6 60.2 58.6 54.6 53.4 45.8 55.9 57.4 58.3 56.1 48.2 45.5

40 65 60.6 53.9 62.9 61.3 58.8 56.4 50.5 47.5 59.9 62.1 63.2 55 49.3 43

50 66.5 65.1 57.6 63.6 63.6 61.5 56.8 56.1 45.5 56.6 55.4 54.9 58.5 51.2 42.8

63 62.7 60.9 52.4 62 62.2 60.1 52.8 55.8 44 54.4 52.1 52.7 55.9 48 39.3

80 59.4 58.4 50.5 59.3 60.3 59 50.8 54.1 41.6 51.1 49 48.1 51.7 44.2 34

100 58.8 57.2 57.3 58.5 59.2 59.3 47 58.4 41.3 48.4 47.9 46.8 54.8 38.2 32.9

125 58.7 55.6 48.8 54.1 57.6 51 46 55.5 38.2 45.8 44 45.3 47.9 36.3 31.9

160 58.5 54 56.5 55.2 56.1 52.5 40.3 43.2 35.3 46 44.3 44.2 43.5 34.7 31.1

200 58.2 54.2 44.6 53 53.3 53.4 35.2 39.4 33.5 44.5 42.6 44.5 44.5 34.2 31.3

250 56 52.9 42.4 52.6 54.1 54.7 39.3 38.2 33 41.8 40.2 39.4 41.2 36.1 30

315 53.3 50.4 40.1 48.5 48.3 43.5 38.7 36.6 33 38.2 34.2 36.1 41.1 34.1 29.5

400 52.8 50.6 42.7 48.2 50 45.2 40.4 36.4 36.1 39.1 36.3 37.9 39.5 33.7 31.5

500 55.4 53.2 45.3 48.4 49.1 48.2 33 36.7 38.7 40.2 37.4 39.3 39.1 35.6 35.6

630 57.1 54.5 39.7 46.9 46.3 44.3 33.8 37.4 39.5 40.3 37.9 39.3 39.1 40.1 37.5

800 59 56.7 39.4 46 44.6 42.5 32.3 37.8 40.2 40.8 40.4 40.2 39.4 38.9 37.7

1000 60.3 58.3 37 43.2 42.1 38.6 31.4 36.1 39.1 40.3 40.6 39.3 39.5 38.5 35.8

1250 58.5 56 34 43.6 40.7 37.7 31.2 32 35.4 38.4 35.8 34.6 37.5 36.1 32

1600 56.1 53.1 32.2 41.1 38.5 37.1 28.7 31.1 31.9 36.6 32.5 30.3 36.1 33.1 28.8

2000 53.1 50 30.5 38.2 35.9 33.8 27.3 38.9 26.9 34.9 39.3 26.1 42.4 28.9 23.9

2500 50.1 46.6 28.1 38.9 34.7 33.1 33.5 38.5 21.5 32.6 39.9 24.5 44.2 23.9 17.4

3150 47.7 43.3 26.2 42.1 33.3 33 40.8 39.8 18.2 33.7 38.6 23.7 38.8 21 13.1

4000 45.5 41.3 23.4 42.7 30.2 30.1 40.9 37.2 17.7 34.4 42.4 22.9 37.8 19.4 10.9

5000 42.5 37.6 20.8 38.4 27.7 26.4 36.3 36.5 16 32.1 38.1 23.8 32 16.9 10.7

6300 41.4 34.2 18.6 32.3 24 22.9 27.4 34.6 15.1 28.7 36.5 19.4 28.3 15 11

8000 38.3 31.1 17 28.7 19.7 18.9 21.6 30.2 14.1 23.4 36.7 14.2 24.1 13.8 11.5

10000 34.2 31.1 15.2 23.3 16.4 15.2 19.3 20.7 13.5 17.3 19.7 12.8 19.1 13.7 11.9




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Appendix 2. Certificates of Calibration

NTi Meter & Microphone




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Certificate of Calibration for Rion NA-27 Noise Meter




1

Certificate of Calibration Castle Calibrator


Summary

See report.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS

You are required to complete the instructions and actions, as outlined in this report, within the specified timeframe. Where required, you shall respond to actions specified in Compliance Investigations within the required timeframe.The licensee shall maintain documentary evidence, for review by the EPA, that the prescribed corrective actions were completed within the required timeframe.

(i) Compliance Investigations

You are not required to respond directly to items contained in this EPA site visit report; where an issue requires a direct response, the EPA will generate a Compliance Investigation through the EDEN system. You will receive notification when a Compliance Investigation instruction or action is generated.

(ii) Publication of reports and licensee response.

Please note that this Site Visit Report will be made available for public viewing via the EPA’s Licence Enforcement Access Portal within one day of the issue date and will be published on the Licence Details Page of the EPA’s website, www.epa.ie, that relates to your licence 60 calendar days after the issue date.

You may if you choose submit, within 45 calendar days of the issue date of this Site Visit Report, a Licensee Public Response that will be published alongside the Site Visit Report. This Response, should you wish to avail of it, provides you with an opportunity to inform the public about how you are implementing the actions set out in the report, activities underway, timescales and target completion dates. Please be aware that the content of your Licensee Public Response must be factual and should not breach the EPAs stated online publication standards.

If you wish to submit a Licensee Public Response to an EPA Site Visit Report, you should do this by clicking on the ‘Make a Response’ link on the Site Visits page in EDEN. A .pdf document containing your response can be attached and submitted from here.

(iii) Response to Site visit report

Where you do wish to respond directly to a site visit report, you should do this by generating a ‘Licensee Return’ of the type ‘Site Updates/Notifications’ and the sub-type ‘Response to EPA Report’ in EDEN.

Please note that you are required to comply with the conditions of your licence at all times, and where noncompliance occurs you must restore compliance within the shortest possible time. These actions will be verified during subsequent EPA visits.

Please quote the above Inspection Reference Number in any future correspondence in relation to this Report.


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