About $2M approved for snow removal, road salt purchases in Carroll County

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners met Thursday for its weekly meeting and approved various contracts and spending for snow removal, tree trimming and other county business.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve contracts related to winter weather, including up to $540,000 for snow removal with nine contractors who operate 26 vehicles designated for removal. Vehicles range from one-ton pickup trucks to 15-ton tri axles, according to officials with the Bureau of Roads Operations.

Commissioners also approved a $1.52 million contract with Deicing Depot to purchase bulk road salt. The Bureau of Roads Operations is responsible for about 1,000 miles of roads in the county, and said the annual salt usage fluctuates based on snowfall and ice conditions.

The county supplies salt for those roads as well as product for Manchester, Union Bridge, Taneytown, Sykesville, New Windsor and the Board of Education. The Farm Museum, Northern Landfill and Hashawa Environmental Center all use county supplies as well, and all reimburse the county for the salt.

Bureau officials told commissioners that the county purchases bulk salt when it’s at its cheapest and when delivery demand is lowest to keep costs down. Earlier this month, the county approved the purchase of a conveyor that will allow for more salt storage, which officials anticipate would lower overall salt costs as well.

Tree trimming contract

Commissioners also approved ongoing tree trimming services from C2 Crane and Tree Service at a cost of $756,000 for fiscal 2026.

The funding includes trimming, removal, stump grinding and brush disposal, as well as special equipment such as cranes and bucket trucks, for the entire fiscal year, which started July 1.

The Bureau of Roads is responsible not only for the trees along the road, but also for commuter safety from trees that may fall onto the roads. The bureau also deals with requests from the school system to trim trees that buses may hit along routes.

Muskoka joins others in calling on the Ontario government to address salt pollution - Huntsville Doppler

Ontarians are well aware of wintry conditions on our roads and the use of salt to melt away the ice.

Recently, awareness has been growing about the impact of salt on Ontario’s iconic freshwater ecosystems, and diverse groups have been advocating for a solution to salt pollution. This includes nineteen municipalities, two Conservation Authorities, and counting, that support an approach to curbing winter salt impacts called “limited liability” ﹣a solution proposed by the snow and ice management industry, locally represented by Landscape Ontario. 

As snow plowing businesses face steep insurance costs to cover the possibility of slip and fall lawsuits, some are getting out of the business. Landscape Ontario and the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition are advocating for a suite of tools that have been used effectively in other wintry places called “limited liability”. In a limited liability regime, snow plow operators and site owners both would follow prescribed rules to standardized operational best management practices, as well as participate in annual contractor certification programs. In return, they would have their liability for slip and fall lawsuits limited. This would reduce salt application rates, save money on salt expenditures, and reverse skyrocketing insurance costs for contractors. Currently, there are no provincial standards for salt use.

Nineteen municipalities have passed a resolution calling on the Province of Ontario to convene a key stakeholder committee to inform better provincial policy on salt pollution, including exploring limited liability approaches and establishing provincially endorsed Best Management Practices (BMPs). Reduced winter contractor costs from following provincially-endorsed BMPs would also reduce the number of unwarranted slip and fall claims. 

Eighteen businesses and business professionals have already supported the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition’s advocacy for provincial action through a business sign on letter. “The requested changes could save independent business, municipalities, and taxpayers money, while protecting the environment. We call that a win – win, IF Ontario acts,” says Councillor Jonathan Scott, Chair of Bradford West Gwillimbury’s (BWG) Green Initiatives Advisory Committee. BWG Council passed a resolution calling on the provincial government to act on salt pollution this spring.

Municipal leaders also care about the millions of dollars per year of infrastructure damage caused by road salt, such as accelerated deterioration of roads and bridges. The EcoFiscal Commission has estimated the economic and environmental damage of winter salt to Canada at $4.8 billion per year, which would prorate to about $2 billion per year in Ontario. “Reducing salt pollution has long-term environmental cost savings, which we should all support, but it also would reduce the cost of infrastructure repair, which is a significant concern for municipalities,” says City of Waterloo Councillor Julie Wright, who led the charge to pass a resolution for provincial salt pollution action in Waterloo earlier this year. The Council passed the resolution in April unanimously.  

