BREA : Unocal Wins OK to Install Generator

City Planning Commissioners voted 4 to 0 this week to let Unocal Corp. install a 3.8-megawatt power plant for its Science and Technology Center--as long as noise from the operation is kept down.

Residents living near the proposed electrical plant, at the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue, remain skeptical but say the conditional-use permit granted Wednesday was an improvement over earlier proposals. About 60 residents attended the commission meeting.

“We are still apprehensive,” said local resident Pat Moore, “but all the suggestions we made, (the Planning Commission) looked into. They have come a long way.”

The plant’s noise level will be monitored at the beginning of its operation, again after one year of operation and whenever a noise complaint is made, Planning Commissioner Carl Clausen said.

Senior Planner Patricia Shoemaker said the conditional-use permit issued by the planning board can be appealed to the City Council up to 10 days after its approval.

Shoemaker said Unocal’s noise-abatement program includes limiting the plant’s hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during weekdays and placing the generator in a building to muffle any noise.

Shoemaker also said the electrical plant, which will replace six boilers now being used at the Center, will also reduce carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions at the site.

Donald Clark, manager of Unocal’s engineering services, said the plant could be used by the city for power in an emergency situation.

The city’s noise consultant, Otto Bixler of Acoustical Impacts International, said Unocal’s noise-abatement plan for the plant exceeds the city’s noise ordinance limit by only six decibels . The human ear cannot perceive a difference in noise level less that three decibels, Bixler said.