Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
BURLINGTON — November in Vermont brought multiple snow storms — with some counties seeing a foot or more in higher elevations — sending the signal to plowing teams across the state that winter conditions are well on their way. On the forefront of snow plowing and storage is pollutant management.
In Burlington’s Public Works department, there’s a team of 16 that makes the rounds after the snow has settled.
With heavy snow storms, they often move snow to the sides of streets before coming back to collect it. Burlington’s Division Director for Maintenance, Lee Perry, explained the procedure.
“We’ll push all the snow out to the road, pile it, load it in the trucks, and then we will haul it to our snow storage facility,” Perry said.
The facility in question is an old fuel storage site at 702 Lake Street, around a third of a mile past the Andy A_Dog Skate Park and the Lake Champlain Sailing Center, down a tree-lined driveway. The wide area is buffered with berms, or rises in the surrounding soil, to hold all possible snow melt throughout the season.
With an area so close to Lake Champlain, it’s important to minimize the potential for road salt and other materials in snow piles to make their way to the water with melting snow. Perry says the storage site is “designed to keep all the runoff within the site, so there are bermed areas with ‘settling pond’ features where the water can settle and then just dissipate into the soil.”
Other Vermont towns with similar needs — putting urban snow somewhere when it piles up — have varying approaches.
South Burlington Public Works Deputy Operations Manager Adam Cate reports that they put snow near the city public works building on 104 Landfill Road.
Meanwhile, Barre’s director of public works, Brian Baker, says the Central Vermont city’s practice is to use a few small or medium spots throughout Barre to minimize the time and cost required to haul truckloads of snow across town.
Harry Shepard, Stowe’s public works director and town engineer, says Stowe moves its excess snow to the town-owned Mayo Fields. This land functions similarly to Burlington’s storage area, where the snow can melt over time. Shepherd says a portion of Mayo Fields is actually rented to a farmer for growing corn much later in the season.
Trying to ensure that melted snow is “infiltrating,” or absorbing, safely back into the soil is important. A few key pollutants are on the radar for municipal workers, environmentalists and policymakers to try and ensure piled snow doesn’t leak harmful chemicals and compounds into water systems.
At the Conservation Law Foundation, a nonprofit environmental group, Julie Silverman works as Lake Champlain senior lakekeeper.
Not only do trash and road salts find their way into plowed street snow, so do vehicle pollutants like “oil, tires and brake wear, and heavy metals from car and truck exhaust,” Silverman said. All these have the ability to stick to snow and melt into waterways.
Salt used to reduce icy conditions on roads and sidewalks is one of the largest and most immediate issues towns face when it comes to snow management.
When salt is applied, even in small amounts, it can damage plants and trees nearby and get into runoff that flows to waterways. Road salt runoff can also seep into ground water, harming drinking water supplies, Silverman said.
Environmental groups increasingly are pushing for alternatives to road salt to reduce environmental impacts.
Using sand or gravel in place of salt is a good way to encourage melting. Some towns have also been using brines, or liquid saltwater for a similar effect, to achieve an overall lower concentration of salt. These methods aren’t perfect though, and cities routinely have to balance environmental concerns with safety needs.
In Lee Perry’s 18 years with Burlington’s Public Works department, the city has plowed out from some major storms, but he notes that milder winters can be tougher than the snowy ones. While mild winters sometimes bring less snow and plowing, recent storms have brought more ice.
“We used to get an ice storm here or there, but it seems the past few years we get more rain events that ice up, and those are a little harder to control,” Perry said.
This variability in weather can complicate plowing strategies but Burlington is set to deal with whatever winter brings, according to Perry.
“We’re always preparing for winter, and by the way this November is starting, it may be here sooner than in previous years,” Perry said. “But we’re always ready. Our trucks are ready.”