CFE’s Mark Green worked with University of New Hampshire researchers on a study assessing the impact of road salt on New England Streams. The project estimated that more than 10 percent of streams in the Merrimack River watershed, which covers areas of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, are impacted by high chloride concentrations as a result of road salt applied during winter. Salt concentrations can be highest in the summer, raising concerns about harm to freshwater plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and fish.
News about this study has been featured on WMUR, NHPR, the Boston Globe, and other papers. The full press release is available through UNH.
The research results are presented in the Journal of Environmental Quality in the article “Controls of Chloride Loading and Impairment at the River Network Scale in New England” (doi:10.2134/jeq2017.11.0418).