But it’s more than dollar savings and common sense. Municipal leaders care about the health of their local waters for recreation, drinking water, and for nature ﹣ and their residents do, too. 

Thousands of Ontarians have sent emails to Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy, and Attorney General Doug Downey asking the province to take action on salt pollution. In February, the District of Muskoka was the first to pass a municipal salt pollution action resolution, under the leadership of District Chair Jeff Lehman. “Residents in Muskoka are passionate about the environment and water quality, as am I,” says Lehman. “This is an important initiative, and a simple ask with much public support and upsides for small town economies and municipalities alike.” 

Salt affects the creatures at the bottom of the food chain, which has negative ripple effects across water-based ecosystems, including weakening fish stocks and impacts to sensitive, endangered species like mussels. Ontario’s chloride levels have doubled since the 1960’s in the 400 streams and lakes monitored by the province. The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority has been studying chloride since the 1980’s as a contaminant of concern. Following current chloride trajectories, Lake Simcoe ﹣one of Ontario’s largest freshwater lakes ﹣ would reach chronic salinity levels in just over 30 years. As a source of drinking water and a recreational hub, this is an extremely worrying trend, reflected in lakes, rivers, and groundwater sources across the province. Lake Simcoe is just one example of many areas where ignoring this problem will lead to devastating consequences for people and species.

Members of the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition (OSPC) have been coordinating a provincial advocacy campaign for nearly two years and will be in Ottawa for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual meeting, August 17 – 20th to meet interested municipal officials.

“Municipal officials have more power than they think, especially when we act together. The Province is hearing us. The more cities and townships who pass resolutions calling for provincial action on salt pollution, the closer we’ll get to real policy action,” said Dani Lindamood, who is the Campaigns & Communications Director for Water Watchers and one of the lead organizers of the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition. “Our power is in our collective action.”

State Department of Transportation Announces Statewide Expansion of Road Salt Management Initiatives for the 2025-26 Snow and Ice Season

Contact: Glenn Blain, (518) 457-6400
Release Date: August 20, 2025

State Department of Transportation Announces Statewide Expansion of Road Salt Management Initiatives for the 2025-26 Snow and Ice Season

Salt Management Pilot Program Will Implement Best Practices for Safely Refining Salt Operations Across New York State

New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez today announced a statewide expansion of the Department’s road salt management pilot program for the 2025-26 snow and ice season, building off previous efforts by NYSDOT and other state agency partners to strategically implement safe, smart, and fiscally responsible salt reduction improvements while maintaining a safe and reliable transportation system. These efforts include the implementation of enhanced training for snowplow operators, continuous evaluation of innovative equipment, and utilization of best management practices for reducing road salt while maintaining the safety of roads for the traveling public. 

“No task is too small when it comes to reducing salt on state roads,” Commissioner Dominguez said. “Our crews are looking at every aspect of their operations holistically, from loading salt on trucks, to checklists and performance reviews, to equipment cleaning, to new weather forecasting partnerships that help us better prepare for storms.  We are continuously improving our operations, refining our craft and adopting best management practices throughout the year that our crews can utilize during snow and ice events.  We’ve even added road temperature sensors to our entire fleet so we know the exact materials to use before, during and after storms.  Our Department prepares for snow and ice season year round, and our crews will be ready this year to reduce salt, protecting the environment while maintaining a safe highway system for all New Yorkers.”

Since 2018, the Department of Transportation has conducted successful road salt management initiatives, utilizing a number of best practices to effectively reduce salt usage throughout the state and in particular, the Adirondack Park. The success of these initiatives can be demonstrated by comparing historical salt application rates with recent data. Historically, the 7-year statewide average application rate for granular salt was 194 pounds per lane-mile. During the 2024-25 snow and ice season, the statewide average application rate for granular salt was reduced to 172 pounds per lane-mile. Specifically, the DLA (Direct Liquid Application) method employed during this period achieved an even lower rate of 120 pounds per lane-mile while safely maintaining the state highway system for the traveling public. 

