Passaic River Coalition: Alternatives for Snow and Ice Management

Ground Water Protection Committee - Alternatives for Ice and Snow Management

In response to concerns about increasing concentrations of sodium and chloride (together commonly known as table or road salt) in private and municipal ground water supplies, the Ground Water Protection Committee (GWPC) has held two educational events on the subject. The first event, the Ground Water Summit, was held in October 2010 and introduced the topic to municipal representatives and managers. As a followup to the Summit, the GWPC partnered with Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation to offer a day long training course about alternative snow and ice removal management in September 2011. Below is a collection of resources from the two events.

Alternatives for Snow and Ice Management Course - September 15, 2011

This one-day course focused on winter maintenance practices that include de-icing options and operations, their environmental impacts, ways to reduce them and means to share services and reduce costs.

"Winter Maintenance Management: Implementing a Mitigation Plan that Reduces Environmental Impacts" by by Richard M. Balgowan, PE, PP, CPWM of Gannett Fleming (8 MB)

"Advancements in Deicing Technology" by Jason Fenske, Adam Donegan, and Kevin Jost of Cargill (878 KB)

"Innovations in Snow and Ice Management - Winter Maintenance Decision Support Systems and Snow Model Analysis" by Jay N. Meegoda, Ph.D., P.E. of New Jersey Institute of Technology (1.5 MB)

Shared Services Agreement between Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Millburn Township, New Providence Borough, and City of Summit for the Lending of Vehicles, Equipment and Labor (1 MB)

Ground Water Summit 2010 - Alternatives to A-Salt-ing Our Ground Water

On October 5, 2010, the Ground Water Protection Committee hosted a morning of education and information sharing for municipal officials, employees, and other interested groups about rising levels of salt in ground water supplies. Below are a few resources from the event, including presentations as well as news articles further detailing the problem.

Influence of salt in our ground water - Betsy Stagg, a Ph.D. candidate at Montclair State University, explains the potential issues caused by increasing levels of salt in groundwater, sources of salt, and case of studies about the problem.

FORCE America, Inc. - FORCE America's presentation describes products that track deicing equipment activity and can be used to improve efficiency. The presentation also shows brine production, storage, and spreading equipment.

February 3, 2011 "Pickled Pavements" The Record - It's not really pickle juice, but if that helps sell the idea, fine. Bergen County has garnered national attention recently . . .

February 8, 2011 "Millburn, Summit consider brine machine for snow removal" Independent Press - With just one truckload of road salt left and officials not sure when they'll get another load . . .

"Environmental impacts of road salt and alternative in the New York City Watershed" Stormwater Journal - The use of road salt as a deicer on roads and other impervious surfaces is the preferred . . .

(c) Passaic River Coalition (2004-2010) ~ 330 Speedwell Ave ~ Morristown, NJ 07960 ~ Tel. (973) 532-9830 ~ Fax (973) 889-9172 ~ Email: prcwater@aol.com