Assessment of Blasting Noise on Fish and Marine Mammals Form Explosives
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ASSESSMENT OF BLASTING NOISE ON FISH AND MARINE MAMMALS FROM EXPLOSIVES USED DURING BERTH EXPANSION AT BAE SYSTEMS, SCOTSTOUN Prepared on behalf of TECHNICAL REPORT 1 January 2021 Action Name Function Date Signature Author Dr Victoria Todd Project Manager 01/02/2021 Author Dr Laura Williamson Senior Analyst 29/01/2021 Review Ian Todd Report QC 02/02/2021 © Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC) 2021 Modelling blasting noise in the River Clyde Client: Ideas and methodologies presented in this Arch Henderson LLP document and template format in which 142 St Vincent Street this information is presented remain the Glasgow G2 5LA intellectual property of OSC, irrespective T: +44 (0)1412 273 060 of whether OSC subsequently changes its W: www.arch-henderson.co.uk identity or is purchased by another organisation. FAO: George Bowie Views expressed by authors in this Partner document do not necessarily reflect those T: +44 (0)1412 273 060 of OSC. Authors have used all reasonable M: +44 (0)7789 691 625 endeavours to ensure that content of this E: [email protected] document, references compiled, and methods of calculation and research are All rights reserved. This document, in consistent with normally accepted part or in its entirety, must not be standards and practices. No warranty is reproduced, stored in a retrieval system given to that effect, however, nor is any or transmitted in any form or by any liability accepted by OSC or authors for means, electronic, mechanical, any loss or damage arising from the use photocopy, recording or otherwise, of this document by Arch Henderson LLP without the permission of the copyright or by any other party. holder, namely Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC). Any Suggested citation: reproduction in full or in part of this OSC (2021): Assessment of blasting noise document, for any purpose whatsoever, on fish and marine mammals from be it for academic or commercial gain, explosives used during berth expansion at outside the remit of the document for BAE Systems, Scotstoun. Technical which it was intended and provided, Report No. 1, for Arch Henderson LLP, by must be permitted by OSC, as the Ocean Science Consulting Limited, Spott intellectual proprietor. For the Road, Dunbar, Scotland, 29 pp. avoidance of doubt, this document cannot be shared with any individual, For further information, contact: organisation, or commercial entity that Dr Victoria Todd (Managing Director) currently performs (or intends to Ian Todd (Managing Director) perform) services proposed or carried out in this document. Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC) Spott Road This document is for Arch Henderson Dunbar LLP purposes only, defined as exclusive East Lothian distribution rights by Arch Henderson EH42 1RR LLP to legitimately associated Scotland consultees as appropriate. These terms UK prevent recurring distribution and exclude access rights to any third party T: +44 (0)1368 865 722 (switchboard) considered to be a potential competitor M: +44 (0)7719 489 415 (VT) of OSC in any way. M: +44 (0)7876 547 855 (IT) E: [email protected] E: [email protected] W: www.osc.co.uk VAT number: 928 894 167 Company number: SC318365 Registered in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. ______________________________________________________ 2 © Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC) 2021 CONFIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIALLY SENSITIVE OSC_2021_ArchHendersonBAE_Blasting_v2.0.docx Modelling blasting noise in the River Clyde CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 5 1.1. Underwater drilling & blasting ......................................................... 6 1.2. Noise & aquatic fauna .................................................................... 8 1.2.1. Lethality ................................................................................. 8 1.2.2. Injury & hearing impairment ..................................................... 9 1.2.3. Behavioural alteration ............................................................. 10 1.2.4. Audibility ............................................................................... 10 1.3. Noise thresholds .......................................................................... 10 1.3.1. Fish ...................................................................................... 11 1.3.2. Marine mammals .................................................................... 12 1.4. River Clyde ................................................................................. 13 1.5. Fish in the Clyde .......................................................................... 15 1.6. Marine mammals in the Clyde........................................................ 16 1.7. Mitigation .................................................................................... 