In 2020, the Department of Transportation began implementing a direct liquid application (DLA) component to its road salt reduction pilot program.  DLA utilizes liquid salt brine instead of granular road salt.  This method has been proven successful in the Adirondack Park and has been implemented in other locations across the state.  This coming snow and ice season, the Department of Transportation will be expanding the use of DLA to sections of the following state roads:
 

Route	County
151/150	Rensselaer
30	Hamilton
5	Herkimer
28/30	Hamilton
30	Hamilton
38A	Cayuga
240	Erie
9/9N/ 373	Clinton
115/ 984A	Dutchess
28	Ulster
7	Schoharie
7/23/ 205	Otsego
Loop Parkway	Nassau

In addition to these concentrated efforts, as it does every year, the Department of Transportation will focus on continuous improvement to further expand road salt reduction in all areas of the state in the coming snow and ice season.

For over a decade, the Department of Transportation has worked to refine its policies and procedures regarding salt management while remaining at the forefront of technological innovation. These efforts include but are not limited to the development of an internal policy on salt storage best practices, utilization of GPS technology to connect material spreaders with GPS applications, use of segmented plow blades and direct liquid applications in place of road salt, and support for national research projects that include the use of prewetted solid materials for anti-icing. 

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “DEC continues to work closely with our partners at the State Departments of Transportation and Health to advance best management practices to reduce the impacts of road salt on local communities and New York’s environment. Through Governor Hochul’s historic investments in water quality improvements, New York State is providing significant resources for communities statewide to reduce road salt impacts and implement recommendations for road salt use reduction. We look forward to continuing these efforts to protect water quality and public safety.”

Since the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force report was issued in 2023, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in collaboration with DOT, is leveraging New York's historic investments in clean water infrastructure funding to help reduce road salt applications and improve water quality while maintaining public safety.

DEC updated its Water Quality Improvement Projects Grant (WQIP) in 2024 to include $15 million in funding statewide for implementation of road salt reduction best management practices, including salt storage, brine making equipment and storage, and segmented plow blades. These funds also support municipal use of GPS and other sensors to track application of deicers and road temperature.

Additionally, in 2024, DEC made funding available to complete Winter Road Maintenance Plans, a new project type available through the Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning Grant (NPG). The funds will help communities compile information on existing conditions, natural resources impacted by salt, and current salt practices, and plan for implementation of salt reduction practices. To date, $52 million has been awarded to 204 projects statewide for salt storage and road salt reduction practices through these grants, including $15 million for 39 projects in 2024. DEC and DOT are actively reviewing the latest round of WQIP and NPG grant applications for 2025.

State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The State Health Department joins Governor Hochul in recognizing the need to store and use road salt in a way that both improves winter road safety while protecting drinking water supplies and public health. The Department will continue to work with local health departments and our state agency partners to determine whether and where road salt is affecting drinking water resources and support programs and best practices to keep New Yorkers healthy, now and for years to come.”

About the Department of Transportation

It is the mission of the New York State Department of Transportation to provide a safe, reliable, equitable, and resilient transportation system that connects communities, enhances quality of life, protects the environment, and supports the economic well-being of New York State.

Lives are on the line; slow down and move over for highway workers.

For more information, find us on Facebook, follow us on X or Instagram, or visit our website. For up-to-date travel information, call 511, visit www.511NY.org or download the free 511NY mobile app.

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GUEST COLUMN: Legal changes could help reduce damage from road salt - Barrie News

Property owners using extra salt 'not because they don't care about our environment. It's fear of being sued,' says NVCA chair.

The following is from Jonathan Scott, who is chair of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) and a town councillor in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

It’s been such a hot summer, it may seem odd to read a column about winter maintenance in August.

But, as the Stark motto goes, winter is coming.

Every winter in Ontario, our roads, parking lots and sidewalks are covered with road salt. It’s an ingrained habit. For decades, we’ve equated “safe” with “salted,” and our winter maintenance culture has leaned toward the idea that more salt is always better.

