Special Problems 



• damaging highways; and 



• corroding and damaging underground utilities such as water mains, electric lines, 

 and telephone cables. 



In drainage areas of enclosed coastal embayments, delicate salinity regimes may be 

 altered by the impacts of salt-laden runoff, particularly when periods of warm temperatures 

 induce melting of accumulated salt build-up. Pulses associated with heavy rainfall may 

 also be deleterious. 



Salt storage has been responsible for some chloride contamination of wells, but primary 

 contamination has resulted from application to roads. Due to the slow flushing rate of 

 groundwater, it is more susceptible to sodium and chloride contamination than surface 

 waters of the state, which have not yet been substantially affected by salting activities. Salt 

 has impacted groundwaters in the state, however. Storage areas have been inventoried, 

 and management recommendations were made to towns and the Depi of Transportation in 

 the Rhode Island 208 Areawide Water Quality Management Plan. 



Use of lower salt to sand ratio mixes in deicing has affected sediment loading, in ways 

 which should be accounted for in sediment management In an effort to determine the role 

 which deicing sand plays in sediment accumulation in detention basins, DEM conducted a 

 survey of towns in 1986/1987 to determine sand application rates. An average application 

 rate was determined to be 28.7 tons of sand/mile/year based on responses of six towns. 



Findings and Concerns 



Salt storage application practices recommended by the Rhode Island 208 Plan have been 

 unevenly applied. In part, resistance to the use of reduced salt-to-sand ratios comes firom 

 attitudes of public works agencies and snowplow operators, but motorists' expectations are 

 also at issue. Towns in the Scituate Reservoir watershed have moved to reduce salt-to- 

 sand ratios well below that used by the R.I. Dept of Transportation, but towns in other 

 areas of the Bay watershed have been slower to change. In 1981, the Division of Planning 

 estimated that 3 to 4 percent of stockpiled road salts are lost to the environment through 

 runoff or leaching annually. 



Recommendations to Towns and the Dent, of Transportation 



**A1I environmentally sensitive areas associated with present or potential 

 ground or surface water supply use should be managed according to the 

 principles and policies set out by the Division of Planning and the 

 Department of Transportation in the Scituate Reservoir Road Salt Proposal. 



In all other areas, use of road salt in winter highway maintenance should be minimized to 

 the greatest extent possible. 



**A11 salt should be stored in permanent closed structures located on impermeable surfaces, 

 to eliminate estimated loss. 



Recommendations to RTDHM 



By November 1, 1988, DEM should implement the Draft Road Salt Storage 

 Regulations. 



157 



