Noise modeling and low-frequency concerns draw sustained questioning; applicant offers octave-band outputs

Noise and acoustics dominated a large portion of the work session after commissioners asked the applicant to pull up the technical appendices. Alex Hornacker, the applicantnoise expert, explained the study methodology: ambient road noise drives daytime levels, the modeling added equipment source levels and considered berms, barrier walls, distance and mufflers and showed normal operation and test-condition sound maps. "We took the existing ambient measurements that we had done and used that to create a baseline of sound in the area, and then added the normal operations on top of that to see what it would do," Hornacker explained (speaker 10).