Thats because one teaspoon of salt is enough to pollute five gallons of water, making it inhospitable for life. In the Adirondacks in upstate New York, a 2019 study found that 64 percent of wells tested for sodium exceeded federal limits which can be particularly dangerous for people with high blood pressure or others on sodium-restricted diets. Salt in the U.S. (million metric tons)1 Consumption: 56.5 Production: 45.3 Imports: 20.1 Exports: 0.94 Rock salt (million metric tons)2 Consumption: 27.9 Consumption for roadway deicing: 24.5 Domestic production capacity: 22.9 Top producing states*: Louisiana: 7.3 New York: 6.3 Ohio: 5.4 Top consuming states: New York: 3.6 Ohio: 3.5 Illinois: 3.0 Salt has been used to de-ice roads in the United States since the 1930s, and its use across the country has tripled in the past 50 years, Dr. Hintz said. It just happens to be the easiest and cheapest to get ahold of. 1Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016, Salt, U.S. Geological Survey2Minerals Yearbook 2014, Salt, U.S.Geological Survey3Special Report 235: Highway Deicing, National Research Council4The Material Flow of Salt, U.S. Department of the Interior5Environmental, Health, and Economic Impacts of Road Salt, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services6Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016, Stone (Crushed), U.S. Geological Survey7Minerals Yearbook, 2015, Magnesium Compounds, U.S. Geological Survey8Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016, Potash, U.S. Geological Survey9Physical and Chemical Effects of Deicers on Concrete Pavement, Utah Department of Transportation10Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016, Sand and Gravel (Construction), U.S. Geological Survey. 2) Smart snowplows to use salt more precisely. Avoid: Minnesota. Plus, of course, they don't necessarily pay for all the indirect costs, like the corrosion on trucks or the environmental damage. This technology has the potential of converting every single road into a source of renewable energy. Salty roads also attract animals like deer and moose (who love licking up the salt), increasing the probability of accidents and roadkill. Oversalted: Why Ontario needs a new approach to snow removal This makes it easier to plow and add more salt to help clear the roads. It creates a salty surface when it does snow etc. They dont realize that this has a hidden consequence.. First round: March 21-22. Some alternatives to road salt. Ive never been, so I cant say for sure. Blue Nearly half a million tons is used annually in Massachusetts alone for winter road maintenance. Road salt works by lowering the freezing point of water via a process called freezing point depression. They also salt all roads near hospitals and schools. While Americans may dream of a white Christmas, living with snow the rest of the season is driving a nightmare common salt habit. Increasingly, truckers and commuters needed to be able to drive in all conditions. CMA does not produce brine. Some experts interviewed for this story say they've even seen upwards of 500 pounds of straight-salt application used per single-lane mile. ", Shi chosen the effects on concrete bridges especially "shocking.". American Geosciences Institute. "The Romans allegedly salted the globe to vanquish their enemies, and we at present do the aforementioned to ourselves at a once unthinkable scale," Edwards said. "There are all kinds of potential cascading effects.". High chloride ratios in the Flintstone River contributed to Michigan'southward lead drinking water crisis, and the aforementioned problem impacts smaller systems across the country as well, said Edwards, the adept who helped uncover Flint'south drinking water problem. While engineers have developed better alternatives, they have not been widely implemented in part because they require upfront costs for purchasing equipment, Ms. Kelly said. Snowplows and a huge pile of salt are ready for the first snowfall on October 17, 2013, in Buffalo, New York. The belt, however, sometimes grows or shrinks depending on the recall. What this means for wildlife upwards the nutrient chain needs more study. Even moderately salty waters tin kill zooplankton, the tiny aquatic creatures at the bottom of the food chain that he said "assistance make a lake function properly." As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The consequences of insufficiently salting roads. Are Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in love, or are they good actors? The American Geosciences Institute represents and serves the geoscience community by providing collaborative leadership and information to connect Earth, science, and people. "We're non putting everyone on Mars here," Siy said. Road salt is basically sodium chloride much like table salt and, leftover after prehistoric oceans evaporated, with huge mines in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Kansas, and Louisiana. Road crews use salt on roads and other surfaces in the winter Salt lowers the freezing point of water, which prevents ice from forming Salt loses its effectiveness once the temperature falls below 15 degrees In addition to clearing snow and ice from roads, plows also put down a lot of salt on roads and other surfaces this time of year. "If you don't need to drive to work, or the movies, or the mall, and then don't go. While no perfect solution exists to keep our roads clear in winter, the number of tools available to public works departments continues to increase, allowing for a tailored approach to clear roads in an environmentally conscious manner without risking driver safety. Once it enters a body of water, salt is almost impossible to remove, requiring expensive and energy-intensive processes like reverse osmosis. In actuality, salt compound deicers have been used statewide since 1996, with an increase in tonnage applied each year. Deicing chemicals melt ice by lowering the temperature at which it melts. North/South Dakota. Snowy roads are driving a nightmare salt habit. Yes, Montana salts its roads It's a common misconception that Montana does not use salt on its roadways. He notes that there are a handful of different ideas out there: 1) Pre-salting the road before a storm. Four states store all of their salt supplies in sheds, and these states, along with three others, are attempting to place all supplies of . Terms of Use | Privacy Policy. That's honestly what a lot of these agencies are facing right at present.". By submitting your email, you agree to our, How America got addicted to road salt and why it's become aproblem, There are huge upsides to salting the streets. Beet juice and cheese brine are biodegradable and less harmful to wildlife. 