News

On April 11th, 2012 Environment Canada released its long awaited review of the progress on the effectiveness of its Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts published in 2004. The report is available at this link.

Although the Code of Practice deals predominantly with road-related salt use, the Five-Year Review comments on the importance of addressing road salts used in other locations - including parking lots and sidewalks.

The report states- "The results obtained in the first five years of the Code are encouraging. Reporting was generally good, and the level of adoption of the Code by road organizations was high. Environment Canada will continue to promote the Code and encourage all road organizations to adopt it and to report consistently on their efforts."

The report makes reference to studies that show that the effective application of best winter maintenance practices has resulted in reduction of salt use by up to 45% in some areas and as high as 50% reduction in long-term chloride concentrations in groundwater.

The report also shows that, since 2001, total roadway injuries and fatalities have not increased as a result of salt reduction despite increased motor vehicle registrations and vehicle-kilometres traveled.

Despite the progress that has been made the report concludes that "chloride loadings remain a concern for heavily urbanized areas that have hight road densities, and large ares of public and private parking lots and sidewalks." Furthermore it states "that some site-specific situations may exist, where road salts used for private and institutional winter maintenance may be contributing significantly to the accumulation of chlorides in the environment."

The Smart About Salt Council continues to foster effective salt management on parking lots and sidewalks to reduce the impacts that excessive use of road salts is having on the environment.

A bill has been introduced in the State of New Hampshire legislature to limit the liability of landowners and salt applicators who opt for certification and employ winter maintenance best practices. The text of the Bill can be viewed at this link. http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/SB0392.html .

On January 9th, 2012, the Ontario Parks Association recognized the Smart About Salt Council and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo with its Protecting Tomorrow Today Award. The Awards were presented at OPA's Annual Awards Luncheon in Toronto.

The award was given "in recognition of your significant contribution to the betterment of parks the environment through your leadership in protecting sustainable underground water systems and water courses in the Province of Ontario".

Bob Hodgins, Executive Director of the Smart About Salt Council accepted the award on behalf of the Council. "We are working with a number of municipal parks departments and Conservation Authorities to improve winter maintenance practices and reduce the environmental effects of excessive salt use. We are honoured to receive this prestigious award" said Hodgins.

View Award

Weather Network features a story on the Smart about Salt program. The video is currently running nationally. Learn more about the Smart about Salt program and what is being done to help manage salt use.

Click here to read story and view the video on theWeatherNetwork.com

In the latest issue of Ontario Good Roads Association's Milestones publication, read what is being done to help protect Ontario's drinking water as it relates to winter salt and how the Smart About Salt Program fits in.

Click here for link to OGRA website

Bob Hodgins, Executive Director of the Smart about Salt Council, recently appeared on 570 News Radio's Gary Doyle show to discuss the importance of reducing salt use and businesses and contractors becoming Smart about Salt certified.

Click here to listen to interview -Gary-Doyle_Smart_About_Salt_12-1_2011-12-12.mp3 

The Waterloo Region Record newspaper writes an article on winter salt use.

Snow-removal crews urged to hold the salt

Across Waterloo Region, there’s an army looking up at the skies, at their thermometers and down at the ground.

The troops often fight throughout long winter nights, leaving roads and parking lots cleared of snow and sprinkled with rock salt by early morning.

Snow removal contractors are loaded with stocks of sodium chloride and are ready to do battle. And in recent years, some of them have learned how to get more bang for their buck while using less salt.

Read entire article at http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/636583

The November/December 2011 issue of the Grand River Conservation Authority GRAND Actions newsletter includes an article on the Smart about Salt program and the importance of managing our salt use.

Click here to read article found on page 2 of newsletter.

November 29^th, Ottawa -

Councillor Steve Desroches; Bob Hodgins, Smart about Salt; Tony DiGiovanni, Landscape Ontario; and Dean Karakasis, BOMA after a successful Smart About Salt Summit.

The City of Ottawa hosted a Smart About Salt Summit on November 29^th to foster greater public and private partnerships in promoting efficient salt use in the City. The City is working in partnership with local public and private sector organizations, local snow removal contractors and other key stakeholders, to move forward with salt management best practices as a means of protecting the environment and being fiscally responsible.

“The City is committed to being an environmental leader and steward through the adoption of innovative ways of reducing the amount of rock salt spread over the winter season,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “We are pleased to be working in collaboration with other jurisdictions to make smart choices about how and when we use salt to improve safety, while ensuring our actions are in the best interests of our residents and the environment.”

The Smart About Salt Summit brought together public and private sector groups, Smart About Salt Council, Landscape Ontario and the Ontario Good Roads Association, to discuss best salt management practices and the City’s ongoing work to  be better at managing the use of de-icing chemical on its roads, parking lots and sidewalks. The event was widely attended with representation from local colleges, universities and school boards, the National Capital Commission, the federal and provincial government, commercial real estate and the snow removal contracting industry.

“Salt is a necessary tools for keeping our roads and sidewalks clear of ice during the winter, but excessive use of this important resource can lead to negative impacts on our environment,” said Councillor Steve Desroches. “By implementing smart salt practices, we will not only achieve environmental benefits, but also reduce winter maintenance costs and extend the capital life of our infrastructure.”

John Manconi, General Manager of Public Works for the City outlined how the City has significantly optimized how it uses salt on winter roads and sidewalks to minimize the effects of salt on the local environment while maintaining safety. He explained how the City has had many of its internal staff that maintains City facilities take the Smart About Salt training and their plans to implement the program at 5 city facilities.

“As responsible members of the community, we at BOMA recognize the need to take a leadership role in advocating for smart rock salt usage amongst our members as a means of protecting our environment and the people we serve,” said Dean Karakasis, Executive Director of the Building Owners and Managers Association, Ottawa Chapter. “We are pleased to work closely with the City on this worthwhile initiative.”

Tony DiGiovanni, Executive Director of Landscape Ontario, speaking on behalf of the contracting industry said: “Landscape Ontario is endorsing the Smart About Salt program for 5 interconnected reasons: 1) the program raises the level of professionalism within our sector; 2) the program begins the process of encouraging standardization; 3) the program promotes environmental stewardship; 4) the program promotes safe operations and risk management; and 5) the program will give Smart About Salt Certified contractors a competitive edge where clients require SAS Accreditation.

Brian Stratton of the Mississippi-Rideau Source Water Protection Region explained the Ontario-wide initiative to protect Ontario’s drinking water from contaminants including road salts. He explained how they are developing policies that draw on the Smart About Salt Program to help protect vulnerable drinking water sources in the Region.

“I congratulate the City of Ottawa for its leadership in promoting public safety and environmental stewardship by hosting the Smart About Salt summit, and look forward to working with the City and the many attendees to implement the program,” says Bob Hodgins, Executive Director of the Smart About Salt Council.