PA Road Salt Action Working Group
LLWS led a Conversation Cafe on Jan. 16, hosted by POWR. From that meeting the PA Road Salt Action Working Group formed to focus on Road Salt Reduction and outreach. The group meets monthly. With few regulations to guide the use of chlorides or its impact, reducing excess winter salt use in PA will require many volunteers speaking out and thousands of conversations. Will you join this effort? Contact us to join a Lehigh Valley group or the statewide working group.
LLWS has made available some documents for those interested in working collaboratively. Use Buttons below to explore.
Working Group meeting minutes, slides and followup documents
Chloride concentrations in a few waterways in multiple counties in PA. Present these to show growing impacts of winter salting.
Slide Decks on the Impacts of excess Road Salt that you can use
Sample Facebook posts on winter salt use that your group can post.
List of salt purchases made by the local governments in each PA county (summary to right>>).
Dive Deep into Winter Salting Issues
Click below for a detailed summary of Issues related to road salt pollution. Summary covers 16 topics, each explained in half to a full page, and includes sources for further reading. Topics range from Impacts on the Environment and Infrastructure, to a detailed rundown of Best Management Practices for Winter Maintenance Teams. Additionally, the booklet features a FAQ section and a summary of our Salt Snapshot Results.
BMP clip taken from
Front Ecol Environ 2022; 20(1): 22-30, doi:10.1002/fee.2433
What Can You Do?
First of all, be aware of the quantity of salt that you apply to your driveway and sidewalks in wintertime. You can reduce the amount you need by shoveling regularly. When you apply the salt, use about 12 ounces for a 20-foot driveway, or 10 sidewalk paving squares. Sweep up any leftover salt.
Volunteer to help combat over salting; use “contact us” button. More voices on salt are needed.
Speak up when you notice excessive salt use in your community (work, school, places of worship, shopping areas). Ask to speak to Manager or Facility Maintenance Team and voice your concerns about excess salt use. If you live in a development that uses a private contractor for winter maintenance, pay attention to how much road salt is being used, and if it appears to be excessive, bring it to the attention of your homeowners’ association. 50% of the winter salts applied in the US are used to manage parking lots, sidewalks and other commercial salting.
What Municipalities Can Do
By using best management practices, it is possible for a municipality to reduce road salt usage by 50% and save taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in materials and labor costs. Watch the documentary “The Road Map to Road Salt Reduction” to see how this was done in New York State:
https://salt.lakegeorgeassociation.org/
What Property Managers and Business Owners Can Do
Universities/School Districts, Hospitals, Churches, Business owners, and other large land owners that contract winter maintenance can craft contracts requiring winter maintenance professionals to use Best Management Practices such as calibrating equipment, training workers, and using minimum salting guidelines. See top of page “Property Manger Resources” information for good resources. Watch the one hour training video on Contracting with Road Salt Applicators.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cjHmcMZGt4
To find out more, use links to explore other Salt Resources.
Carey Institute of Ecosystem Studies – Road Salt: The problem, the Solution, and How to Get There
https://www.caryinstitute.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report_road_salt.pdf
Video: Salt Impacts on Water Quality – John Jackson, Stroud Water Research Center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of4hpuFzgn0
Izaak Walton League of America Salt Watch – What you can do
Trout Unlimited Valley Forge salt pollution webpage
https://www.valleyforgetu.org/resources/whitepapers/road-salt/