2009 Environmental Leadership Award Recipients
University of Minnesota – St.Anthony Falls Laboratory Research Team
Eric Novotny, Heinz Stefan, Dan Murphy, Andrew Sander, Omid Mohseni
Dr. Heinz Stefan’s goal was to gain knowledge about the effects of deicing salt, particularly sodium chloride, on water quality in lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater in Minnesota.
With funding from the Local Road Research Board and discretionary UofM support, Heinz Stefan, Omid Mohseni and three graduate students Eric Novotny, Dan Murphy and Andrew Sander from the Department of Civil Engineering were able explore the “big picture” of road salt applications in the Twin Cities, specifically the impacts of deicing salt on surface waters in the Twin Cities.
Beginning in 2004,Eric, Dan and Andrew followed their research concepts and conducted the studies. Five technical reports were produced-each laying out new and important information on the interaction of deicers and water in Minnesota.A final summary report gives an overview of the main elements and conclusions of the research. The reports are available on a website:
The teamgathered information on seasonal and long-term effects of road salt applications on water resources. They learned about the distribution of chloride concentrations in surface and in groundwater, about salt residence times in lakes and about trends in chloride concentrations of lakes and rivers.
The research found that a deterioration of the water quality of Twin Cities lakes due to increasing chloride levels is in progress. Present trends will lead to violations of water quality standards in some urban lakes. Shallow groundwater in the Twin Cities metro area appears to receive sufficient salt input annually so that water quality deterioration is beginning to be evident.
Dr. Stefan’s research group hopes that this work can be used by the industry to help understand the seriousness of chloride loading in our waters. The results are of concern and illustrate the need for change in the winter maintenance industry.
The recommendation is that serious consideration needs to be given to the reversal of current trends. Among the alternatives are changes in road salt use, rerouting of snowmelt water away from lakes and groundwater recharge areas, collection and treatment of saline surface runoff, remediation of shallow groundwater and lake salinity.
Throughout his professional career as a researcher, educator and consultant Heinz Stefan and his research group have devoted much effort to promote the understanding of how natural water systems, such as lakes, streams and rivers function, and how their quality can be protected or improved.
For their excellent research on Minnesota waters, Heinz Stefan and his team at the University of Minnesota, St.Anthony Falls Laboratory are presented with the 2009 Environmental Leadership Award.
Wilfrid Nixon, PhD, PE
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Iowa
Wilfrid Nixon has been working in the field of winter maintenance for 20 years, and in that time he has come to appreciate the complexity of issues involved in good winter maintenance practices. Clearly a priority in winter maintenance is the need to ensure the safety and mobility of the traveling public, but this must be done within various constraints, such as budget, and environmental stewardship. Mr. Nixon has been working since the Strategic Highway Research Program to spread the message that a good winter maintenance program is good environmental stewardship.
Wilfrid’s research has focused on the fundamentals of winter maintenance, from optimal plow design and operation, through anti-icing into the realm of information management, and how to make critical decisions with less than perfect (i.e. a weather forecast) information. But Wilfrid’s work has been more than his research. At an International meeting in 1996, discussions centered around the fact that too often people were reinventing the wheel because there were no good mechanisms to share information effectively across the winter maintenance community of practice. Wilfrid addressed this by creating the snow and ice list-serve, which, at that time, was cutting edge technology. The list has more than 800 members from around the world, and has addressed a broad range of issues relevant to winter maintenance. Some topics for the last year include windshield washer heaters, freeze thaw cycles and the high costs of salt.
Additionally, Wilfrid has been doing a lot of training and teaching about winter maintenance over the last ten years. One of the key things he teaches is that the chemical we use on the road is not there to melt the snow – it is there to break the bond between the snow and the pavement. The plows remove the snow from the road and the chemicals make the plows’ job easier. He also teaches that the amount of chemical we need to put on the road is a function of the pavement temperature, how long it will be until we get back to that point on the road again (the cycle time) and the type of winter storm. Using these three factors, a good decision can be made on the type and amount of chemical needed.That, in turn, allows us to put down the right amount of chemical, in the right place, at the right time.
For his leadership in winter maintenance education and networking, Wilfrid Nixon is presented with the 2009 Environmental Leadership Award.
Mn DOT- District 1, North Shore Substations of Two Harbors, Illgen City and Grand Marais
Steven Baublitz, Wally Wolfe, Loris Crimmins, Bill Fox, Jim Ward, Ron Goette, Ken Langanki, Tim Haselow, Hans Lund, Tom Cooper, Jerry Larson, James Roy, Chris Clemons, Sheldon Houglum, Scott Bystrom, Rick Skoog, Cliff Theis, Adam Saarela, Mark Schreyer
These shops have worked hard the past few years updating and changing their winter maintenance practices.
Over time, salt use was steadily increasing topping out at 4,655 tons a year in the winter of 2005-2006. Since this time, changes have been made and salt has been reduced to about 2,500 tons per year, a 55% reduction.
Winter sand is also decreasing from years that averaged 3 to 4,000 tons to the last few winters which averaged 1,000 tons, a 75% reduction.
To obtain these reductions each truck now has a pavement temperature sensor onboard and is calibrated every season for each material that it applies. Mechanical snow removal is always done and often, the extra thin layers can be removed with the underbody plows. Application rate charts are used and all salt is applied wet. Anti-icing has also saved a large amount of material use, especially in frost or frost warning situations.
