Well, the power is still on, for now. I have seen the lights flicker twice since this most recent storm started. We are expecting another 15 inches on top of the two and a half feet already out there. If the wind doesn't bring down the wires, I'm sure the weight of the snow on the branches will.
While the power holds, though, I’m damned glad to be doing something other than clearing snow away from the sidewalks, cars and roof. The last week has been a long blur, where every day we were working in some kind of snow mine. Dig, dig, and dig some more.
Digging is required by law in most places in Maryland, and generally speaking an important way to keep your neighbors happy. There are those that don’t shovel the walks in every neighborhood. I always wonder, what the hell are they thinking? And do they know what everyone else says about them for NOT shoveling?
(Of course, some can’t shovel due to health issues. I’m always glad to see my neighbors ban together and help out anyone who is in that situation. But then there are those that just never get AROUND to shoveling.... what the heck?)
Once the sidewalk is free of snow, you have to keep it free of ice, and that is when the *fun* really begins in Maryland, because we get that awful thaw-freeze situation after almost every storm. It never stays too cold for long here. We go above freezing after almost every storm, making every sidewalk a skating rink, and many streets a nightmare. When this happens, people inevitably turn to rock salt to melt the icy patches.
The problem is, salt is not really all that great for lots of reasons. For one thing, it can be a real pollution problem. I have been out with some of the Sligo water quality testing teams. They say that after a big storm you can see the problems caused by salt increases in the waterways. (Last year, for example, I followed Mike Smith out to sample and wrote about it for the Voice.)
Salt can also be very corrosive, and can kill the garden plants near your walk way. It can cause car trouble. It can cause roads and concrete to crack and break. It makes dogs limp and yelp in pain when it gets between their toe pads.
People also tend to over use salt. They dump a whole lot on the walk and then leave it there for weeks. It would be a lot less damaging, I think, if people used it to melt the ice and then swept up the leftovers once the ice has disappeared. This would save both money and the environment.
Sometimes, people turn to other products in an effort to melt the ice or at least provide traction on slippery spots.
Kitty litter is one of the most popular options. Although it does nothing to remove or reduce slippery patches, some think it can add traction. Years ago, I was told by an ecologist that using kitty litter on icy sidewalks as an alternative to salt was a bad idea, however, because it is often made from clay, which can cause sediment problems in local creeks. (You might think it stays on your walk, but at least some of it washes away in the stormwater.)
Kitty litter can also become an indoor pollutant; when tracked in on shoes it can be released as dust and very bad for those with asthma. According to some sources, kitty litter made of clay is also often strip mined, which means you might be saving yourself from falling at a huge cost to the planet.
The internet is also riddled with stories of kitty litter gone wrong; most of them end with someone saying something about how the kitty litter turned back into hardened clay after the snow melted, and caked up their tires and driveway and became an impossible mess.
Sand is often used on slippery sidewalks, and although it can give your shoes something to grip onto it will not melt the ice like salt. In fact, some cities put out big boxes of salt on the major street corners and invite pedestrians to be sort of vigilante about things; if someone walks along and finds a slippery spot, they just go to the box and help themselves to a scoop of sand.
The problem with sand is that it, too, can become an indoor pollutant. Once its tracked in on shoes it is almost impossible to remove from floors and rugs. And just like the sand at the beach, it is really hard to remove. It gets ground into hard wood and can cause a lot of damage quickly.
Maybe I’m being overly cautious here, but ever since my kids were little and we built a sandbox, I’ve also looked at construction sand with a wary eye, because all the play sand sold out there is labeled “Asbestos free!” This of course begs the question: some sand has asbestos???? Not really what I want tracked into my house. (You could, of course, buy a lot of play sand to use, but it is expensive and not so easy to find in winter.)
At one point people got desperate in Baltimore where I lived several years ago. A rock salt shortage during a year of big storms caused people to use things like fertilizer on the icy walks! Ugh! A pollution problem for sure.
The best solution, it seems, is to shovel diligently and as soon as possible after a storm. Get the walks clear and dry quickly. Shovel all the way to the edge of the walk so that as the snow melts the walk stays dry.
Okay, sure. But in a big storm like the one we just had, that is not always possible. You would have to be superhuman to get the walks completely clear and dry in my neighborhood right now. Everyone has made tiny passageways through the snowy walks. So ice formation seems inevitable once the melting begins.
And already this week I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff on the walkways, which I know is well-intentioned. Everyone's trying to keep the sidewalk safe. But at what cost to the creek, and the greater watershed? I wonder. Just like everything else that gets dumped on our sidewalks, whatever we put out will get washed to the creeks, the rivers, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.
Perhaps the best answer is to shovel often, shovel well, and when you do use salt, do so sparingly.
If anyone else has better answers, I’d be glad to hear ‘em.
No comments:
Post a Comment