Adirondack Watershed Institute scientists for years have raised alarms about the wide-reaching harms of road salt pollution on Adirondack waters. The institute’s researchers connected state highway runoff to residential well contamination, documented salt’s role in changes to aquatic ecosystems and outlined the economic costs of corrosion damage to roads, bridges and vehicles.
All the while, the water at Paul Smith’s College, the institute’s longtime home, has shown signs of salt pollution.
The college’s water contains among the highest levels of sodium and chloride concentrations in the Adirondack Park, surpassing a threshold recommended for people living with certain heart, kidney and liver conditions.
Intermittent water discoloration bedeviled the campus last year, and college officials this summer notified students that drinking water had exceeded action levels for lead in December and May, indications of corroding infrastructure.
The college is not alone. Scores of public water supplies throughout the park—and hundreds more throughout the state—report elevated sodium and chloride levels, a sign of widespread road salt use, according to the findings of the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force.
The task force report released in September offered a sweeping assessment of the pervasiveness of road salt pollution in the park. It documented damaging signs of salt pollution in both aquatic habitats and drinking water sources and urged action to reduce salt use and repair contaminated
