NEWS
EMC - Your Community Newspaper
Salt causing damage to more than just our cars? EMC Lifestyle - I had a discussion recently with several colleagues on the topic of road-salt and the damages it does to our vehicles. The biggest beef from the group centred on the piles of salt left by municipal trucks when stopping at intersections with the dispenser left running. To them, this represented a disregard for their property and a waste of resources. The consistent response from every town, city, and region when faced with residents demanding a less corrosive solution has been cost. Road-salt runs anywhere from $50 to $90 per ton depending on your location and any practical alternatives to date have costs that are exponentially higher. But are we looking at the right numbers? We all know what salt costs us in terms of shortening the lifespan of our vehicles and from my own background as a former municipal councillor, I can tell you that the last thing any public works manager is concerned about when it comes to winter road maintenance, is the effect of roadsalt on our vehicles. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to a 2006 Environment Canada report, roadsalt is responsible for much more than just car corrosion. It has been clearly shown to shorten the lifespan of bridge
decks and paved and concrete road surfaces. It pollutes water wells in the vicinity of roads and destroys trees and vegetation and poses a considerable risk to the health of wildlife and domestic animals. The little-known problem with road-salt is the amount of byproducts that it brings to our environment. Far from the refined product that appears on our dinner table, road-salt contains sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, lead, arsenic, and mercury in substantial concentrations. As well ferrocyanide is added to keep roadsalt from clumping. Thanks to this malicious menu, Environment Canada declared roadsalt a toxic substance over a decade ago. Mark Watson, CEO and president of Earth Innovations Inc. has been leading the charge to get municipalities, and regional jurisdictions on a road-salt diet. His company produces and markets a road-salt alternative called Eco-Traction, a crushed volcanic material that contains no hazardous substances and is safe for pets and plants alike. Mark argues (and yes he will admit that as a supplier he is biased) that unless we factor in all the costs related to roadsalt a municipality or region would be responsible for, we aren’t really comparing apples
Car Counselor BRIAN TURNER
to apples. For example, if (as the 2006 Environment Canada study found) 1.5 per cent of bridges require repair annually due to corrosion at a cost of $855 per square meter, then this cost should be added to the cost of road-salt, if it can be clearly shown that road-salt is responsible for 100 per cent of the problem. But how do we know how much of the problem salt is responsible for? One of the best ways to find out exactly how much roadsalt costs us is to look at the experience of countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland who put their roads on a salt diet a number of years ago. By studying their life-cycle costs of bridges, road surfaces, and parking garages after reducing road-salt use, we can come to some accurate conclusions. Then we might be able to take things with a grain of salt. An interesting and timely press-release hit my email box recently. The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) passed along the results of a Toronto area criminal trial that resulted in a Missis-
sauga man being sentenced to 32 days in jail for curb-siding vehicles. Curb-siding refers to the illegal practice of individuals who pose as private sellers to regularly sell used vehicles (mostly poorly reconstructed collision write-off units) to hapless consumers. By the time a buyer finds out what he or she has purchased and the substandard condition it’s in, the curb-sider is long gone and the consumer is out a considerable sum of money. This announcement comes at the time when other lessthan-honest individuals have taken to the internet through classified ad sites such as kijiji or eBay to offer vehicles that never get delivered and only serve to separate buyers from their money. One tip that experts offer that’s the same in both circumstances (curb-siders and internet scammers) is to never deal with anyone who is not the registered and documented owner of the property in question. They go on to recommend never purchasing a vehicle you haven’t seen
and whenever possible, get an independent inspection completed before handing over any cold hard cash. For more tips check out www.omvic. on.ca. If you have any questions, opinions, or stories on anything automotive please drop me a line, [By email to emc@ perfprint.ca or directly to bjoeturner@hotmail.com listing
‘Question for the Car Counselor’ on the subject line or by post to Record News Communications, 5 Lorne St., P.O. Box 158, Smiths Falls, Ont. K7A 4T1]. When using regular mail, please supply a phone number if you seek direct contact (due to volume I can’t always promise replies). Yours in service Brian Turner
Blue Box It
The simple act of recycling has more impact on the environment than the average Canadian thinks. The amount of wood and paper North Americans throw away each year is enough to heat five million homes for 200 years.
January
Óx% xä Storewide
SAVE
%
/"
R0011874873_0124
i>ĂŒÂ…iĂ€ĂƒĂŠUĂŠ7œœÂ?ĂƒĂŠĂ‰ĂŠ >ĂƒÂ…Â“iĂ€iĂŠUĂŠ Ă•Ă€ĂƒĂŠUĂŠ-Â…iiÂŤĂƒÂŽÂˆÂ˜Ăƒ
"
EDWARD REILLY & CO. >Â˜Ă•v>VĂŒĂ•Ă€ÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠ Ă•Ă€Ă€ÂˆiĂ€Ăƒ
ÂœĂ€Â˜iĂ€ĂŠÂœvĂŠ >“iĂƒĂŠ>˜`ĂŠ ÂœÂ…Â˜ĂŠ-ĂŒĂ€iiĂŒ]ĂŠ Ă€ÂœVÂŽĂ›ÂˆÂ?Â?iĂŠÂĂˆÂŁĂŽÂŽĂŽ{Ӈ{ĂˆĂ¤ĂŽĂŠ/ÂœÂ?Â?ĂŠ Ă€ii\£‡nnn‡Î{ӇxĂ‡Â™Ă‡ĂŠĂœĂœĂœÂ°Ă€iˆÂ?Â?ĂžvĂ•Ă€ĂƒÂ°Vœ“ ST. LAWRENCE EMC - Thursday, January 24, 2013 15