Monday, March 31, 2008 : 1:00 p.m.
Minimizing Environmental Impacts of Road Salts
In 2004, Environment Canada published a Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts. The Code is designed to help municipalities and other road authorities better manage their use of road salt to reduce adverse environmental impacts of chloride while maintaining road safety. Two main recommendations in this Code are 1) The development of salt management plans, and 2) the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) in the areas of salt application, salt storage and snow disposal as described in the Transportation Association of Canada’s (TAC) Syntheses of Best Management Practices. However, no systematic study has been conducted to quantify the environmental benefits and cost savings where the Code recommendations have been applied. This paper will describe a research project for a comprehensive environmental monitoring program to assess the efficacy of current voluntary road salt management practices. The study will examine the state-of-the-practice and assess several best management practice technologies that may provide further information to reduce road-salt associated chloride transfer to the environment. Project design, implementation and projected milestones will be described.
Morton Satin, Salt Institute Trained as a biochemist, Morton Satin is a seasoned executive with broad international experience in research, management, and marketing. He is currently the Director of Technical and Regulatory Affairs for the Salt Institute in Alexandria, VA. Prior to joining the Salt Institute, Morton was the senior industry executive at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, where he received international recognition for his work on the impact of technology in developing countries.