It means extending the life span of roads, sidewalks and vehicles. And it means less corrosion, fewer potholes, and lower costs for taxpayers.

Local municipalities aren’t ignoring the problem. Many have invested in new technology, alternative de-icing mixtures and more precise application methods. My municipality of Bradford West Gwillimbury uses a mix of sand and salt, innovative application guidelines and technology, and we’re investing more than $2.1 million to create a snow storage and filtration system, to help filter pollutants out of snow meltwater before it leeches into our riverway.

These measures help. But a larger driver of chloride increases in our watershed isn’t the salt spread by municipalities — it’s the salt used by private contractors and property owners on their parking lots. And it’s not because they don’t care about our environment. It’s fear of being sued.

In Ontario, if someone slips and falls, the contractor or property owner can be sued, even if they follow best practices for winter maintenance. Without clear legal protection, the safest business decision often seems to be “use more salt than you think you need, just to be sure.”

More salt means more perceived protection from lawsuits. But it also means more pollution, higher costs and unnecessary strain on infrastructure.

This is why the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s board of directors joined other municipalities and conservation authorities to call on the province to change the law for better environmental conservation by introducing a limited-liability framework.

That means we’re urging the government to create a legal protection system that reduces legal risks for certified snow and ice contractors who follow salt management best practices. We’re also asking for a provincial advisory committee — bringing together municipalities, the environmental sector, business and industry, and the insurance community — to design and promote those best practices.

This isn’t an untested idea.

In New Hampshire, where a similar program offers a defence for contractors who are certified and in compliance with state-endorsed practices, salt use has dropped by as much as 40 per cent in some areas, without any rise in accidents.

Most importantly, this isn’t about imposing new regulations. It’s the opposite: It’s about cutting red tape by giving contractors and property owners a clear, voluntary path to manage risk responsibly. If you follow the best practices, you get legal protection and peace of mind. If you choose not to, you may continue as you are today, but without the added protection.

It’s a win-win-win. This approach lines up perfectly with the Ontario government’s priorities of reducing red tape, supporting businesses and protecting the environment. And it’s a rare opportunity to get ahead of a growing problem with a simple legal reform.

As winter approaches, we at the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority will be working with our partners at the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition to take this message to Queen’s Park. We've already met some of our local MPPs to advocate on this issue. If we act now, we can protect our waterways, support responsible contractors and save money — all without compromising winter safety.

Ontario has a chance to lead. The alternative is to keep dumping salt into our environment at unsustainable levels, paying the price later in degraded water quality, damaged infrastructure and rising maintenance bills.

As chair of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, I’ve seen first-hand how local governments, conservation authorities, and businesses can come together to tackle shared challenges. But chloride pollution isn’t a problem any one municipality — or even one sector — can solve alone. We need a provincial framework that rewards doing the right thing.

Winter in Ontario is inevitable. Salt pollution doesn’t have to be.

Municipal leaders advocating for province to take action on salt pollution - CambridgeToday.ca

A growing coalition of municipalities, environmental groups, and businesses across Ontario is calling on the provincial government to take urgent action against the widespread use of road salt, which they say is polluting freshwater ecosystems and driving up infrastructure costs

NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO SALT POLLUTION COALITION
*****************************************
Ontarians are well aware of wintry conditions on our roads and the use of salt to melt away the ice. Recently, awareness has been growing about the impact of salt on Ontario’s iconic freshwater ecosystems, and diverse groups have been advocating for a solution to salt pollution. This includes nineteen municipalities, two Conservation Authorities, and counting that support an approach to curbing winter salt impacts called “limited liability” ﹣a solution proposed by the snow and ice management industry, locally represented by Landscape Ontario.

