Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: The Integrated Use of Road Salt Management and Application Techniques
EPA Grant Number: SU835709Title: The Integrated Use of Road Salt Management and Application Techniques
Investigators: Smyth, Robyn , McCarthy, Emily , Baumert, Karen , Murray-Miller, Morgan , March, Rochelle
Institution: Bard College
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2014 through August 14, 2015
Project Amount: $5,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2014) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Challenge Area - Chemical Safety , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The objectives of this research were to (1) synthesize available research to develop Road Salt Management and Application Reduction Techniques (Road SMART), (2) create a web-based modeling tool that is broadly accessible and educational, and (3) create an educational pamphlet promoting Road SMART approaches for saving money and the environment. Outreach and education for Phase 1 of the project was focused on colleges and small to medium-sized municipalities in the Hudson Valley of New York. We expect this audience to be most receptive to our P3 message about wise use of road salt.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Our research suggests that long-term salinization of freshwaters in northern latitudes is a widespread and underappreciated issue that merits a closer look.
- People: Salinization of drinking water supplies is a real concern (e.g., Ferro), especially for those on sodium-restricted diets. Salt loading can be reduced without compromising winter road safety.
- Prosperity: Wise road salt use will provide direct savings in cost of road salt, but can also result in significant reductions in infrastructure damage and costs of dealing with drinking water and environmental issues that arise.
- Planet: Road salt negatively impacts wildlife, roadside plants, soil, and aquatic systems. An estimated 55% of what is applied is retained in the watershed and released over time (Kincaid and Findlay 2009 and references therein). This means that even if we were to drastically reduce road salt application now (an unlikely scenario), salinity will continue to increase as road salt applied in the past slowly flushes through landscape.
So far, P3 Phase 1 has resulted in the Road SMART website with webtool for decision makers.
The interdisciplinary team of graduate students at Bard College's Center for Environmental
Policy (CEP) that created Road SMART included a graphic designer working on Bard's MBA in Sustainability, two engineers working on environmental policy degrees, and a student in the joint law-policy program with Pace Law. Given that the integration of science, economics, and policy is central to the educational mission of CEP, the Road SMART team has developed no-to-low cost policy options that are based on sound scientific and economic reasoning.
Conclusions:
Road SMART Phase 1 illustrates the problems we face with excessive road salt use and highlights behavioral changes as well as policy and technology solutions to the problem of freshwater salinization. Phase 2 funding will allow to broaden the audience of our outreach efforts and incorporating novel research to aid in future decision making.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
road salt, salinization, sodium, chloride, drinking waterThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.