Environment and Climate Change Canada says it does not know to what extent road salt, an all-Canadian contaminant, is causing ecological damage in Canada.
Federal researchers estimate it poses a greater environmental threat than fracking, though tonnes of it are used yearly in Ontario and Québec, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Salt application for de-icing purposes has been recognized as a major source of contamination,” said a department report. “There is still room for improvement.”
In 1995, the Environment Department placed road salt on a “priority substance list.” It did not, however, list the ubiquitous mineral as being toxic, although federal research undertaken in 2001 concluded salt did pose a risk to “plants, animals, birds, fish and lake stream ecosystems and groundwater.”
Almost all of the 4.9 million tonnes used on Canada’s roadways each year are used in Ontario. Referring to accurate usage data in the country, the department said it was “difficult to evaluate the quantity” because neighbouring Québec does not report usage data. The last figures submitted by Québec in 2017 put salt usage in the province at 1.5 million tonnes annually.
“Approximately 90 to 95 percent of Canada’s salt consumption is for de-icing and chemical production.”
“There are no comprehensive studies on chloride concentrations across Canada,” said the report. “Many recent studies investigating long-term trends in chloride concentrations in certain North American freshwater ecosystems have shown increasing chloride concentrations.”
A review of the report concluded that “the assessment conducted in 2001 showed that the quantity of road salts used in Canada was ... responsible for harmful adverse effects on aquatic species, terrestrial vegetation, wildlife mortality and soil chemistry. The implementation of best practices in the management of road salt is key to protect the environment from the negative impacts of road salts because appropriate salt application techniques vary from region to region and there is no one-size fits all solution for road salt application across Canada.”
Canadian municipalities apparently use road salt excessively without regard for public safety or considerations about environmental damage, wrote researchers.
“There is a societal expectation of bare pavement and sidewalks throughout winter,” said researchers. “Decisions around the application of salt, including how much to apply, are often driven by the perception of risk and liability and may lead to over-salting.”
Besides road salt, several chemicals in everyday use, including farm fertilizer, are more hazardous to the environment than shale gas fracking, according to a 2013 Access to Information report acquired by the Department of Natural Resources.
“In Canada, surface activities have been identified as posing the largest risks to groundwater, for example municipal landfills, industrial waste disposal sites, leaking gasoline storage tanks, leaking septic tanks, accidental spills, runoff from road salt, fertilizer, pesticides, livestock wastes, et cetera,” said the 2013 report.
“Hydraulic fracturing using the technologies employed in Canada and governed by Canadian regulatory requirements has not resulted in significant negative environmental impacts,” said the report, “Shale Gas Development in Canada: An NRCan Perspective.”