As snow plowing businesses face steep insurance costs to cover the possibility of slip and fall lawsuits, some are getting out of the business. Landscape Ontario and the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition are advocating for a suite of tools that have been used effectively in other wintry places called “limited liability”. In a limited liability regime, snow plow operators and site owners both would follow prescribed rules to standardized operational best management practices, as well as participate in annual contractor certification programs. In return, they would have their liability for slip and fall lawsuits limited. This would reduce salt application rates, save money on salt expenditures, and reverse skyrocketing insurance costs for contractors. Currently, there are no provincial standards for salt use.

Nineteen municipalities have passed a resolution calling on the Province of Ontario to convene a key stakeholder committee to inform better provincial policy on salt pollution, including exploring limited liability approaches and establishing provincially endorsed Best Management Practices (BMPs). Reduced winter contractor costs from following provincially-endorsed BMPs would also reduce the number of unwarranted slip and fall claims.

Eighteen businesses and business professionals have already supported the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition’s advocacy for provincial action through a business sign on letter.

“The requested changes could save independent business, municipalities, and taxpayers money, while protecting the environment. We call that a win - win, if Ontario acts,” says Councillor Jonathan Scott, Chair of Bradford West Gwillimbury’s (BWG) Green Initiatives Advisory Committee.

BWG Council passed a resolution calling on the provincial government to act on salt pollution this spring.

Municipal leaders also care about the millions of dollars per year of infrastructure damage caused by road salt, such as accelerated deterioration of roads and bridges. The EcoFiscal Commission has estimated the economic and environmental damage of winter salt to Canada at $4.8 billion per year, which would prorate to about $2 billion per year in Ontario.

“Reducing salt pollution has long-term environmental cost savings, which we should all support, but it also would reduce the cost of infrastructure repair, which is a significant concern for municipalities,” says City of Waterloo Councillor Julie Wright, who led the charge to pass a resolution for provincial salt pollution action in Waterloo earlier this year.

The Council passed the resolution in April unanimously.

But it’s more than dollar savings and common sense. Municipal leaders care about the health of their local waters for recreation, drinking water, and for nature ﹣ and their residents do, too.

Thousands of Ontarians have sent emails to Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy, and Attorney General Doug Downey asking the province to take action on salt pollution.

In February, the District of Muskoka was the first to pass a municipal salt pollution action resolution, under the leadership of District Chair Jeff Lehman.

“Residents in Muskoka are passionate about the environment and water quality, as am I,” says Lehman.

“This is an important initiative, and a simple ask with much public support and upsides for small town economies and municipalities alike.”

Salt affects the creatures at the bottom of the food chain, which has negative ripple effects across water-based ecosystems, including weakening fish stocks and impacts to sensitive, endangered species like mussels. Ontario’s chloride levels have doubled since the 1960’s in the 400 streams and lakes monitored by the province. The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority has been studying chloride since the 1980’s as a contaminant of concern. Following current chloride trajectories, Lake Simcoe - one of Ontario’s largest freshwater lakes - would reach chronic salinity levels in just over 30 years, effectively collapsing the local food chain and making the lake uninhabitable for most species. As a source of drinking water and a recreational hub, this is an extremely worrying trend, reflected in lakes, rivers, and groundwater sources across the province. Lake Simcoe is just one example of many areas where ignoring this problem will lead to devastating consequences for people and species.

Members of the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition (OSPC) have been coordinating a provincial advocacy campaign for nearly two years and will be in Ottawa for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual meeting, Aug. 17-20 to meet interested municipal officials.

“Municipal officials have more power than they think, especially when we act together. The Province is hearing us. The more cities and townships who pass resolutions calling for provincial action on salt pollution, the closer we’ll get to real policy action,” said Dani Lindamood, who is the Campaigns & Communications Director for Water Watchers and one of the lead organizers of the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition.

“Our power is in our collective action.”

Lake of Bays township council approves changes to road salt usage | Spare News | pentictonherald.ca

Lake of Bays Township council approved a change in winter road salt usage during the Aug. 12 meeting.

