When the roads get snowy trucks can be see spreading salt on the highways. And, that may be good for automobiles, but it may not be good for the region's waterways. In our weekly series with the Bay Journal Delmarva Public Media's Don Rush talks with reporter Lauren Hines-Acosta about the rising salt levels.
RUSH: The streams and creeks in the Chesapeake Bay region are getting saltier. This is Don Rush. That could mean trouble, especially for the natural wildlife who find it difficult to adapt. In a weekly series with the Bay Journal, we talk with reporter Lauren Hines-Acosta about this latest development.
HINES-ACOSTA: During the winter, a lot of [?] and private property owners use rock salt, and so it helps keep roads clear, but it also does accumulate in the snow, which as it melts into the spring, that chloride and salt levels flows down into the groundwater and also into our freshwater streams. So even after winter, we are seeing spikes in salt in our freshwater streams.
RUSH: Now, I understand that even though snowfall seem to be less over the years, the salt continues to spike.
HINES-ACOSTA: We are seeing decline in snowfall in the region, at least in the Northern Virginia/DC region, and so scientists and with the USGS have found that it's also development and just more pervious surface that's leading to these increases in salt spikes. So basically runoff is another big factor.
RUSH: So in terms of what this does to the bay, particularly in terms of the streams, what are we looking at? How harmful is this?
HINES-ACOSTA: Salt in our freshwater streams is an issue. It's hard to get salt out of your soup, let alone wild areas. So an increased salt can harm freshwater species who are not used to new factors can mess with their equilibrium in their bodies. But also salt in our drinking water can harm humans as well who have conditions sensitive to that, such as kidney and heart illnesses. And then lastly, salt can also corrode the infrastructure we have.
RUSH: So in terms of solutions, what are they looking at?
HINES-ACOSTA: There's a lot of local grassroots monitoring salt levels and reporting when there's overuse of rock salt. But also on a bigger scale, de-incentivizing ice suppliers from using as much rock salt because you only need, I think, like a mug's worth for every 10 sidewalks.
RUSH: One of the solutions I understand is to use brine. How does that work and how does that help us keep the salt in place?
HINES-ACOSTA: A lot of states are using salt brine instead of just applying rock salt. So they do use both. But what the brine does is that it allows the rock salt to stick so then they don't have to use extra and that it doesn't bounce off into waterways. And I believe using salt brine can reduce all applications up to 30%, at least according to the Maryland State Highway Administration.
RUSH: I also understand though, that we also have an issue when it comes to private property, that this is only a small piece of the puzzle.
HINES-ACOSTA: At least Maryland and Pennsylvania, partly Virginia, are being pretty aggressive about trying to get a handle on salt use. But when it comes to private property owners, [there is] no one authority that gives oversight to that. So that's where these local groups, Friends of Sligo Creek, the Pennsylvania Road Salt Working Group, that's where they come in to try to really educate property owners about how to use rock salt and adjust their landscaping and things like that to reduce chloride levels. But some scientists do believe that it is a solvable issue.
RUSH: Bay Journal reporter Lauren Hines-Acosta on the increasing salt found in the Bay's waterways. This is Don Rush for Delmarva Public Media.
