Envisioning a path forward on salt reduction

DEC, DOT reps describe ‘momentum’ on cutting road salt as advocates urge more action

By Zachary Matson

New chloride standards and more funding opportunities for communities to reduce road salt use could be on the way as state agencies continue to advance recommendations from an expert task force. 

Meanwhile, leaders of Adirondack Park advocacy groups are continuing to press for more structured implementation of the road salt reduction task force goals and oversight of whether state agencies are effectively reducing salt use.

At a panel discussion hosted by the Adirondack Explorer at the Wild Center on Thursday, representatives from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation said there was “momentum” toward achieving task force goals. The agency representatives also outlined specific initiatives they were pursuing.

A.J. Smith, assistant director of the DEC’s division of water, said an initial look at and request for public input on new chloride standards are upcoming as part of a broader update to the state’s water standards.

Despite decades old federal recommendations and standards in many states, New York has never adopted a similar approach for aquatic systems. The standard can force action to mitigate chloride pollution above certain thresholds. 

Smith also said the agency was working to expand water quality funding to cover salt reduction investments, such as for improved plows, expanded weather and salt use tracking and brine-making equipment.

“Municipalities need funding to be able to handle the best management practices and the storage capacity we are recommending in the task force (report) and that funding needs to be widely accessible,” Smith said. 

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Rob Fitch, director of transportation maintenance at DOT, highlighted the department’s work to use more brine on roads ahead of storms, dispersing a less concentrated but still effective amount of salt. The department started testing brine-only routes in the Keeseville area this winter, and Fitch said an ongoing pilot project in Herkimer County indicated the brine use can help reduce salt use. 

“We’ve learned that we can reduce our salt applications pretty significantly” when using brines, Fitch said.

Sawyer Bailey, executive director of AdkAction, called for a more structured approach to the state’s work on the issue, reiterating a request made in a letter AdkAction and other organizations sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul in the fall.

Bailey suggested that an interagency council similar to what oversees the state’s response to invasive species could be created to find ways to implement the task force’s recommendations. She also said a new staff position could manage that collaboration.

Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky, who served on the task force, said he was disappointed there wasn’t more of an action plan and public roll out of the task force’s report released in September.

“What’s the game plan going to be?” Bailey asked. 

The discussion touched on science, technology, public health, infrastructure and other components of one of the region’s most discussed and most complicated issues. They also agreed that the driving public needs to do more to manage their expectations of winter road conditions and to slow down or avoid the roads in poor weather.

What the panelists emphasized

Rob Vopleus, a salt use consultant with WIT Advisers, noted that every highway department faces a different mix of road and weather conditions and that approaches to minimize salt use must be customized. But improved equipment and technology coupled with training can help departments reduce their use.

“With training and the right equipment used correctly we can achieve lower numbers,” Vopleus said.  

Brendan Wiltse, a lead research scientist at the Adirondack Watershed Institute, highlighted work in Lake Placid to limit salt pollution in Mirror Lake, the most developed watershed in the region. After rising salt concentrations in the lake prevented important seasonal nutrient mixing, efforts to overhaul salt use, sidewalk treatments and improve physical stormwater infrastructure lessened salt levels in recent years.  

“Almost every time we go out on the lake, I look at the data and the numbers are continuing to go down,” Wiltse said. 

Tracy Eldridge, Hamilton County superintendent of public works, discussed how salt corrodes  bridges and vehicles. He said keeping up with paving makes for more effective snow clearing and reduces salt use.

“This is really a societal problem that we started 40 years ago,” Eldridge said. “We expect wherever we go, no matter what time of day it is, we are going to travel 65 mph no matter what. We can’t have that expectation any more.” 

Bailey called attention to a task force recommendation to establish a process for people who suspect they face contamination, so they can get testing and remediation if necessary. 

“There’s something called slow violence,” Bailey said. “The idea that things diminish so slowly in our environment that we don’t notice them, but ultimately they cause deep harm to the people who are least able to bear it.”

Navitsky stressed that site design, such as how roads, parking lots and other development are laid out, can help address salt use challenges. Drainage and salt tolerant landscaping could prevent the use of salt in the first place. 

Fitch said the DOT’s tracking on 1,600 plow trucks statewide, which traditionally recorded location and truck speed, was upgraded to also capture data on salt and brine use this winter. 

“We know how much we are using, where we are using it, when we are using it,” Fitch said.

Smith stated how over 20 years of water quality monitoring data shows that chloride concentrations have risen in waterbodies across the state. Chloride concentrations are even higher outside the Adirondack Park. 

“Relative to the rest of the state … the contaminants are at lower concentrations in the Adirondacks, but still having an impact, probably because of the more sensitive ecosystems that we have in the Adirondack Park,” he said.

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