• Samples from 80 of the 274 lakes in the District of Muskoka were tested between 2018 and 2022 and the chloride concentration has gone up by 1.5 mg/L.
• The concentration has increased 15-fold in Lake Muskoka since 1970.
• Guidelines for long term exposure are 120 mg/L but Queen’s University scientist Dr. Shelly Arnott says even 10 mg/L has been shown to negatively affect aquatic organisms.
• Given this information, council has approved an effort to reduce the amount of road salt used.
• The effort will include reporting on the use of road salt annually, supporting research on the impacts of road salt on the eco system, and helping with educating contractors.
• The council will also ask the province to develop legislation, including training for contractors, creating a best practices policy for the entire province, and to create an advisory committee. The committee would ascertain how to best protect freshwater ecosystems and other water-related infrastructure.

Henna Bhavsar is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering Huntsville and Lake of Bays for MuskokaRegion.com. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

Campus and its ice removal contractor found liable for slip and fall injury | Canadian Lawyer

The Ontario Superior Court has deemed a campus and its winter snow and ice removal contractor liable for breaching their obligations under s. 3 of Ontario’s Occupier’s Liability Act, 1990 (OLA), leading to injuries from a slip and fall accident. 

In Merkley v. St. Lawrence College of Applied Arts and Technology, 2025 ONSC 4368, the plaintiff filed a personal injury claim. He alleged that he was walking on a sidewalk leading to the entrance to a campus building with a medical office on the premises of the defendant St. Lawrence College of Applied Arts and Technology in Cornwall, Ontario, on Jan. 3, 2019. 

David Brown Construction Ltd. – the second defendant and the college’s winter snow and ice removal contractor – started spreading salt at seven a.m. that day. 

The plaintiff alleged that he noticed that the concrete sidewalk appeared wet, but believed it was safe to proceed because he could see rock salt scattered on the sidewalk. He said he stepped on the sidewalk, felt his right foot slip out from underneath him, and fell hard on the ground. He noted that he felt pain and heard his bones break. He ended up suffering a fracture due to the fall. 

The plaintiff’s mother and her partner, who had dropped him off at the campus, returned to help him when he called. 

His mother’s partner claimed that he stepped on patchy black ice covering the sidewalk, carefully shuffled toward the plaintiff, noticed salt on the walkway that had not melted the ice, almost lost his balance, and warned his partner not to follow him as it was too slippery. 

The plaintiff’s mother alleged that she was wearing winter boots with a soft rubber sole that day. She said she ignored her partner’s advice not to follow him, slowly shuffled over the sidewalk, noticed patchy black ice that made the sidewalk very slippery, and found it challenging to keep from slipping. 

The parties agreed that the defendants were occupiers of the premises who owed a duty to take care in the circumstances to ensure that the plaintiff was reasonably safe while on the premises under s. 3 of the OLA. 

Defendants found liable

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice said the issue was whether the plaintiff would have slipped and fell, but for the compromised or reduced effectiveness in ice prevention due to the defendants using pure salt at those temperatures, without sand mixed in to promote traction. 

The court ruled that the plaintiff showed no signs of contributory negligence and met the causation test on the balance of probabilities. Specifically, he succeeded in showing that the sidewalk would have been much less slippery, and he would not have slipped and fallen, if the defendants had used a recommended ice mitigation technique in the circumstances. 

The court determined that the defendants: 

• lacked a satisfactory ice prevention system for its sidewalks and walkways 
• departed from a thorough ice management plan in the service contract 
• instead applied pure road salt to the sidewalks in very cold temperatures when weather reports forecasted precipitation at freezing temperatures, even when salt was chemically ineffective 
• did not include ice melt or a sand mixture in the salt treatment on college sidewalks to promote traction, even when salt was not working effectively due to very cold temperatures 

The court accepted the evidence of the plaintiff, his mother, and her partner regarding the sidewalk’s condition. The court held that photographs, taken by campus security soon after the fall, supported their evidence, and the witnesses did not collude or falsely present what they could remember. 

The court found that the sidewalk’s patches of “black ice” were not easily identifiable, which made the sidewalk’s appearance wet and shiny with visible rock salt. 

