This Could Be Biggest Danger That Snow Poses To Asbury Park

The harsh winters New Jersey has had in recent years have been rough on drivers. But there could be a lot more at stake for the state's residents than slippery roads.

The rising use of road salt has been linked to lead contamination in drinking water – and New Jersey officials and advocates say they're worried about the increased risk associated with using a substance that corrodes pipes and leaches lead into what we drink.

The state Department of Transportation recently reported that it used 4 percent more road salt by March 1 than it did in all of winter 2016-17 – and that was before at least four snowstorms wacked New Jersey and sent a lot more salt trucks out.

Advocates such as Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, note that corrosive water caused by high acidity or high chloride can increase the amount of lead that get into drinking water.

Acidic water tends to dissolve lead from pipes or solder into the water, and high chloride can make lead water soluble, according to the state Department of Health.

"A pinch of may be good on your salad, but not for your drinking water," Tittel said.

Road salt is on the rise nationally, too, and it's raising fears in a number of U.S. cities that have old pipes.

Substantial application of road salt in the U.S. began in the 1940s, increasing from an annual average of 9.6 million metric tons per year during the 1980s to 19.5 million metric tons per year from 2006 to 2011, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The state Department of Environmental Protection does not regulate application of road salt, said Lawrence Hajna, a spokesman. The DEP does, however, have guidelines of how road salt should be stored, such as requiring it to be under cover and on an impervious pad.

"Among impacts, salt runoff from streets and highways can damage nearby trees and shrubs, and potentially affect aquatic ecosystems when the runoff reaches streams and other surface waters," he said.

Tittel and others believe the situation has been especially evident in Brick, where officials have dealt with above-acceptable-levels of lead in drinking water for years – and road salt was viewed as the culprit.

Even Marc Edwards, a professor of water engineering at Virginia Tech and a leading national expert on lead in drinking water, has cited Brick as a victim of salt corrosion. He and others believe the problem started when saltwater from Superstorm Sandy started to corrode lead soldering in pipes from homes built before 1987, according to The Science Explorer.

Speaking to Patch, Edwards echoed his remarks in the publication, saying America is "putting 130 pounds per person on the roads each year in the U.S. and it’s already doubled the level of salt in many U.S. rivers.” He also said salt "can serve as a trigger for lead leaching ... We are researching this now. This really escaped my radar until these events.”

In 2015, the National Science Foundation gave Edwards a $50,000 grant to investigate Flint, Mich.’s water distribution system, according to the publication. He discovered that chloride concentrations in the city’s drinking water had soared from 11.4 milligrams per liter to 92 milligrams per liter after officials switched from the Detroit River to the Flint River.

Flint soon after got national exposure because of the widespread sickness caused by the lead that was discovered in the drinking water.

In Brick, Joe Maggio, director of water quality at the Brick MUA, acknowledged that the township has been dealing with the issue for years.

Indeed, Maggio told Patch that corrosivity in the water is under control, but during an internal investigation, the Brick MUA learned that the level of chloride in the Metedeconk River, where the township gets much of its drinking water, had doubled within the last 10 years.

The Brick MUA, he said, believes that chloride has been increasing in the Metedeconk because of road salting.

Maggio did note that, after cold weather events like snow storms, "we have the option and ability to switch to alternate water sources like (a) reservoir to ensure that our water is not impacted by the use of road salt."

Last year, Patch reported that Emma Havens Young Elementary School had 53 locations tested, and of those five came up with lead levels exceeding 15 ppb. One was a classroom bubbler water fountain; one was a steamer in the kitchen.

A level of 15 parts per billion is set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the maximum allowable amount, as lead in drinking water can have serious health impacts, especially for children.

Also testing high were the teachers' lounge sink faucet and the library bar faucet, officials said. The fifth spot was in the boiler room, a spot not used for drinking water. The four affected faucets were shut off, the district said.

Read more: At Least 25 N.J. School Districts Have Found Lead In Drinking Water, And List Is Growing

Lead in drinking water has been a growing concern since the Flint crisis gained national exposure in 2015. Districts such as Brick and Palmyra sought to reassure parents after higher-than-acceptable levels were discovered.

In a letter to parents and families, Carol Birnbohm, superintendent of Lenape Regional, said the "health and safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance to the Lenape Regional High School District (District) Board of Education and Administration."

"Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters the body from drinking water or other sources. Lead is most dangerous for pregnant women, infants, and children under 6 years old," she wrote. "Exposure to high levels of lead during pregnancy contributes to low birth weight and developmental delays in infants. In young children, lead exposure can lower IQ levels, affect hearing, reduce attention span, and impact school performance."

The announcements also a few months after former Gov. Chris Christie announced that all of the state's 3,000 schools would be tested for lead exposure and the state appropriated $10 million to help cover the costs.

The Flint crisis led to testing of water in some of New Jersey's inner-city schools; results from 30 schools in Newark found lead levels as high as 35 times above the federal action limit of 15 ppb.

New Jersey Future, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes sensible growth, redevelopment and infrastructure investments, released the report in August showing the first statewide compilation of the results of school districts' tests for lead in their facilities' drinking water.

The New Jersey Future analysis shows that lead was found in drinking water in districts of all types and sizes and in all geographic areas of the state. In virtually every case, remedial action was taken, such as shutting down the water fountain or putting up a sign that says "DO NOT DRINK."

Read more: At Least 253 New Jersey Schools Have Reported High Lead Levels, Study Says

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