Many equipment changes, deicer changes and policy changes have been made, but perhaps the biggest change of all is in the attitude of the people. Crews are going above and beyond to keep rates low. Each driver compares their route with other routes or other drivers on the same route to see if rates are consistent. A good line of communication is kept in regards to weather and snow totals during an event. A healthy competition has grown to see who is more accurate in recording. The more experienced operators have taken on the responsibility on their routes to coordinate material applications and communications between shifts. The motto “It is time to win” can be heard. This means the temperatures and sunlight are right to melt and it is the best time to regain bare pavement efficiently.
Healthy discussion takes place after every event to compare application rates and effectiveness of materials chosen for the event. Care is taken to apply very little, if any, material during an event, and plan regain during the warmest pavement temperatures after the event has ended. The operators don't feel like these measures are extra steps and should be considered common practice.
For their group effort in reducing salt use, the North Shore Substations are presented with the 2009 Environmental Leadership Award.
Aveda Corporation
Nathan DeJarnett
Over the last four years, the facility department at Aveda has been trying to reduce the environmental impacts of its winter maintenance practices. Reducing these impacts and being a leader in doing so is at the core of the Aveda mission.
“…is to care for the world we live in… we strive to set an example of environmental leadership and responsibility…” excerpt Aveda mission statement
The facilities department did much more than their required job responsibilities to reduce impacts at Aveda. The department participated in a grant that created the Winter Parking and Sidewalk Maintenance Manual and subsequent trainings. They have also encouraged snow removal contractors and ice melt distributors to attend the MPCA training courses. These trainings have helped their department communicate with vendors and contractors that Aveda is committed to reducing the impact of winter maintenance practices on their local watershed. Since they have attended training they have experimented with a variety of ice melts- both granular and liquid- on sidewalks, with the number one goal of safety always in mind.
Today, they feel they have found the right combination for their site-potassium acetate. In the past,they used 2 pallets of granular ice melt to maintain the sidewalks at the headquarters site. Last year they applied less than one. The department has a 15 gallon spray tank attached to a sidewalk snow removal tractor. The tank contains potassium acetate and is used to selectively treat high pedestrian traffic areas after they are swept. This practice has enabled Aveda to nearly eliminate chlorides from sidewalk maintenance and greatly reduce the amount of any chemical applied during snow and ice events. It has almost eliminated the tracking of ice melts indoors and lowered the time it takes to treat slippery walkways. Now they sweep the snow in one pass and spray the deicer in another pass.
For their parking lot, they switched from using a sand salt mix to using each product separately as needed. This has created a drop from 5-7 tons per snow event to 2 tons
The effort to find the right balance between safety and environmental sustainability as it pertains to winter maintenance will continue to be a priority at Aveda. As new technologies and products become available they will not be afraid to experiment with new product to see if they meet the high standards to be used on the Aveda site. It has taken work and some risk but they believe the program to be a success.
For their high environmental standards, the facility department at Aveda is presented with the 2009 Environmental Leadership Award.
City of Saint Anthony - Nomination for Environmental Award
Jay Hartman, Chuck Quigley, Mark Hermann, Paul VanDenboom, Ernie Hicks, Bill Johnson,
Merle Fischer,Ed Markel, Tom Owens, Tom Sullivan, Brady Panitzke, Jan Sorby,
John Trombley,Mayor Jerry Faust
For the past three years the City of Saint Anthony has hosted the MPCA training workshops on winter maintenance with assistance from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. These workshops were developed to educate municipal staff, private contractors and property managers about the environmental impacts of winter maintenance and teach them how to refine their practices without sacrificing public safety.
The city’s entire public works staff has attended the workshop and is now certified by the MPCA. The mayor has also made a special point to be at the workshops to speak about the importance of this type of change within the city and Minnesota.
The following changes have been made since participating in the training:
An increased understanding and commitment by public works staff to use best management practices:
▪Snow is consistently shoveled or plowed before applying deicers;
▪In the past a salt sand mixture was always used. They now storing the salt and sand separately and using the material that will give the best result based on the weather conditions;
▪Equipment is calibrated; and,
▪Street sweeping is done as early as possible before snowmelt washes materials down the stormdrain and into the Mississippi River and Silver Lake.
Significant reduction in the amount of salt applied:
▪In the past, the city purchased 500 tons of salt annually. Over the last few years (2005-2007), the amount has been reduced by 150 tons or 30%; and,
▪By using best management practices, Saint Anthony has saved $6,800 annually in salt reduction without compromising the safety of its citizens.
Equipment:
▪All materials containing salt now have coverage storage;
▪Road salt applications are now determined by pavement temperature; and,
▪In 2009, the first truck modification for pre-wetting applications will take place.
Promoting best management practices and educating city staff, leaders and citizens:
▪The city newsletter, Village Notes, which is received by every citizen of Saint Anthony, has featured articles each year about the environmental impacts of salt and sand and how to best manage snow and ice in the winter;
▪The mayor, city manager, assistant city manager and three city council members have attended a riverboat workshop that teaches about land use and water quality including a discussion about salt in a local stream impaired for chloride; and,
▪Residents have complimented the city on how much less salt is being applied.
For their overall best management practices and public education, the City of St. Anthony is presented with the 2009 Environmental Leadership Award.