The Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) says that contrary to a report from the Mayor & City Council (M&CC) the noise nuisance matter regarding the KFC Vlissengen Road generators is not yet closed.
The agency in a press release yesterday said that it was “necessary to provide clarification on an article captioned, ‘Noise from KFC Generators Tolerable – City’ published in Stabroek News on January 25, 2007 because “the article may have misled the public into believing that the M&CC had brought a longstanding issue with the EPA and the KFC Vlissengen Road outlet to a close.”
The agency said further that “on December 10, 2006, the EPA issued a letter to the Mayor and City Council and the Central Housing and Planning Authority, indicating that a Prohibition Notice was served on the KFC outlet, due to noise nuisance. The letter also informed these entities that the EPA would continue to monitor this situation, but was referring the matter to them for their information and intervention.”
It is normal procedure, the release noted, for the EPA to inform other relevant authorities of actions taken by the agency, and in this case having regard to the M&CC’s responsibility for authorizing the operation of generators in the city.
The EPA stated categorically that according to the Environmental Protection Act (1996) and the Environmental Protection (Noise Management )Regulations (2000), it is the only statutory authority that can pronounce or close matters of noise nuisance. In this case, the EPA added, the M&CC was expected to investigate the matter based on its responsibilities and submit a report to the EPA for its attention.
However, the M&CC had said previously it had found that the noise emitted from the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets on Mandela Avenue and Vlissengen Road was within the tolerance levels and had brought a longstanding matter between the fast food restaurant and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to a close.
The M&CC had said at its statutory meeting late January that the EPA had contended that the noise levels produced from generators at the two locations exceeded the tolerance levels of 65 decibels for day and 55 decibels for night as stipulated by the EPA. An M&CC release last month had stated that, “the City Works Committee along with the Occupational Safety Health Officer Dale Beresford visited the sites and conducted noise level tests using (an) IEC 651 type 11 noise dosimeter with a noise rating of 130 db maximum, at a frequency of 250 hertz. All the measurements were taken when the generators were operating at (their) fullest capacity.”
According to the M&CC, the readings had revealed that the noise emissions were within tolerance levels, taking into account additional sources of noise generated. Stabroek News had attempted to elicit a comment from the EPA on the day the city council press release was issued but the relevant officer was not in.
Meanwhile, the EPA said that it was aware that for over five years now, KFC operated two generators, one of a larger capacity during the day and a smaller one at night, onsite, on a 24-hour basis, and independent of the GPL’s power supply.
And during this time, residents complained on several occasions to the EPA of noise and soot nuisance emitted from these generators. Several visits to monitor the situation were made by officers of the EPA over the years, the release said, and the agency had “made a number of recommendations to the KFC with which there was never full compliance.”
The EPA stated that it independently as well as jointly with the M&CC revisited the KFC Vlissengen Road outlet towards the end of last month to make necessary observations and to record both night and daytime noise levels using sound level meters.
Information on the current situation was also gathered from residents there. It was observed, the release continued, that for the first time the KFC management had made some efforts to improve noise nuisance, subsequent to the issuance of the Prohibition Notice by the EPA. For instance, the generator which was previously located on the ground was relocated to the roof of the KFC building. And some residents, according to the EPA, have corroborated the recent findings that there was a reduction in the noise level. However, it was noted that KFC has been operating only the smaller generator for the past few weeks, while the larger generator is being repaired, the release added.
Considering the full-time use of generators and the use of this particular location for residential purposes also, the EPA said that it “found the noise level to be both above the noise standards for commercial areas and the ambient noise level typical for this location.”
Therefore, the EPA noted, the KFC management is still required to put additional measures in place to buffer noise, reduce soot and improve waste oil/fuel and effluent handling and disposal. In that light, according to the EPA, the matter is not closed and KFC has to make efforts to address these concerns.
