Georgia-Pacific Facilities Across America

Location: Across the United States
Owner/Operator: Georgia-Pacific

Georgia-Pacific is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and related chemicals. HGC has provided the company engineering assistance in noise management, including design of noise control measures to ensure compliance with local regulatory limits, for the installation of new and upgraded equipment at their facilities in Milford, New Jersey, and Bradford, Pennsylvania, and their Research Centre in Norcross, Georgia.

HGC Engineering has also assisted Georgia-Pacific in addressing noise concerns raised by a resident living in the community neighboring the Georgia-Pacific facility in Mt. Holly, North Carolina. HGC Engineering visited the Mt. Holly facility and surrounding area to investigate the concern, which was described by the resident as a “low-frequency” sound. HGC Engineering employed a multi-faceted approach to investigating the resident’s concern, including deployment of automatic sound level monitoring equipment in the community and measurements of sound pressure and sound intensity levels at and around the Georgia-Pacific facility and at numerous locations throughout the surrounding community. The collected data, which also included audio recordings and narrow-band (Fast Fourier Transform, or “FFT”) sound level measurements used to identify acoustic signatures, was analyzed and correlated by our engineers, and also input to an acoustical model of the Georgia-Pacific facility and surrounding community. Although only a subtle peak in low frequency, narrow-band sound was measurable in the community, our investigation concluded that the sound did not originate at the Georgia-Pacific facility.

Acoustical Engineering Services Included:

• Community noise complaint investigation
• Noise Monitoring and Assessment to ensure compliance with local regulatory limits
• Design of noise control measures to ensure compliance with local regulatory limits, for the installation of new and upgraded equipment