I woke up this morning and flooded my damned car in the middle of 2 feet of snow. Great. Forgot my cell. Great. Late for work. Great.
Then I turn on the radio only to find out that the region is in an effort to conserve salt usage on roads to prevent ground water contamination.
Salt? Ground water contamination? Are you friggin' serious?
Just what is toxic about salt? I eat it everyday. If we're using a synthetic-gonna-give-us-all-cancer salt, how 'bout we use a different brand? Unless I'm missing something salt - any salt - makes snow melt. Snow melt good. Snow melt makes driving easier. Drive easier in this crappy weather makes Blogger happy.
Now some genius is probably going to comment on some damned negative consequence of salt being in salt water... So before you do let me preemptively reply: "SALT!!!?!?!?!??!?!?!?"
You may have heard of a spray called "roundup" that kills any green and growing plant. I have a standard challenge for people who decry its use. I will consume a cup of roundup and they will consume a cup of salt and we will see who gets sicker. Care to try it ?
ReplyDeleteRaymond Petersen
Salt cannot be used to get rid of 2 feet of snow in a timely manner. Nor does it work below -17C which is the freezing point for a super saturated salt water solution. Salt being in salt water is not the problem. Salt being in fresh water is. It also wreaks havoc on roads by increasing the melting point's temperature range from a single point of 0 C to a range of to -17 to 0C. The expansion and contraction as water thaws during the day and freezes at night creates potholes. It also increases the speed at which cars, trucks, bridges, light standards, and other metal objects rust. That said, as long as the increase in salinity is slow enough then there is little trouble for fresh water species. The trouble is when a tonne of salt is used to try to liquefy and evaporate 2 feet of snow.
ReplyDeleteJohn M Reynolds
Well, salt can kill plants if it gets into them - ever heard about "salting the earth" at Carthage?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this is a pretty ridiculous measure, especially when there's a ton of snow and people can get hurt by driving on dangerous roads.
Municipalites started using more and more salt as a way to save on plowing costs and to ensure that busy roads are driveable. But there is an issue with run off. I would prefer to see more sand used but most cities and towns especially big cites are broke and can't do things right anymore. Salt helps destroy concrete big time.
ReplyDelete(real conservative)