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Winter salt attacks environment |
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Tuesday, 06 February 2007 |
All you excessive salt users: listen up.
The risky practice of lavishing salt on the roads of Boone every time there is a hint of winter needs attention.
Salt is a cheap and effective deicer to use after a snowstorm, which is why it is the preferred deicing method in the country.
Unfortunately, when those salt trucks are finished with the roads, they leave a string of problems.
The environment, infrastructure, public health and vehicles of Boone are all negatively affected.
There is an obvious need to protect commuters in winter weather. I am not arguing with safety.
But there are better ways to remove ice and snow.
Brett Hibberts, High Country Honda service director, said salt is “brutal on a car.”
On average, he said, the additional cost per car repair in Boone due to salt damage is $60 to $70.
“The main thing we see is a ton of corrosion and rust underneath cars,”
Hibberts said. “Eight out of 10 times, we have to replace hardware
because they break when we try to loosen them.”
In the winter, Hibberts said, it is vital to wash your car once a week, particularly underneath, to avoid car problems.
This past December I neglected this rigid order; my exhaust pipe rusted through.
The mechanic said the deterioration was caused by salt, then handed me a $200 service bill.
Not only is salt bad for our wallets, it takes a toll on health.
The University of Toronto’s Groundwater Research Group conducted a
study finding that continued output of salt contaminates drinking water.
According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), the major
objection to concentration of salt in public water supplies is that it
tastes bad.
However, road salt has a more serious impact. Excess dietary sodium is
associated with hypertension, and up to 30 percent of the U.S.
population has hypertension, according to the FHA.
Road salt can bother tap water drinkers and be fatal for wildlife.
When snow melts, salt runs into water sources and can kill aquatic life, according the Environmental Protection Agency.
Furthermore, salt attracts animals, such as deer, to the roadside where they can be struck by cars.
Salt has also been proven to severely damage vegetation and soil, which leads to erosion issues.
Road salt should be outlawed. There are better snow removal solutions and we, as taxpayers, should push for a better solution.
Boone spends $45,000 to $50,000 per year - taxpayer’s money - on snow
removal, Blake Brown, director of public works for the Town of Boone,
said.
Recognition is due to Boone for its use of Brine, a deicing solution that is only 23 percent salt, Brown said.
Brine cuts salt use by a third, and Boone was the first in North Carolina 10 years ago to use it.
But after a decade, it is time to upgrade again.
The price of other options is what Brown says keeps Boone from using less damaging deicers.
“We looked at alternative methods from the agricultural side, from
molasses and soybeans, but they’re cost prohibitive,” Brown said.
While Brown said he would like to use something besides salt, he
admitted, “When it comes down to what works and is the cheapest, people
go with salt.”
Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) is a viable salt alternative. It has no significant environmental or infrastructural impacts.
CMA, when applied prior to snow, deices at a rate 20 to 40 percent higher than salt.
The cost of CMA is more than for salt, but a splurge is worth it.
I am willing to pay a few more tax dollars toward improved deicing if it is easier on my car, health and environment.
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