About Ry Rivard

Ry covers water for the Explorer. Before coming to New York, he reported on water and energy for Voice of San Diego.
He can be reached at ry@adirondackexplorer.org.

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Comments

  1. Boreas says

    This is an ongoing train wreck. The state should be ashamed at shirking its responsibility in compensating citizens who find it necessary to use well water for poisoning those wells. Would this be happening if these were multi-million dollar estates near Albany? Flint MI received plenty of press about water quality. Apparently us ADK residents just aren’t that important.

  2. Janet says

    Just stumbled on your story. Thanks for posting it! To have judicial system be so arrogant and callous is a “Kangaroo Court”. Courts favouring road salts and ignoring dire facts ranging from water- air- soils- pollution, ruin of most everything else, plus harming health of humans to animals is definition of legal /judicial corruption.
    Among the stories on origin of using salts on roads is that in 1940’s New York State where salt mining had begun as alternative to collecting sea salt for use in processed meats and pork, salt was accidentally spilled on snow/ice which led to idea for expanding sales of rock-salts for use on roadways. At that time it was a novel and extremely rare event. It was decades before the recent 42+ years of increasingly aggressive applying salts to roadways that annually dump 25,000,000+ tons on roads in 75% of 48 US states that have snow & ice winter weather.
    All of the salts be they NaCl, CaCl, KCL, MgCL, CMA, their blends are all corrosive and pollutants, they ruin cars trucks, roads, bridges, walks, buildings, all infrastructures.
    Given the current political hot-air toward, “Infrastructure Bill” and it’s Trillions $ budget it is a huge hypocrisy in many ways do to facts that the political and judicial realms have dedicated decades to destroying our infrastructures with salts. It along with overly suffocating and very costly Red-Tape that have been barriers against upkeep of roads, bridges, and all infrastructures.

    Consider the hoopla on going Green political agendas are ridiculous and and only achieve the opposite by relentless continuation of mindless consumerism funded by debts. A definition of modern slavery no matter if viewed by liberals/ progressives, or conservatives.
    The business model of Wall St, Financiers, Bankers, Insurance, and all large manufacturing is PLM, promote, make, sell, obsolete, ruin, repeat,… labelled as growth. i.e., as to cars US & most First World: In 1945 10% of people had cars, by 1970 35% had cars, 2021 we are at car saturation thus 85% of population have cars. Thus car business models revolve on replacing cars sooner & sooner. Salts play a key role to ruin cars while medias (heavily funded by ads), lobbyists and politicians spew road salts are for safety. The myth of safety by road salts and ‘safe cars’ have invited and cultivated human obliviousness, recklessness, egocentric behaviours, road-rage, reduced caring courtesy and empathy, increased driving speeds. Add distractions such as on dash video screens, Iphones, iPads, in cars besides pedestrians mesmerised by them too the pied-piper is present and active 24/7.

    The political & business slant to EV cars assures all the existing ones are obsolete, and is another way to force buying new cars. All the while ignoring the huge amount of energy & materials required from Raw to Ready to make cars & everything else. Too many humans have been led and embraced mindless consumerism no matter what its label. Fighting: Global Warming? Climate Change? Going Green???? Are all merely Snake Oil Sales Pitch & Medicine Shows!

    Here are a couple weblinks out of hundreds that give attention to scope of ruin & pollution by road salts:
    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/how-canadas-addiction-to-road-salt-is-ruining-everything

    https://www.usgs.gov/centers/umid-water/science/evaluating-chloride-trends-due-road-salt-use-and-its?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

    Yes, as Boreas wrote, “On Going Train Wreck” it is much too kind given the scope and scale locally to all of North America.

    It’s worth mentioning that Europe has mostly sadly begun to copy the road salts policies and practices in USA. Out of many examples, during the very rare snow events that have occurred in Rome during its at least 3,000 year existence. During the February 18, 2018 snow event in Rome salts were applied to ‘melt’ snow on roads and ancient bridges among them was Pons Milvius over the Tiber river. Pons Milvius was built at least 2,200 years ago. It was mentioned by Titus Livius in 207 BC in his writings about Punic Wars.

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