17 1.7.1. Marine Mammal Observer ........................................................ 17 1.7.2. Acoustic Harassment Device .................................................... 17 1.8. Objectives ................................................................................... 18 2. MATERIALS & METHODS ................................................................ 18 2.1. Location ...................................................................................... 18 2.2. Noise-source details ..................................................................... 19 2.3. Noise metrics .............................................................................. 20 2.4. Bathymetry & oceanography ......................................................... 20 2.5. Model selection ............................................................................ 20 2.6. Fish assessment criteria ................................................................ 21 2.7. Marine mammal assessment criteria ............................................... 21 3. RESULTS ........................................................................................ 22 3.1. Noise .......................................................................................... 22 3.2. Fish assessment .......................................................................... 22 3.3. Marine mammal assessment ......................................................... 23 4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................. 24 5. REFERENCES.................................................................................. 25 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Topographic map of the Clyde basin. ........................................ 14 Figure 2: Location of blasting at BAE Systems Scotstoun .......................... 19 Figure 3: Site layout ............................................................................. 19 Figure 4: Peak Sound Pressure Level (Lp) from blasting ............................ 20 Figure 5: Peak Sound Pressure Level (Lp) from 12.5 kg charge .................. 22 Figure 6: Predicted range of mortality or mortal injury for fish ................... 23 Figure 7: Predicted range of TTS and PTS for marine mammals ................. 24 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Estimated Lp and SEL for different charge weights ........................ 8 Table 2: Estimated detonation event Zone Of Influence ............................. 9 Table 3: Popper et al. (2014) fish mortality thresholds for explosions ......... 11 Table 4: Marine mammal functional hearing groups .................................. 12 Table 5: Temporary and Permanent Threshold Shift ................................. 13 Table 6: Tidal heights across the Clyde region ......................................... 15 Table 7: Records of marine mammal sightings furthest up the Clyde .......... 16 Table 8: Predicted TTS and PTS distances for marine mammals ................. 23 ______________________________________________________ 3 © Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC) 2021 CONFIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIALLY SENSITIVE OSC_2021_ArchHendersonBAE_Blasting_v2.0.docx Modelling blasting noise in the River Clyde LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS/UNITS/TERMS > Greater than < Less than ≤ Less-than or equal to ADD Acoustic Deterrent Device AHD Acoustic Harassment Device AMD Acoustic Mitigation Device BAE British Aerospace C-4 Composition C-4 C Celsius ca. Circa or approximately chm Harmonic median sound speed CPT Couplable Plastic Tube dB deciBel DoN Department of the Navy e.g. Exempli gratia or ‘for example’ EIA Environmental Impact Assessment HF High Frequency Hz Hertz i.e. Id est or ‘that is’ kg kilogram kHz kiloHertz km kilometre LF Low Frequency Lp Peak Sound Pressure Level µ micro m metre mm millimetre MMO Marine Mammal Observer N North O&G Oil & Gas OSC Ocean Science Consulting Limited Pa Pascal PCW Phocid Carnivores in Water PPV Peak Particle Velocity PSD Power Spectral Density PSU Practical Salinity Unit PTS Permanent Threshold Shift re reference RMS Root Mean Square s second SEL Sound Exposure Level SL Source Level SPL Sound Pressure Level TNT TriNitroToluene TTS Temporary Threshold Shift UK United Kingdom USA United States of America UXO UneXploded Ordinance VHF Very High Frequency W West ZOI Zone of Influence ______________________________________________________ 4 © Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC) 2021 CONFIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIALLY SENSITIVE OSC_2021_ArchHendersonBAE_Blasting_v2.0.docx Modelling blasting noise in the River Clyde SUMMARY Ocean Science Consulting Limited (OSC), was commissioned by Arch Henderson LLP to perform a desk-based noise-propagation modelling study to investigate potential effects of explosives on