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Road-salt-storage options considered
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 27, 2010)
Road-salt-storage options considered
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township Trustees will have to decide which of two options would be less costly in the long run to solve their salt problems.
Trustee Steven Borawski said last week that a discussion with Eric Adams, an environmental manager with the Environmental Protection Agency, leaves the township with two options for containing road salt.
The township was informed in March that evidence points to road salt migrating from its road yard into neighboring residential water wells. EPA officials indicated that a decades-long practice of mixing salt and cinders on a permeable surface allowed salt to migrate into the soil and then into the area's aquifers.
After meeting with EPA officials over the summer, the township began to make plans for rectifying the situation, which includes the possible removal of salt-contaminated soils from the road yard and the construction of a salt shed.
The township hired Burgess and Niple, an engineering firm, to conduct testing of soils and area water wells to determine the extent of the salt migration.
Mr. Borawski said information provided by Mr. Adams last week may pose a dilemma to trustees, who have been discussing the construction of a road-salt shed. EPA officials have indicated that they would prefer any future mixing of salt and cinders to be done "under roof," he said.
In September, trustees began discussing options for a salt shed, as well as the finances available for its construction. Trustees have been considering either using a tarp-roofed building or a more traditional wood building. The tarp-topped building was considered the least expensive of the two options.
Mr. Borawski said Mr. Adams indicated that the township may be required to build a more extensive water-retention system if it decides to go with the tarp-topped building.
Mr. Borawski said Mr. Adams indicated that the EPA may have concerns with the tarp, which could tear. That would require the more extensive water-retention system, he said. The more traditional construction would not.
The township, which has about $145,000 set aside for the project, possibly could build the tarp-topped building with that amount. But, Mr. Borawski said, the additional features necessary could cause that figure to rise.
Mr. Borawski previously has said that a tarp-topped building has a life expectancy of about 10 years compared to 30 years for the traditional building.
He said trustees will have to decide whether to go with a tarp-covered building, which may cost more for water-runoff controls, or spend a larger amount for the traditional building and avoid the more extensive water-retention system.
Mr. Borawski has estimated that a traditional wooden building would cost around $300,000.
The township is looking at a 100-by-65-foot building that has a capacity of 3,000 tons of salt.
Mr. Borawski said Mr. Adams plans to meet with township officials at the site of the road garage within the next two weeks to further discuss the township's plans for rectifying the situation.
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