Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Impacts on the inhabited area and human activities
In order to mitigate the increase in noise and vibrations on Highway 132, on Lallemand
Road, and rue de l’Anse early on, the proponent had thought of building a temporary
access road to the site from Expressway 20. Following the agreement reached between
the proponent and the City of Lévis in July 2006, the City planned to build an access road
to the proposed facilities from Lallemand Road, and the option of access to the
construction site from Expressway 20 was abandoned. The proponent took the view that
this new access would eliminate almost all of the construction-related traffic on
Highway 132 and Lallemand Road, except for the part of Lallemand Road located
between Expressway 20 and the new access road (PR3.1, p. 4.20; PR5.2.1, p. 3-3).
In regard to pile driving, this would go on for three years, which, according to Health
Canada, is too long to be considered temporary. Each one of the 350 piles would
require average driving of an hour and drilling lasting from one to 10 hours. According
to the proponent’s timetable, three barges would carry out the work simultaneously
from May to December 2007, from April to December 2008, and from April to August
2009. Work would be carried out from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week and, in
exceptional circumstances, until 10 p.m.
It is anticipated that MDDEP criteria will be exceeded during the day in four locations:
three on rue de Vitré and one at 950, Domaine des Pêches. In this regard, the
Directors of Public Health for de la Chaudière-Appalaches and de la Capitale-
Nationale expressed their concern that noise generated during the project
construction phase could negatively affect the quality of life and, potentially, the health
of persons living in the neighbouring residential district through sleep disruption, for
example. (PR3.3.1, p. 6.96-6.97; DM602, p. 77-78 and Appendix 2).
Among other things, the proponent plans to install anti-noise protection around motors
to mitigate noise impacts and limit, to the extent possible, those activities generating
the most noise to the period between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and also plans recourse to
noise-abatement walls as needed, in keeping with Health Canada’s suggestion.
Trucks would be equipped with variable pitch back-up alarms to limit noise at night
without harming worksite safety. A follow-up program is also planned to sample sound
at 11 measuring stations to make sure that the MDDEP noise criteria are respected.
Finally, the proponent plans financial compensation for residents who must move
away temporarily because noise levels are exceeded during construction.
♦ Finding — The Panel finds that the project construction phase could cause the noise
criteria, on the basis of Leq 1 h, set by the ministère du Développement durable, de
l’Environnement et des Parcs to be exceeded, a situation that could last for three
years. The Panel takes note that the proponent proposes financial compensation for
temporary moves by residents who might be affected by noise levels that exceed
these criteria during the construction phase.
184 Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure