A front loader works at a large pile of road salt, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Chelsea, Mass., as preparation continues for a storm that is expected to dump a foot or more of snow throughout the Northeast.
Elise Amendola / AP Photo
Road salt hazardous to the environment?
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Scott LaMar/WITF
Elise Amendola / AP Photo
A front loader works at a large pile of road salt, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Chelsea, Mass., as preparation continues for a storm that is expected to dump a foot or more of snow throughout the Northeast.
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Airdate: Monday, February 7, 2022
Slick roads in winter can be hazardous. Whenever the weather forecast calls for snow and ice, PennDot and local municipalities’ road crews go to work to treat roadways before a storm and then plow and clear them afterwards.
Road salt is one of their tools. It melts the snow and ice and helps to make the streets, roads and highways safer to drive on. Motorists almost take for granted that the roads will be cleared and salt will be used to help do it.
PennDot applies some 800,000 tons of road salt each year.
The hazy white streaks left on paved surfaces and even sidewalks and parking lots are a testament to the salt that was used.
But road salt doesn’t just melt snow and ice. It creeps into the soil and can get into waterways and have a negative impact on aquatic life and plants.
So says our guest on Monday’s Smart Talk, John Jackson, Senior Research Scientist at Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County.
The Associated Press and WITF’s democracy reporter Jordan Wilkie are partnering to tell stories about how Pennsylvania elections work, and to debunk misinformation surrounding elections.
