Overprepared? Leads to Too Much Salt and Lead in Our Drinking Water

At a meeting in Jersey City today, Governor Murphy responded to criticisms of over brining our roads when there is no snow that he has no time for over-preparing critics. DOT’s salt overload however can temporarily turn freshwater bodies – from where we pull our drinking water – into something closer to seawater and cause more lead problems in our drinking water.

“There is nothing wrong with being prepared for a snow storm, we should have trucks ready to go at a moment’s call. We are concerned with Gov. Murphy’s decision to constantly brine our roads when there is no snow can lead to environmental harm. The salt from the brine can lead to serious environmental and health impacts. Brine gets into our major drinking water sources. Chloride from brine increases lead leaching out of older pipes in our homes and out of our faucets,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The Governor has come out a strong commitment on getting lead out of our drinking water. If he is serious about making that commitment, then he needs to stop over brining our roads.”

High levels of salt in drinking water can have public health impacts to people with high blood pressure and heart disease, and also children.

“Salt brining on our roads can temporarily turn freshwater bodies – from where we pull our drinking water – into something closer to seawater. More salt in our drinking water can cause serious health issues like development issues, especially among children. This is critical problem for people with immune deficiencies and high blood pressure who are drinking tap water. We have school children drinking lead in their water and old pipes that leak out sometimes 25% of the water going through them,” said Tittel. “Dumping additional salt into our waterways will only increase health risks. It also harms fish and aquatic species causing environmental damage.”

The Oradell Reservoir in Bergen County is actually listed as impaired for salt by the DEP and many winter health advisories have to go out to residents of Bergen County. High amounts of chloride, the compound that makes up rock salt, can strip lead soldering from pipes in older homes, flushing those lead particles into your glass of water. From Toms River to Middletown, schools in New Jersey have repeatedly failed lead testing, resulting in water fountains being shut down and emergency lead poisoning screenings being scheduled.

“Brine gets into our major drinking water sources. The salting on Route 23 in West Milford by the Pequannock Reservoir is a major reason why there are major lead problems happening. This is part of a $8 billion problem that needs to be fixed immediately to keep the lead out of our homes and schools.” This is what exactly what happened in Flint Michigan. Lead leaches out of pipes affecting children especially,” said Tittel. “Because Newark, Paterson and Trenton have open-air finished reservoirs, they cannot add orthophosphates to the water to prevent lead from leaching out of pipes which makes the lead problem even worse.”

Salt doesn’t evaporate, or otherwise get removed once applied, so it remains a persistent risk to aquatic ecosystems and to water quality. Approximately 55 percent of road-salt runs off with snow melt into streams, with the remaining 45 percent infiltrating through soils and into groundwater aquifers according to a 1993 study. Slowly killing trees, especially white pines, and other roadside plants. The loss of indigenous plants and trees on roadsides allows hardier salt-tolerant species to take over.

“Salt corrodes metals like automobile brake linings, frames, and bumpers, and can cause cosmetic corrosion. To prevent this corrosion, automakers spend almost $4 billion per year. Penetrating concrete to corrode the reinforcing rods causing damage to bridges, roads and cracked pavement. Municipalities across the state have begun to use salt, potassium carbonate, and other compound brine as an alternative. We should look into alternatives for salt, not to brine so we don’t waste money and protect the environment,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.