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Fireball at illegal Mexico pipeline tap kills 66

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Beyond the Byline:

<p>Jackson Township resident Richard Manta received applause from fellow stormwater fee payers last week when he questioned the impact of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation winter road salting on waterways.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re polluting the Chesapeake Bay harder than all of the municipalities are polluting it, and they&#8217;re not being held culpable for their actions,&#8221; Manta said during a meeting of the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, which is handling the new stormwater fee on behalf of 32 municipalities.</p><p>Based on nonabsorbent impervious area, the fee will fund projects to meet a federal mandate requiring less sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus washed into the Susquehanna River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, over the next five years.</p><p>Authority board Chairman Sam Guesto told Manta the authority has been in discussions with state transportation department officials seeking answers about what that agency is doing to reduce pollutants and whether there are joint projects that could help fulfill the mandate.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a perfect point. I have the same point. We all have the same point,&#8221; Guesto told Manta about the state&#8217;s role.</p><p>The concern is that salt could harm aquatic plants and animals. Guesto stressed municipalities and the county also salt roads they own.</p><p><strong>State response</strong></p><p>Rich Kirkpatrick, the state transportation department&#8217;s communications director, said his agency is pursuing several initiatives to preserve &#8220;environmental integrity&#8221; while complying with its primary concern to provide safe, passable roadways for motorists.</p><p>&#8220;PennDOT continues to employ nationally recognized best practices for the reduction and conservation of salt in an effort to minimize our impact on the environment while balancing safety needs for travelers,&#8221; Kirkpatrick said.</p><p>The department has been investing time and money researching more alternative, eco-friendly de-icers and salt substitutes, including manufacturing and agricultural by-products and manufactured composites, he said.</p><p>One recent <a href="http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/Documents/Research/Complete%20Projects/Maintenance/Winter_Roadway_Maintenance_Material_Enhancers_Field_Evaluation.pdf" target="_blank">highly technical Temple University study</a> tested and examined the cost of four de-icer products &#8212; Aqua Salina, Beet Heet, Green Blast and Magic Minus Zero &#8212; and compared their performance to rock salt and/or salt brine.</p><p>The state also uses various mixtures of de-icing and anti-skid materials to save money and reduce salt use, Kirkpatrick said. Salt usage is now monitored in each truck to help managers ensure standards are met, he said.</p><p>Kirkpatrick also noted his department must comply with the federal pollution reduction mandate for the Chesapeake Bay and two other watersheds covered in the state &#8212; the Ohio and Delaware.</p><p>His department is looking at numerous ways to meet pollution reduction requirements, including adding vegetation to runoff retention basins and channels known as swales and stabilizing road drainage discharge points. These projects could help slow and filter runoff and allow more settlement of sediment.</p><p>Stream restoration, tree plantings and projects with other entities also are under consideration, he said.</p><p><strong>Treatment specifics</strong></p><p>The rock salt used by the state is sodium chloride.</p><p>Salt brine &#8212; rock salt dissolved in water &#8212; is increasingly used to help reduce rock salt usage and keep more salt spread on roadways.</p><p>According to Kirkpatrick:</p><p>Salt brine is either sprayed onto pavement for pre-treating before a storm or sprayed onto rock salt as it is applied.</p><p>If applied just before a storm, brine will delay the accumulation of snow and ice on the pavement. Spraying the brine onto salt, known as &#8220;pre-wetting,&#8221; accelerates the melting of snow and ice and activates the rock salt, preventing it from bouncing off the roadway.</p><p>Salt brine costs significantly less than other liquid chlorides. However, the effectiveness of rock salt and brine decreases in extreme cold, which may require pre-wetting of rock salt with liquid calcium or magnesium chlorides, sometimes blended with agricultural by-products.</p><p>Last year, approximately 1 million tons of rock salt were used statewide &#8212; 42,553 tons in Luzerne County, he said.</p><p>In an effort to objectively compare annual usage when weather conditions differ from year to year, the state is trying to develop a weather severity index, he said.</p><p>&#8220;There are many variables that impact our approach to treating the roads for any given storm,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_rocksalt1.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_rocksalt2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_rocksalt2.jpeg</photo1><caption1>Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_rocksalt3.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_rocksalt3.jpeg</photo2><caption2>Forced to help fund a water pollution reduction mandate, some stormwater fee payers have questioned what the government is doing to address winter road treatment material. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Residents question impact of de-icing agents</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Impact of winter road salt criticized by stormwater fee payers