When I was on the Conservation Commission we were concerned about salt because of health of the wetlands and protecting our drinking water supply, all of which is contained and originates in Lincoln.
Joan On Sun, Jan 16, 2022, 2:34 PM Dennis Liu <[email protected]> wrote: > Since this seems to be a growing conversation, a couple of points as food > for thought. > > > > As with everything else involving politics and public works, we have to > ask ourselves when considering taking action – “what are the TRADEOFFS for > taking a proposed action?” Or “Every benefit has a cost; what is it in > this case?” > > > > It’s not only the impact on the town budget (for the salt, and for the DPW > crew’s time). It’s also about SAFETY. > > > > What’s the cost of *avoiding an accident*? Every year, 1,300 people are > killed and 116,800 people are injured due to vehicle accidents on snow, > slushy or icy pavement. What’s the cost of a life lost, or injury > suffered? > > > > What about the cost of damaging or destroying a vehicle – and whatever the > vehicle hits? Pedestrians struck in crosswalks or on sidewalks? Damaged > telephone poles, buildings, signs, parked cars? > > > > And let’s not forget the massive associated costs – lawsuits. Why do > businesses seemingly always “oversalt” their parking lots, roads and > paths? Because it’s a really, really common and easy-to-win lawsuit. The > cost of putting down ice melt is a tiny, tiny cost of paying for a lawsuit, > even with insurance. Indeed, some insurance policies require plowing and > salting. > > > > So, from the Town’s perspective – the “cost” for salting the roads is a > combination of the actual expense for the salt, the cost for DPW time (and > amortized expense of running salters), and, arguably, the externality cost > of having some degree of “excess” salt entering into water. The “benefit” > of salting, even salting to “excess”, is the avoidance of lawsuits, and > avoiding more accidents, causing harm to life, limb and property. > > > > *Avoiding excessive salting is a good thing! But if the Town is unable to > lay down some perceived “perfect” quantity of salt, given the constantly > changing weather conditions, surely it’d be better to oversalt by some > degree, given the inherent risks?* > > > > I urge everyone concerned about this issue to study NOT ONLY the impact of > road salt on water and wildlife, but also take into account the impact of a > life lost – perhaps a friend or loved one – as well as the economic impact > from these accidents. > > > > HTH, > > > > --Dennis > > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
