Appendix J Underwater Noise Impacts of Encina Power Stations Marine Oil Terminal Decommissioning, Carlsbad, California 2015 (Greeneridge Sciences Report 518-1), Prepared by Greeneridge Sciences, Inc. UNDERWATER NOISE IMPACTS OF ENCINA POWER STATION’S MARINE OIL TERMINAL DECOMMISSIONING, CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, 2015 by Greeneridge Sciences, Inc. 90 Dean Arnold Place, Unit D Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Prepared for Padre Associates, Inc. Greeneridge Sciences Report 518-1 March 2015 Revision 1 Noise Impacts, EPS MOT Decommissioning, 2015 UNDERWATER NOISE IMPACTS OF ENCINA POWER STATION’S MARINE OIL TERMINAL DECOMMISSIONING, CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, 2015 by Dawn M. Grebner and Katherine H. Kim Greeneridge Sciences, Inc. 90 Dean Arnold Place, Unit D Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Phone: 619-241-6608; e-mail: [email protected] for Padre Associates, Inc. 1861 Knoll Drive Ventura, CA 93003 Greeneridge Sciences Report 518-1 March 2015 Revision 1 Suggested format for citation: Grebner, D.M. and K.H. Kim. 2015. Underwater Noise Impacts of Encina Decommissioning, Carlsbad, California, 2015. Greeneridge Sciences Rep. 518-1. Report from Greeneridge Sciences, Inc., Santa Bar- bara, CA for Padre Associates, Inc., Ventura, CA. 46 p. Noise Impacts, EPS MOT Decommissioning, 2015 Table of Contents List of Tables & Figures ........................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Regulatory Guidelines for Acoustic Threshold Levels .............................................................. 3 Marine Mammals ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Fishes .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Sea Turtles .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Birds ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Sound Source Characteristics .................................................................................................. 9 Hearing in Local Species and Potential Impacts ...................................................................... 12 Marine Mammals ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Cetaceans ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Pinnipeds ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Other Marine Mammal Species .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Potential Impacts on Marine Mammals ......................................................................................................................... 19 Fishes ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 Osteichthyes (Bony Fish) ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 Chordrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fish) ................................................................................................................................ 23 Other Fish Species .................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Potential Impacts on Fishes ................................................................................................................................................. 24 Sea Turtles .................................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Potential Impacts on Sea Turtles ....................................................................................................................................... 28 Birds .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 28 Passeriformes ............................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Non-Passeriformes ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Other Bird Species .................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Potential Impacts on Diving Birds .................................................................................................................................... 31 Acoustic Waveguide Environment ......................................................................................... 32 Mitigation Measures ............................................................................................................. 35 Sound Attenuation Mitigations ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Sound Transmission Reduction .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Sound Generation Reduction ............................................................................................................................................... 35 On-site Mitigations ................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Summary and Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 37 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 38 Literature Cited ..................................................................................................................... 38 ii Noise Impacts, EPS MOT Decommissioning, 2015 List of Tables & Figures Table 1. Functional hearing groups and hearing ranges for marine mammals. ........................................... 4 Table 2. NOAA specifications for onset PTS and TTS in five marine mammal functional hearing groups. ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 Table 3. Descriptions of five types of animal categories used in the guideline threshold criteria. ............. 6 Table 4. Pile driving exposure criteria for fishes, turtles, and fish eggs and larvae .................................... 6 Table 5. Definition of effects used in guideline table seen in Table 4. ........................................................ 7 Table 6. Recommended interim in-air guidelines for potential effects on birds from different sound sources. .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Table 7. Distances in meters at which received levels for the DPR proxy are expected to be 190, 180, and 160 dB re 1µPa for A = 204.1 dB re 1 µPa-m, B = 10, 15, and 20 dB/tenfold change in distance, and C = 0. .................................................................................................................................................... 34 Figure 1. Geographic location of Encina Marine Oil Terminal (MOT) in Carlsbad, CA ........................... 2 Figure 2. Relationship between noise levels, distances, and potential effects on birds. ............................. 9 Figure 3. Impact and vibration pile driving of the same pile. .................................................................... 11 Figure 4. One-third octave band source levels for vibratory pile driving with (red) and without (blue) bubble curtain mitigation. ............................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 5. Schematic of an audiogram showing hearing threshold as a function of frequency. ................. 13 Figure 6. Underwater audiogram of a common dolphin. ..........................................................................