Don't Be Salty: The Impacts and Hidden Costs of Winter Road Salt

Join the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services for a discussion of the environmental impact of road salt and its use in Upper Valley towns. This talk, co-sponsored by the Howe Library and the Hanover Conservancy, is hybrid: attend in the Mayer Room or register for the Zoom invitation here. Winter salt is commonly used to melt ice on roadways, walkways and parking lots to keep drivers and pedestrians safe. However, the improper and over-application of winter salt has detrimental impacts on the environment and infrastructure. An estimated one million tons of winter salt is applied every year in New Hampshire resulting in over 50 waterbodies in the state having chloride impairments with levels exceeding criteria set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and adopted into New Hampshire’s water quality standards. Aubrey Voelker and Ken Edwardson from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) will discuss the impacts of winter road salt, chloride trends and data from the Mink Brook watershed, and smart salting solutions. Aubrey Voelker is the Salt Reduction Specialist and Green SnowPro Program Coordinator at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, working with commercial contractors and municipalities to promote winter maintenance and salt reduction practices to prevent further chloride impairments in New Hampshire waterways. Before joining NHDES in 2021, Aubrey was part of the animal care team at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and has experience in wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education. Aubrey has a BS in Zoology and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin. Ken Edwardson is a senior scientist at New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services overseeing the water quality standards and assessment programs. Ken has spent the last 25 years at NHDES developing methods and processes to interrogate water quality data to guide sound water quality decisions for New Hampshire waters. Before coming to NHDES, Ken spent a half dozen years performing tracer studies in support nutrient isotope work in Arctic rivers then dabbled in teaching. He has a BS and MS in water resource management from the University of New Hampshire.