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The Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College collected data showing that two-thirds of the wells it tested downslope from state roads were polluted by sodium beyond the federally recommended health limit of 20 parts per million. State crews spread salt to de-ice the roads, and it ultimately spills into nearby streams and leeches into the groundwater.
New York spent about $214 million in the last snowplowing year, according to New York's Office of General Services.
New York's Department of Transportation this winter plans to test better salt management practices for 17 miles of Route 9N north from Lake George Village and 16 miles of Route 86 from Lake Placid to Wilmington.
Lake Placid has three times more parking asphalt than state roadways, compounding salt pollution from snowplow operations.
A new study shows runoff from decades of road salting in the Adirondacks polluted more of half of the wells tested downslope from state roads and highways.
By Michael Virtanen LAKE GEORGE _ Public works trucks now dump almost 193,000 tons of salt on highways and local roads annually in the Adirondacks, which eventually join runoff into the region’s waterways, according to the Paul Smith’s College professor who’s researching it. Daniel Kelting, also executive director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, said the…
By Mike Lynch
Environmentalists, scientists, and public officials in the Lake George region are stepping up efforts to reduce road-salt contamination in the lake’s watershed. Eric Siy, executive director of the Fund for Lake George, said at a conference in October that thirty years of research has shown that the lake is getting more salty. “It’s an issue…
By Mike Lynch
Experts and officials look for ways to reduce the use of road salt, which can persist in the environment for many years. By Mike Lynch Standing next to a small, unnamed stream near where it empties into Mountain Pond on a cool September day, scientist Dan Kelting reads a sensor he just dipped in the water to measure…