To promote safe winter driving conditions, deicers are applied to roadways throughout the Northeast. The most commonly used deicer is sodium chloride, otherwise known as road salt. In New York State alone, state and local governments apply 500,000 tons annually.

This inexpensive deicer comes with hidden costs to both the environment and human health.

Over 125 attendees, including representatives from local highway departments, joined the Cary Institute and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Dutchess County for a management-based forum about the impact that road salt has on natural areas, drinking water supplies, and health conditions. A lively discussion followed about how municipalities can improve policy decisions in the future.

Topics & Speakers

Environmental Impacts
Stuart E. G. Findlay, Aquatic Ecologist, Cary Institute
Marie Brulé, Dutchess County Department of Health

Impacts on Human Health
Paul Feldman, M.D., Vassar Medical Center

The Economics of Alternatives
Charles Morris, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, University of Maine
William. H. Schlesinger, President, Cary Institute

Road Salt Forum Resources

• Road Salt Forum Overview
  presentation by Stuart E.G. Findlay. Powerpoint     .PDF
• Table of Comparitive Properties of Road Salt Alternatives
• EcoFocus: Salt makes roads safe but can pollute water
  by William H. Schlesinger and Stuart E.G. Findlay - Poughkeepsie Journal; November 8th, 2009

• USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5086: "Chloride in Groundwater and Surface Water in Areas Underlain by the Glacial Aquifer System, Northern United States".
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5086/
• Minnesota Snow and Ice Control Program and Handbook
  "8th Annual Road Salt Symposium - Finding the road salt balance: Limiting Environmental Damage While Keeping Roads Safe"
  http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/pdf/snowicecontrolhandbook.pdf
  http://www.pca.state.mn.us/programs/roadsalt.html#manual
• Massachusetts Non-point Source Pollution Management, Road Salt Management - 3-Page Fact Sheet on Best Management Practices.
  http://projects.geosyntec.com/npsmanual/Fact%20Sheets/Road%20Salt%20Management.pdf
• Environment Canada, Road Salt Case Studies
  http://www.environment-canada.ca/nopp/roadsalt/cStudies/en/index.cfm
• Transportation Association of Canada - Synthesis of Best Practices Road Salt Management
  http://www.tac-atc.ca/english/resourcecentre/readingroom/pdf/roadsalt-1.pdf
• Maine Road Salt Risk Assessment Project
  http://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/?q=RoadSalt_Background
• Clarkson Center for the Environment, “Environmental Impacts of Winter Road Management at the Cascade Lakes and Chapel Pond,”  Clarkson Center for the Environment, Report # 1.
• US Federal Highway Administration resources
  http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/strmlng/newsletters/dec05nl.asp
• Cornell Local Roads Program: They have upcoming workshops (Fall 2009) scheduled in NYS on snow and ice control.
  http://www.clrp.cornell.edu/workshops/2009/2009-F-snowandice.htm. 
  Fact Sheet on Recommended Application Rates
  http://www.clrp.cornell.edu/techassistance/CALIBRATION%20CHART.pdf. 
  Snow and Ice Control Handbook, 2006.  Duane E. Amsler, Sr., P.E.
  http://www.clrp.cornell.edu/workshops/pdf/snow_and_ice_control-web.pdf

Journal Articles

• Albright, M. 2005.   Changes in water quality in an urban stream following the use of organically-derived deicing products.   Lake and Reservoir Management 21: 119-124.
• Howard, K.W.F., and H. Maier.  2007  Road de-icing salt as a potential constraint on urban growth in the greater Toronto area, Canada.   Contaminant Hydrology 91: 146-170.
• Karraker, N.E., J.P. Gibbs, and J.R. Vonesh. 2008.   Impacts of road deicing salt on the demography of vernal pool-breeding amphibians.   Ecological Applications 18: 724-734.
• Kaushal, S.S., P.M. Groffman, G.E. Likens, K.T. Belt, W.P. Stack, V.R. Kelly, L.E. Band and G.T. Fisher. 2005.   Increased salinization of fresh water in the northeastern United States.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102: 13517-13520.
• Kelly, V.R., G.M. Lovett, K.C. Weathers, S.E.G. Findlay, D.L. Strayer, D.J. Burns, and G.E. Likens.  2008.   Long-term sodium chloride retention in a rural watershed: Legacy effects of road salt on streamwater concentrations.  Environmental Science and Technology 42: 410-415.
• Likens, G.E. and D.C. Buso. 2009.  Salinization of Mirror Lake by road salt.  Water, Air and Soil Pollution, in press.
• Ramakrishna, D.M. and T. Viraraghavan. 2005.   Environmental impact of chemical deicers—a review.   Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 166: 49-63.
• Vitaliano, D.F. 1992.   An economic assessment of the social costs of highway salting and the efficiency of substituting a new deicing material.  Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 11: 397-418.