New Mexico uses sand on roads in the winter and I find it to be less than helpful and don't feel safe on snowy or icy roads. I do appreciate, however, a long-lasting vehicle and not having to try to clean salt of my shoes in the winter, like I did in Michigan. Can anyone tell me if it's feasible to use that pet-safe ice melter you can buy in stores nowadays? I would think that if pets aren't poisoned by it, it's probably better for the rest of us and our drinking water.
One of the most detailed investigations ever conducted in Canada into the fate of road salt has found that it is polluting groundwater and causing some streams during winter thaws to have salinity levels just under those found in the ocean.
The elevated salt readings were detected in Pickering, where researchers from the University of Toronto have been studying how the salt spread on highways, such as the 401, and other roadways through suburban sprawl affects water quality. They found that so much salty water from the community is ending up in Frenchman's Bay, a scenic lagoon on the shores of Lake Ontario, that the small water body is being poisoned.
"Our findings are pretty dramatic, and the effects are felt year-round," said Nick Eyles, a geology professor at the university and the lead researcher on the project. "We now know that 3,600 tonnes of road salt end up in that small lagoon every winter from direct runoff in creeks and effectively poison it for the rest of the year."
Read the rest of the original article at www.theglobeandmail.com
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