Salt-free in Flagstaff
Coconino County, Arizona, stopped using salt-based de-icing chemicals on its roads in 2013 to protect the area’s signature ponderosa pine trees.
Coconino County Public Works spokesman Marc Della Rocca said the county tested road salts on about 13 miles of pavement near Flagstaff as part of a five-year pilot program.
Once tree damage was documented in the test area, the county’s board of supervisors voted to discontinue using road salts and go back to putting cinders on roads covered in snow and ice.
As it happens, black cinders are plentiful in Northern Arizona, which used to be one of the most volcanically active regions in the United States.
The Arizona Department of Transportation still uses brine and other salt-based products to melt snow and ice on highways in Coconino County and elsewhere in Northern Arizona.
ADOT spokesman Ryan Harding said the department employs computer-controlled spreaders and extensive operator training to limit the amount of de-icing product used and avoid environmentally sensitive areas.
The Nevada Department of Transportation also uses salt-based chemicals to clear ice from the highways on Mount Charleston, but state road crews stopped using such products last year upstream from residences in Kyle Canyon after elevated levels of chloride were detected in the community’s water supply.