Residents call for end to calcium chloride use
City officials will be grappling with the best way to move forward on the highly criticized snow and ice control program well into the summer before providing a recommendation to council.
Enraged residents ranging from mechanics to a chemical engineer made their cases Wednesday to council’s community and public services committee that the current anti-icing application of calcium chloride brine is causing unprecedented corrosion to vehicles, garages and even mouse traps.
But the 617,171 litres of calcium chloride used this winter was eight times less than the previous year — having only been sprayed twice due to continuously bitter conditions.
This left councillors searching for answers on what the problem might be before they make a decision in August on whether or not to continue with the pilot project.
Ward 9 Coun. Tim Cartmell, a civil engineer, said he’s certain the brine isn’t the only issue, but also the amount of salt being used on city roads in general since the move away from sand.
This winter saw a 14-per-cent increase in the amount of traditional salt dumped on streets totalling 42,082 tonnes.
“Certainly salt will attack steel and have a corrosive attack,” he said.
“I’m not in favour of using this much salt. Some other plowing strategies I can get behind.”
Cartmell said it is clear residents aren’t happy and he has several questions about potential alternatives, such as reverting back to using more sand.
A secondary report will be released in August, expected to provide firm data from lab and field research on how salt, calcium chloride and sand impact road safety, infrastructure and the environment.
Chemical engineer Arthur Potts said he’s hoping these tests bring some conclusions on the drawbacks of calcium chloride.
He said he’s seen an increase of corrosion on vehicles resulting from evaporation of the brine, even with fewer sprays this winter.
Officials say the city’s fleet vehicles haven’t been hit by the brine the same way, but noted they are cleaned and washed three times a week.
“What they’re observing is what they’re observing, but you really don’t know all the background on how that particular part or that piece of equipment was maintained,” said deputy city manager Gord Cebryk on claims that the calcium chloride brine is causing damage.
“Washing is one of the pieces of maintenance that you need to do to any vehicle. The more you take care, the longer it’s going to last.”
Only seven official claims of property and vehicle damage caused be de-icing were filed to the city since the pilot began, the report said, but none of them were validated.