02/27/2012 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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DUPAGE RIVER SALT CREEK WORKGROUP 2008 Chloride Osage Education and Reduction Program Salt Improves Winter Driveway Conditions But Harms Ecosystems Keeping roads and parking areas free of ice and snow is an essential part of modern life. However; road salt — one of the main tools used to achieve this task — contains chloride as its principal ingredient. Chloride does more than melt snow and ice; it negatively impacts local lakes and rivers. Other minor ingredients of commercial road salt include arsenic and cyanide. Municipalities contrib- ute more than 1 17,000 tons of chloride to local watersheds annually. Chloride never fully dissipates. and enters streams. where it harms the flora and fauna. (Photo courtesy City of Naperville) As snow and ice melt, they drain into landscaped areas or storm sewers, and then to natural bodies of water.Waters from a deiced area contain high levels of chlorides, which do not degrade, and there is no cost - effective way to remove it. Excessive levels of chlorides can severely impair the ability of plants to absorb water and nutrients.These negative effects are common to both aquatic and terrestrial plants in residential gardens, landscaped areas, and rivers. Fish and other aquatic organisms are then impacted by the decline in habitat. How Much Salt is Getting into Our Rivers? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for chloride in the DuPage River and Salt Creek.These TMDLs state Residential deicing contributes to the degradation of the area's water resources. Using the "Just Enough" principle and a more eco- friendly deicer will help reduce the impact of chloride on our ecosystem. that the legal level of chloride in the rivers is being exceeded, and require that the levels be reduced. In order to investigate current usage of chlorides and possible reduction strategies, the DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup conducted a Chloride Usage Education and Reduction Program Study.The study gave a conservative estimate of the annual chloride use in the watersheds of the upper DuPage and Salt Creek, which exceeded 1 17,000 tons. Efficient Deicing Protects Landscaping In addition to harming the ecosystem, overusing chloride can damage residential greenery such as grass, plants, and trees, reversing any beautification efforts you have made. Small mouth bass are found in both branches of the DuPage River and Salt Creek. Chlorides from road salt damage river vegetation, reducing the numbers and species of fish that can survive there. (Photo courtesy Forest Preserve District of DuPage County)