Every winter in Ontario, road salt is applied to our streets, sidewalks, and parking lots to prevent slips, falls and accidents. But we're using way more than what is needed to keep us safe, and it's putting our environment at risk.
Excess road salt washes off our sidewalks and roads into storm drains and eventually our lakes and rivers. Recent studies from the University of Toronto have found salt concentrations in some GTA rivers and creeks to be as high as sea water. Freshwater species can't survive in water this salty.
We must be #LessSalty to protect our freshwater.
Applying huge piles of salt to our public spaces is wasteful, harmful to the environment, and damaging to infrastructure. It takes less than a cup of salt to melt ice on a square metre of sidewalk or walkway. When it comes to road salt, less is more.
Action is needed to keep damaging road salt out of our waterways.
Take action and tell Ontario to be #LessSalty this winter!
Your message will be sent to:
Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Hon. David Piccini Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Ms. Andrea Khanjin
Dear Minister Piccini and Ms. Khanjin,
This winter, thousands of Ontario parking lots, roadways, and sidewalks will be severely over-salted. All this excess road salt is ending up in our lakes and rivers, damaging freshwater ecosystems. We need to be smart with our salt, and protect our waters from road salt pollution.
Our excessive use of road salt is turning our lakes and rivers into salty seas. Studies in some GTA creeks and rivers have found salt concentrations similar to seawater and show that road salt poses a year-round threat to aquatic life in Toronto's rivers. This is lethal to many freshwater species. Irresponsible salt application on our roads, parking lots, and public spaces across Ontario is to blame.
To prevent excessive road salting, Ontarians need your political leadership.
You can help keep Ontario's freshwater fresh by:
Setting a Provincial Water Quality Objective (PWQO) for chloride (salt) in fresh water;
-A PWQO is a numerical limit "recommended to protect all forms of aquatic life cycles during indefinite exposure and to protect recreational water uses" and are established when a defined minimum information base is available;
-The process for setting a PWQO is set out in Ontario's Water Quality Objective Development Process document;
-Enough data exists on road salt contamination and harm to ecosystems and aquatic life to warrant establishing a PWQO. As an example, U of T recently published a 2021 study that shows road salts pose a year-round threat to aquatic life in Toronto;
-Ontario can build on the science that has been used by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) to set short and long-term freshwater chloride guidelines for the protection of the aquatic environment. Ontario can use the CCME data requirements for setting water quality guidelines to set a PWQO for chlorides.
I care about Ontario's freshwater and the Great Lakes. We need to protect them and stop their contamination. Adding road salts to the Provincial Water Quality Objectives is the first step in protecting our lakes and rivers. It recognizes that chlorides are a contaminant, and empowers the Ontario government to act.
Sincerely,
[your name]
