Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Salting Roads

Good to see Potomac Conservancy pick this up, the study got some recent media attention from WAMU: https://wamu.org/story/18/01/30/addicted-salt-using-much-roads-sidewalks/, and WTOP: https://wtop.com/local/2018/01/road-salt-lifesaver-winter-storm-theres-downside-researchers-say/.

Not sure what DC's official policy is, but their website says they use a 'beet juice' mixture, which was listed as an alternative here to minimize runoff. 

On Thu, Feb 8, 2018 at 10:38 AM, Andrew Sarcinello <andysarce@gmail.com> wrote:

It is definitely excessive along with schools closing any time a drop of something frozen falls from the sky...society is going soft!! Haha.

I agree fully with working remotely.  I suppose it is not possible in some fields but it is fairly easy to set up remote computer connections.  A big problem is so many drivers around here come from places with zero exposure to driving in snow.  Recently, a new roommate moved into my house and we were talking about how much it usually snows or doesn't snow.  She's from San Francisco and had no concept of winter, I told her I always hope it doesn't snow because traffic becomes a nightmare.  She asked why and I had to explain that when it snows you have to drive slower.........she had absolutely no idea.  This is what we're dealing with.

My company sometimes does water quality sampling.  We look at stormwater drainage networks that should normally be dry (for example, pipes that drain a parking lot) and if we find any flowing water, we sample it to make sure it isn't some sort of illegal chemical discharge.  We do quick tests on-site for pH, chlorine, ammonia, turbidity, temperature, and conductivity.  We have a set of guidelines for what range of values each test must fall within, and if anything is outside the standards we deem it suspicious and send it to a lab.  90% of the time, water that we find can be visually observed as groundwater coming through a crack in the pipe, but we still have to test it - and EVERY sample I've ever taken has failed the conductivity standard, even if everything else is perfectly normal.  I am not certain, but I believe this is a result of the excessive use of rock salt and brine on the roads in winter.  

On Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 10:07:34 AM UTC-5, Gregg DiSalvo wrote:

I, like most around the district, love to be able to get to work safely, but there has to be a better way to deal with snow and ice.  Offer employer incentives to encourage remote work, remote work, sand/gravel (may not actually be any better)...????

https://potomac.org/blog/2018/1/22/potomac-river-salt-salinity-study

"In our area, polluted runoff that carries road salt into rivers and streams is largely to blame. Despite receiving only 3 inches of snow this season, crews in the District have laid down over 15 tons of rock salt and 290,000 gallons of salt brine. And that's just this year."

Excessive don't you think?

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