January 2, 2009, - 11:04 am
Eco-Nuts Will Love This
By Debbie Schlussel
For years, environmentalists have decried the use of salt to treat snow and ice on roads and sidewalks. They say it gets into the water supply and lakes and kills the fish and other wildlife. While it does eat away at cars, nothing beats its effectiveness.
Last year, all the rage was using a substance made from beet juice, instead of salt, to melt clear the ice. This year, rock-salt prices are way up, and new alternatives are being tried. But I’d bet that none of these are as effective as salt. Apparently, the biggest rage this year is molasses, but the bottom line is that it still needs to be mixed with salt–and try getting that mixture off your shoes. And then, there’s garlic. But, even with an innocent substance like garlic, animals rights people and others are finding a problem:
Soaring rock-salt prices are prompting communities across the U.S. to try novel alternatives for clearing snow and ice, including molasses, garlic salt and a rum-production byproduct that smells like soy sauce.
Rock-salt prices normally surge in January and February, when communities running low on salt resort to buying the de-icing compound on the open market. But after last year’s fierce winter taxed supplies, state and local government officials ordered tens of thousands of tons more salt ahead of this season. The high demand pushed salt prices to $60 to $120 per ton in many places, from last year’s range of $30 to $50 a ton. . . .
Many towns are testing new methods to make their ice-fighting more efficient. . . .
This past summer, engineers in Ohio’s Hamilton County sought bids to supply about 15,000 tons of salt. . . . The county decided to try to make the 11,000 tons of salt it had on hand last for a winter of de-icing 1,500 miles of road lanes. To stretch it, Mr. Hubbard’s department has been mixing its salt with gritty, non-toxic ash left over from coal-fired power plants.
“When the sun shines on it, it helps attract radiation, therefore it helps melt the snow,” Mr. Hubbard said. “We’re sort of experimenting.” Mr. Hubbard said the ash mixture doesn’t melt the snow as fast, but it does add traction to the roads.
Ankeny, Iowa, a Des Moines suburb, sprinkled garlic salt mixed with road salt on its streets last month after a local spice maker gave the town nine tons destined for a landfill. Public Works Director Paul Moritz said some residents complained the fragrant topping would sicken their cats and dogs. He says he checked with a veterinarian, who told him the pets would have to swallow huge quantities to become ill.
“I don’t mean to be too flippant about it,” said Mr. Moritz, “but I don’t think any dog went out and licked up three blocks of streets.” He says the garlic salt has been effective in clearing roadways.
Paul Simonsen, a maintenance superintendent for the Washington state department of transportation, has been mixing de-sugared molasses into saltwater, creating a gooey mixture that can keep roadways clear for three or four wintry days, he said.
The mix consists of molasses from a local supplier, calcium chloride and brine donated by a local dairy company. . . .
Pingree Grove, a village west of Chicago . . . for the first time paid $3.50 a gallon for 4,200 gallons of Magic Minus Zero, a de-icing compound made by Sears Ecological Applications Co., of Rome, N.Y.
The liquid, which is formulated from the leftovers of rum-making, is such an effective additive that Pat Doherty, Pingree’s director of public works, said the town has used less than half as much salt as it would have under similar weather conditions.
Hmmm . . . maybe we should invest in salt instead of gold.
Debbie–
Just more faux enviro BS. As usual, there is no evidence of harm–merely speculation.
Compare this to EPA’s absurd assertion that second hand smoke kills (3,000-10,000, depending on source) per year.
Yet, when officials were asked to name only three of these people, they could not. Why? There were no actual dead people, it was simply a model.
Just more BS in a long, long list—
Banning DDT
Radon (again, no documented case of lung cancer from household radon exposure)
Global warming
ETC ETC
When is the public going to wake up??
Red Ryder on January 2, 2009 at 11:27 am