The court accepted the evidence of the plaintiff’s expert that the Transportation Association of Canada’s guidelines applied. The guidelines considered salt ineffective below -10 °C and provided that salt alone was an improper treatment in the circumstances. 

The court noted that temperatures were -10 °C or colder for four hours leading to the time of the accident. According to the court, assuming that salt would have some effect at those temperatures, as the defence experts alleged, there would be a slipping risk due to ice melting and likely re-freezing. 

Related stories

• Justice served for slip and fall victim
• BC Court of Appeal denies appeal of injury claim based on grocery slip and fall

Draft 2025 Salt Management Plan approved for Bracebridge - Hunters Bay Radio

chloride concentrations have increased in 29% of the lakes sampled by the District and by 15-fold in Lake Muskoka since 1970

Bracebridge General Committee approved a new draft 2025 Salt Management Plan, in the August 5, 2025, meeting.

Although since 2004 Towns that use more than 500 tonnes of road salt each year have been required to report to Environment Canada annually about their intentions and to have a salt management plan, other issues have come to light.

Last May the town learned about concerns of the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FOTMW) about the impacts of salt usage in the area, as a part of their “Salty Muskoka” initiative.

It was reported that “chloride concentrations have increased by at least 0.5mg/L in 80 of 274 (29%) of the lakes sampled by the District of Muskoka between 2018 and 2022, and by 15-fold in Lake Muskoka since 1970.”

They added that according to a leader in global research on the impacts of road salt on lakes, Scientist at Queens University, Dr. Shelley Amott, determined “in Muskoka Lakes, some important aquatic organisms are negatively affected at chloride exposure levels as low as 10mg/L, far below the 120mg/L long-germ chronic exposure guideline.”

They continued that “roughly one quarter of lakes sampled by the District Municipality of Muskoka now have chloride levels above 10mg/L.”

According to the staff report, “Over the past 5 years, the Town has used approximately 1,070 tonnes of salt annually on municipal roads and sidewalks.”

Council contributed $5,000 to the FOTMW to help support their ongoing efforts towards road salt usage and committed to making ongoing changes for the Town.

Deputy Mayor, Brenda Rhodes, said the FOTMW is working hard providing information to the public at festivals and events “promoting that cup of salt and not a lot,” for usage.

Today Committee approved the Town’s Salt Usage Management Plan that outlined some key goals towards making ongoing improvements to manage the amount of salt used without compromising road safety.

Key goals include implementing “best practices” regarding salt storage, application and disposal, establishing and enforcing a clear policy statement, and conducting ongoing reviews of current practices, including an annual review of practices used and 5-year updates.

Initiatives will also include staff and contractor training, ensuring that vendors used for winter maintenance are informed about the impacts of road salt on the environment and Town policies regarding salt usage.

The Town is also required to provide a report on salt usage to Environment Canada on an annual basis.

Mayor, Rick Maloney, expressed a commitment to ensuring the town is “being environmentally responsible when it comes to our road network.”

He said, “It needs everybody on board,” and emphasized the importance of municipalities educating the public and contractors that apply road salt on private properties and suggested they can work with the District and area municipalities on it.

Councillor, Barb McMurray, said that it’s also important to educate kids about the impacts.

Staff will continue to monitor, provide training, and adhere to the best practices.

Province urged to address 'rising threat' of road salt pollution - Orillia News

The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) is calling on the Ontario government to take common-sense, pro-business action to address the rising threat of chloride pollution in local rivers and streams, which has increased by more than 300 per cent in parts of the watershed since the 1970s.

In a formal letter sent this week to the Hon. Todd McCarthy, minister of the environment, conservation and parks, NVCA board chair Jonathan Scott asked the province to introduce limited-liability protections for certified snow and ice contractors who follow best practices, and to strike a provincial advisory committee to guide long-term salt-reduction strategies.

“Local municipalities and conservation authorities have made significant investments in salt reduction,” said chair Scott. “For instance, my own municipality of Bradford West Gwillimbury is investing over $2 million in a snow filtration facility to help remove contaminants before they enter our watershed. Nonetheless, we continue to see rising chloride levels, especially from private properties, due to fears around liability and a lack of consistent standards, which leads to oversalting parking lots. We need the province to step in and provide pro-business reforms to help solve this problem.”

