Put Roads on No-Salt Diet
By Shawn Dell Joyce
According to the National Research Council, New York uses more salt than any other state, weighing in at 500,000 tons per year. The state Department of Transportation requires a road-salt application rate of 225 lb. per lane-mile for light snow and 270 lb. per lane-mile for each application during rapidly accumulating snow.
When you consider that there are approximately 6,000 miles. of paved roadways near state watersheds, you begin to see how all that road salt adds up. Some roads may get up to 300 tons of road salt per lane-mile each year. Recently, many scientists have begun to study the effects of so much road salt on ecosystems, water quality, public health and road quality. Here are a few things you should know before your break out that sodium chloride:
— Salt destroys soil structure by killing some soil bacteria. This allows more soil to erode into streams, taking the salt with it. Salt erosion contaminates drinking-water supplies to levels that exceed standards.
— Salt doesn’t evaporate or otherwise get removed once applied so it remains a persistent risk to aquatic ecosystems and to water quality. Approximately 55% of road-salt runs off with snow melt into streams, with the remaining 45% infiltrating through soils and into groundwater aquifers, according to a 1993 study.
— Salt slowly kills trees, especially white pines, and other roadside plants. The loss of indigenous plants and trees on roadsides allows hardier salt-tolerant species to take over.
— Salt can change water chemistry, causing minerals to leach out of the soil, and it increases the acidity of water, according to Dr. Stephen Norton, a professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Maine.
— Salt cracks animal paws making house pets particularly susceptible.
— Road salt seeping into drinking water changes its flavor, and supplies the excess dietary sodium associated with hypertension.
— Salt corrodes metals like automobile brake linings, frames, and bumpers, and can cause cosmetic corrosion. To prevent this corrosion, automakers pay almost $4 billion per year.
— Salt can penetrate concrete to corrode the reinforcing rods causing damage to bridges, roads and cracked pavement.
Canada is considering classifying conventional deicers as toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. California and Nevada restrict road-salt use in certain areas to reduce damage to roadside vegetation. Massachusetts is using alternative deicers to prevent contamination of drinking water. New York State is considering doing the same to protect New York City’s watershed.
There are alternatives to sodium chloride that are relatively harmless to the environment and still get the job done. Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) and potassium acetate (KA) are two chloride alternatives currently available. They are much more expensive than road salt, but if you factor in the loss of wildlife, soil erosion, water quality and corrosion, these alternatives start to look like a real bargain.
For home use, there are many alternatives with varying degrees of environmental safety.
— Urea is often used for deicing as it melts ice and is not corrosive, making it popular for airport runways. Urea can also cause algae blooms in waterways, so it isn’t a good choice near streams.
— Alfalfa meal is a natural fertilizer that actually melts the ice, provides traction and won’t harm the environment. It is different than pelletized alfalfa sold in feed stores, look for meal in local garden centers.
— The greenest choice at home is snow cleats on your shoes and a good workout with a snow shovel instead of chemical deicers. Got a bad back? Pay the neighbor’s teenager to do the job for you and keep the money flowing in your local economy.
Shawn Dell Joyce is an award-winning columnist and founder of the Wallkill River School in Montgomery, N.Y. shawn@zestoforange.com
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