3) Using different chemicals. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Top rock salt producing (yellow) and consuming (blue) states in 2014. And that's not even counting the cost of salting cities or rural roads. All donations doubled for a limited time. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Environmental activist Sue Nissen wears a teaspoon on a string around her neck, which she likes to hand out to lawmakers during hearings in the Minnesota state legislature. States in the salt belt include Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington DC. The portion that remains on roadways eats away at pavement and bridges. Does CO use salt on the roads in winter? (Lakewood: buying, maintenance At the top are five New England states that used the most salt per mile of road lanes over the past four years: Rhode Island (44.2 tons), Massachusetts (34.6 tons), New York (28.0 tons), New Hampshire (25.1 tons) and Vermont (23.3 tons). Maybe Alaskans dont like road salt. In New York, the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force launched a three-year pilot program this month to reduce freshwater salt contamination. "It was merely and so obvious that when a lake was virtually whatever kind of urban environment, the chloride concentrations tended to be going upward," Dugan said. Connecticut and Maine likewise autumn in the top ten, while Pennsylvania ranks 13th, Maryland 16th and Delaware 23rd. The country used about 164,000 tons of road salt in 1940, U.S. Geological Survey data shows. And that's led to a search for alternatives. They now use salt. But once it starts to get colder things get a little science-y and salts effectiveness starts to fade. During the winter, road salt is applied to the roadway to melt snow and ice. The environmental toll and long-term costs of rock salt have inspired some states to search for alternative management practices. And for that, we can thank the 15 million tons of salt we dump on our roads and sidewalks each winter to melt away the snow and ice. Due to its chemical properties, route common salt can exacerbate the damage roads already suffer each winter when they repeatedly freeze and thaw. But it helps. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Though seemingly harmless to us, rock salt can have corrosive effects in large quantities that affects cars, trucks, bridges, and roads resulting in approximately $5 billion dollars in annual repairs in the U.S. alone. But most of the state still doesnt use rock salt, aka sodium chloride or table salt. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. The others have written policies all with different levels of sophistication, particularly with respect to application rates and techniques. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. But it's an even bigger deal for all the other freshwater organisms in those lakes and streams. "And then we see, my goodness, information technology is everywhere, and it is a growing trouble.". This can cost a bit more upfront. More counties and states are rethinking the amount of salt they use because of the associated costs. About 15 percent of people in the United States get their water from private ground wells, while the rest rely on community water systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the cheapest set up to America's unhealthy road salt diet is besides the nearly elusive: Reducing the public'south demand for clear roadways. One 2010study from the University of Waterloo found that a handful of "best practices" can reduce local chloride levels by half. Does your department have a Licensure Qualifying Program? Minnesota has been training applicators in these techniques since 2005, but under the new bill, certified smart salters would be protected from liability, preventing them from being sued for slip-and-fall accidents. But as America's highways expanded and became ever more crucial to the economy, that changed. "And so you're trying to do the aforementioned or a better job with less money. A 2017 written report by her squad constitute that well-nigh one-half of the 284 freshwater lakes in their sample in the Northeast and Midwest had undergone "long-term salinization." In addition, road salt can also infiltrate nearby surface and ground waters and can contaminate drinking water reservoirs and wells. The extra chemicals added to road salt can cause fish die-offs. While there is not a perfect solution to the issue, there are alternatives that can significantly reduce salt usage without compromising driver safety. Interested in receiving the latest in data and information about the geosciences? Theres plenty of scientific evidence to suggest that freshwater ecosystems are being contaminated by salt from the use of things like road salt beyond the concentration which is safe for freshwater organisms and for human consumption, Dr. Hintz said. At the top are five New England states that used the most salt per mile of road lanes over the past four years: The agency has since reduced using salt crystals, which are less effective because. Wisconsin. Ingredients in ice melts can range from seriously toxic to non-toxic. Top 3 consuming states: NY (13%), OH (12%), IL (11%).
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