A pinch of salt

The Salisbury Conservation Commission enjoyed reading the Lakeville Journal’s December 22 article, “Northwest Corner Municipalities Weigh Salt Usage as Winter Returns” and is grateful for his thoughtful research.

It so happens that the Conservation Commission was working on a similar article — that it hoped to get out before the summer — entitled “A Pinch of Salt.”Here are more thoughts on the road salt situation, especially as it pertains to Salisbury.

It is winter, and who knows what might fall from the skies onto our roads and make them unsafe for travel.Fortunately, Salisbury has nine cracker-jack members of the Highway Department, akaThe Road Crew, and after our discussion with Crew Chief, Russell Hoage on November 10th, and then with Hoage and Thomas Brazee, Road Chief, in December, we feel confident telling you that Salisbury’s roads will be safe for school buses, emergency vehicles, town trucks and private vehicles this winter while environmental issues are forefront on minds and being addressed.

The Salisbury Highway Department monitors three different weather apps 24/7 to determine when and where they need to tend to ice build-up on our 60 plus miles of town roads to make winter travel safe. They are on call around the clock.The microcosms at higher elevations, such as the top of Belgo Road, typically need earlier attention than the lower roads. Before the salt/sand mixture is applied to the roads, the crew uses articulating plows to scrape off as much snow and ice, creating conditions needing less melt. (Bear in mind that the State maintains Routes 41, 44, 112 and parts of 7 with pure salt for a no-snow mandate.)

Salisbury’s roads are maintained using Salisbury’s signature gorgeous orange trucks.A recently purchased truck cost about $300,000.The Salisbury Highway Department is building the body for this truck, saving the town a lot of money, which will be stainless to prevent corrosion.

Hoage orders about 800 tons of sodium chloride a year from Apalachee Salt in Rochester, NY for about $102,000.The salt is carefully stored in a shed that has a separate bay for sand.A mixture of 2 buckets of sand to one bucket of salt is used.Hoage feels this is the best balance of melt to traction to keep roads safe, costs down and have as little sodium chloride run off as possible.

While we certainly want safe roads in the winter, we also want to protect our water sources for safe drinking water and aquatic life.

The condition of having too much salt, or fertilizer, sewage, industrial waste, or silt build up in water, which then causes algal blooms and depletes oxygen, is called eutrophication.Eutrophication is harmful to aquatic life and to the plants and organisms that filter water and make it safe to drink.

It is interesting to think that several of Salisbury’s modest rivers and streams flow to the Atlantic Ocean.If one is standing at the Scoville Library, one can see the Wachocastinook Brook and maybe hear the Salmon Kill.They are both cold-water streams known for supporting trout, that come from high elevation Riga Lake and South Pond, and both flow into the Housatonic, which is a source for Long Island Sound.When we act locally by keeping chemicals out of our water, we are also acting globally and keeping pollutants out of our oceans.

The Highway Department asks everyone to slow down! And during storms, please travel only if necessary.

Please reach us at conservationcommission@salisburyct.us for comments and suggestions.