Excessive road salt in winter maintenance has become one of the fastest-growing pollutants in Ontario’s urban watersheds. When salt dissolves, it breaks down into chloride, which can accumulate in groundwater, harm aquatic ecosystems and increase corrosion in infrastructure. In the Nottawasaga watershed, without a change to reduce road salt use, these elevated levels will exceed federal water quality guidelines, and pose serious risks to aquatic ecosystems, drinking and agricultural water sources, and long-term watershed health.

At its most recent meeting, the NVCA board unanimously passed a resolution highlighting this growing concern and encouraging a provincial response with a limited-liability framework.

“Salt reduction isn’t about compromising safety; it’s about smarter, more affordable, pro-business practices,” said Scott. “Other jurisdictions like New Hampshire have proven that you can protect both the public and the environment, with their limited-liability approach reducing salt pollution by as much as 40 per cent. Ontario can lead the way, too.”

NVCA is committed to working collaboratively with the province, municipalities, industry, and environmental partners to develop effective, evidence-based solutions that protect watershed health.

Save wildlife, contractors from winter salt woes: Councillor | Toronto Sun

Dianne Saxe has a request for Toronto: Go easy on the salt. 

This week, Saxe’s colleagues on city council will consider a proposal from City Hall’s infrastructure and environment committee that urges the province to legislate “best management practices for snow and ice” and to limit liability in slip-and-fall lawsuits.

The proposal also calls on City Hall “to continue to minimize the use of road salt as much as possible while maintaining safety on roads, parking lots and sidewalks.”

It comes mere months after councillors debated the sorry state of snow removal in Toronto. In February, Mayor Olivia Chow said the state of removal operations after a long weekend snowstorm had been “just totally unacceptable.”

Saxe’s work was instrumental to the item on council’s agenda. Saxe, now the councillor for University-Rosedale ward, had previously urged the province to take the salt pollution issue seriously as Ontario’s environment commissioner.

Saxe told the Toronto Sun this proposal isn’t about the road salt that keeps people safe – it’s about “clear waste,” the “heaps of salt” that hit Toronto’s streets each winter.

“This isn’t about people not being able to get around,” Saxe said. “This is about someone slips and falls, they sue everybody, whether or not the contractor behaved reasonably.”

The City of Toronto already has a salt management plan and a web page with a list of tips to minimize use in winter. City hall recommends Torontonians “shovel first” before applying salt, and consider using sand as a traction aid. The federal government, meanwhile, has a set of practices for the use of road salt, finalized in 2004.

Saxe said despite those guidelines, there is a need for more. The municipal plan only applies to City Hall’s own operations, and solving the liability issue is “the province’s job,” she said.

It’s understandable that the companies err on the side of not getting sued – they’re often family businesses that are too small to survive a lawsuit, Saxe said.

“Once somebody gets sued, it doesn’t matter whether they were right or not, it’s going to cost them an awful lot of money, and lawyers are eye-wateringly expensive,” she said.

Saxe said despite Torontonians’ broad concerns about road and sidewalk safety in winter, she expects council to pass the proposal without any fuss. She noted a letter to council from the trade association Landscape Ontario as evidence that what she’s proposing is necessary — and not controversial.

The contractors “want to be doing a good job, they know what they’re doing is very harmful and they’re asking for a standard and protection if they follow it,” Saxe said.

The item before council says salt pollution causes “irreversible” damage to the environment and accelerates the decay of Toronto’s infrastructure. Saxe emphasized the harm to fish in Toronto’s waterways, and warned it’s only getting worse because the effects of salt pollution are “cumulative.”

The snow may melt away, but all that salt has to go somewhere – and much of it becomes part of the environment.

Another letter to council from an advocacy group, the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition, says 12 municipalities in the province have passed similar motions this year, including Cambridge, Sudbury, Waterloo and the District of Muskoka.