opinion
Medical professionals tell us that too much salt in the diet is bad for our health. And now scientists are telling us, with a growing sense of urgency, that too much de-icing salt on our roadways and bridges, especially in the Northeast, is bad not only for the environment, but for our drinking water supplies and also our transportation budgets.
Each year, according to reporting by USA TODAY, Americans spread more than 48 billion pounds of salt on roadways to ward off the effects of winter weather. That contrasts dramatically with road salt use over the past several decades. In 1985, for example, the use was only 10 million tons.
Let’s set aside, for a moment, the havoc that a heavy-snow winter can have on municipalities in North Jersey, and the annual budgets that are affected, when calculating the amount of snowfall, the number of snowplows and the purchase of road salt needed to carry a town through the winter.
Read it: Heavy road salt use in winter is a growing problem, scientists say
Editorial: Wave of the future now: Pass electric vehicles bill
In New Jersey, road salt is also seen more and more as a contributor to a statewide crisis concerning our water supply. Indeed, as reporting by the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey shows, the runoff from those salted roads and sidewalks adds to the corroding of water lines (there are some 350,000 lead service lines still in operation in the state) and putting dangerous lead into tap water across the state.
“The issue of road salt has been out in front of us for decades but has received very little attention until the past five years,” said Rick Relyea, a biological scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute near Albany, New York. “Then we see, my goodness, it is everywhere, and it is a growing problem.”
Indeed, research by scientists and groups such as the National Science Foundation shows that surface water throughout the snowiest parts of the United States, including New Jersey, is getting saltier and more alkaline. That salt does not stay put and can wash across the breadth of the water supply, sometimes even coming through kitchen faucets.
“Everything in a watershed is linked, and obviously what washes off our roads doesn’t just disappear.” notes longtime New Jersey environmentalist Doug O’Malley, a member of the Jersey Water Works task force, which reports that a lead replacement and remediation program, brought on through a bond issue, would cost an estimated $2 billion over the course of 10 years.
Then there is the issue of how “long-term salinization” can harm the health of lakes and aquatic life. Even modestly salty waters, says Relyea, the Rensselaer biologist, can kill zooplankton, the tiny creatures at the bottom of the food chain that he said “help make a lake function properly.” Their absence can lead to worsening algae blooms, such as those that were prevalent across New Jersey last summer.
There are ways, however, to arrest our addiction to salt on the roadways. One simple solution is for towns to cover salt piles to protect them from precipitation, and to calibrate equipment to ensure proper salt distribution. Some towns in the Lake George region of New York have taken to using “live edge” snowplows that conform to the shape of the road and greatly reduce salt usage.
The point is: We must do better. We urge Gov. Phil Murphy, legislators and local elected leaders to take an in-depth look at this problem and devise long-range plans to scale back the use of road salt, which is slowly but surely exacting an unhealthy toll on us all.
"salt" - Google News
January 15, 2020 at 05:31PM
https://ift.tt/30s4m86
NJ has an unhealthy reliance on road salt. It is time to address the addiction | Editorial - NorthJersey.com
"salt" - Google News
https://ift.tt/36cjMPq
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
0 Comments:
Post a Comment