Dear Dennis, The most recent citation in that article you linked to “Road Salt Impacts on Drinking Water” (which actually appears to be a chapter — do you know who wrote it as it doesn’t say?) is 1990. Has there been nothing done since?! I somehow doubt that.
Interesting quote on the mitigation costs on average (in 1989 dollars per ton of salt administered) across those New England and upper Midwest states. Do towns and municipalities budget for it? In any event, these are quite small amounts it would seem — a dollar a ton of salt in 1989 dollars; arguably too small, depending on what you are mitigating for. Since this article claims at the time it was written (probably early 1990s?) there was a lack of evidence linking salt in drinking water to any health risks to the general public, presumably these remediation or mitigation costs didn’t in fact worry about that so the mitigation cost at the time would be small as a result. In addition, absent from this article of course are considerations around environmental and wetland health and the importance of that for climate change adaptation and resiliency. Thanks, Michelle > On Jan 16, 2022, at 3:03 PM, Dennis Liu <[email protected]> wrote: > > Curious, so a few more questions. Perhaps the Conservation Commission has > already studied this, given Joan’s point? Would appreciate any answers/data. > > What’s the acceptable level of sodium in drinking water? > Do we have data on the level of sodium in Lincoln public drinking water? > Do we have data on the level of sodium in private wells in Lincoln? > Do we have data on how sodium levels in Lincoln are being affected by road > salt, rather than any natural fluctuations in sodium levels? > Does this data cover salting from Route 2 (is that done by state DPW), versus > residential roads? Studies show that most of the salting is from highway use. > If so, do we then have any studies that show it’s road salt from being spread > on roads, rather than leaking from storage – which is the leading cause of > salt entering water supplies? > If we don’t have this data, then on what basis should we have concern about > this issue affecting drinking water in Lincoln? > > I would also ask the same questions – replacing impact on human drinking > water with questions on data showing adverse impacts on wildlife. > > This is a somewhat dated but completely on-topic report: > https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr235/099-112.pdf > > Perhaps it’d be helpful to all of us and the Town to get some answers on this > before calling up and lobbying the DPW? > > Thanks, > > --Dennis > > From: Joan Kimball <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2022 2:39 PM > To: Dennis Liu <[email protected]> > Cc: LincolnTalk.org <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [LincolnTalk] Too much - or too little - salt on the road > > 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.
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