Winter is right round the corner! Now is the time to be thinking about your salting habits this coming winter season!
Public and private property managers, those who manage or hire snow removal, winter maintenance contractors, environmental professionals, and public maintenance crews can learn how to apply less salt safely while improving operations by taking the MPCA’s Smart Salting Parking Lots & Sidewalks or Property Management Certification Training online.
Smart Salting for Parking Lots & Sidewalks Certification:
September 8th: Hosted by Stearns County Soil & Water Conservation District
September 15th: Hosted by Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
September 16th: Hosted by City of Hutchinson
October 13th: Hosted by Riley-Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District
October 20th: Hosted by Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association
Smart Salting for Property Management Certification:
September 16th: Hosted by Riley-Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District
September 29th: Hosted by Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
October 19th: Hosted by Crow Wing Soil & Water Conservation District
October 21st: Hosted by Ramsey Washington Metro Conservation District
November 2nd: Hosted by Freshwater Society
You may want to register for an online training hosted by a local organization near you, providing the chance to connect to local chloride reduction advocates.
Why attend?
- More efficient operations – Improve your winter maintenance practices
- New application materials -- De-icing and anti-icing
- Save money and time – Reduce salt use and annual infrastructure damage costs; becoming salt smart in all areas allows more time for other tasks
- Salt and snow storage improvements – Rethink usual habits and reduce chloride runoff
- Know your legal issues – Discuss liability and regulatory requirements
- Protect our water resources – Learn the environmental effects of chloride in our valuable water resources
- Reduce complaints - Tips for managing customer expectations
Imagine the benefits your organization could see from reducing salt use on your property! Earn your MPCA Smart Salting Certification by passing an optional test and get listed on the MPCA website.
Visit the MPCA Smart Salting training calendar to find a training that works for you this fall. Questions? Email smartsalting.pca@state.mn.us.
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Itching for the cold winter winds to return and dig in the snow again?
In case you're still in doubt about the value of our trainings - Don’t miss the brand new MPCA Smart Salting Training for Winter Maintenance Professionals promo video today! Hear the value of getting certified this fall from other maintenance pros that are using less salt and still offering a high level of service! It is possible!
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For those who missed the opportunity to train last month – you’re in luck! Several partners have generously agreed to host online MPCA Smart Salting for Roads Certification Trainings across the State this fall: September 11, September 23 and September 30, and October 7.
Who should attend? Local contractors, city, county, and state winter maintenance professionals who manage low and high speed roads.
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MPCA seeks chloride-reduction partners across MN to host online Smart Salting Certification Trainings in their community. There are a limited number of free trainings left for local hosts wanting to further salt use reduction efforts this year.
Host a Smart Salting Training(s):
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Parking Lots & Sidewalks - For private maintenance companies, public and private property owners that maintain their own surfaces or hire it out
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Property Management – For those who manage winter maintenance operations, decision-makers, public and private property managers and owners, business owners
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Roads - For city, county, or state plow drivers
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Level 2 Smart Salting Assessment tool – For public works managers, supervisors, business owners, superintendents, and other lead staff with knowledge of organizational salt application product use and practices
What hosts do:
- Actively promote trainings to local contacts and media outlets, outreach material development with MPCA assistance
- Manage registration and registrant list
- Introduce your organization at training
Learn more about the Smart Salting Training Program or review the Smart Salting Training calendar to register and learn about a training. Contact Angela Bourdaghs to schedule your training today!
October 5, 2020
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Attention Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permittees!
On Monday, October 5th, the MPCA will be hosting an online chloride discussion. This is an opportunity to join other MS4 communities and MPCA staff to learn about the new MS4 permit requirements for chloride and find out what other MS4 communities have implemented to improve their winter maintenance operations.
This is a great chance to get a step ahead on planning ways to meet upcoming permit requirements!
The next MS4 General Permit will require specific chloride reduction activities for permittees such as community education, annual training for your winter maintenance staff, proper de-icing salt storage practices, and other requirements. Some permittees must also conduct an annual winter maintenance operations assessment to assist in identifying de-icing salt reduction opportunities on permittee owned/operated surfaces. The MPCA Smart Salting Assessment tool is one way to complete the assessment requirement.
Several MS4s will share their experiences on how they have proactively benefited from chloride reduction actions ahead of the new requirements, and discuss the changes they have made that have improved their winter snow and ice maintenance operations, as well as lowering their environmental impact.
Why attend?
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Get firsthand knowledge about the new requirements: MPCA staff detail the new permit requirements, how to access guidance materials, find funding resources, and will cover the MPCA Smart Salting Certification Training Program and the Smart Salting tool
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Realize chloride reduction benefits: Its achievable to make the changes
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Feel more confident: Hear what other MS4 communities are already doing
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Learn and share ideas: Discuss chloride reduction actions and questions in a panel style Q&A
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Network to share experiences, lessons learned and connect with other water resource professionals in neighboring MS4 communities
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Discover new resources: Discuss available and needed resources
This is a free, online live-stream gathering to openly and informally discuss how we all can reduce the permanent effects of chloride pollution in Minnesota and protect our water resources. Register today! Contact Brooke Asleson brooke.asleson@state.mn.us or Cole Landgraf cole.landgraf@state.mn.us with questions and to register.
Visit the MPCA water permit holders and chloride website for updates on the permit.
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The City of Hopkins was one of several award winners at the 2020 Salt Symposium in August.
The City of Hopkins decreased road salt use this last year, with significant equipment and training upgrades and a pilot residential salt recycling program.
By adding two new tandem plow trucks to the fleet, the city was able to take full advantage of new salt application and plow technologies:
- Installed slurry salting systems
- Fitted road temperature sensors on trucks
- Upgraded select plows with Joma underbody plow blades
- Required driver/supervisor spreader control trainings with FORCE America
- Installed PreCise MRM which tracks a variety of plow truck data
New equipment purchases for operational efficiency
The city was struggling with consistency in service and finished product across plow routes. It became apparent more training, tracking, and data collection was needed to determine what was happening in the field. That drove the decision to install temperature sensors, PreCise MRM equipment and get FORCE America training. Now Operators and Equipment Services staff work closely together tracking and doing trials, especially with the new slurry salting system. The city can now more quickly catch issues with salting systems that are faulty or not set correctly. Also, because they are more involved in the decision and trialing process, the efforts have increased employee interest in reducing salt usage.
Salt recycling pilot project
A pilot salt recycling public education program began 2018/2019, after it was suggested at a MPCA Smart Salting Certification Training.
Salt recycling encourages residents to properly purchase, reduce, and recycle their de-icer products. Simply, a container was set out for people to bring their leftover sidewalk salt to recycle at the public works building. Education efforts revolved around resident awareness to avoid over-purchasing late in the season, individual and environmental impacts of allow salt to drain away in the last snow to get rid of it, and offered an alternative to throwing it away end of the season.
The main co-benefit to residential education was the city’s trial use of the leftover recycled salt. The city mixed what was dropped off with their road and sidewalk salt. By chance, the city ran out of salt in 2018-2019 due to delivery issues, which created an even larger desire to conserve salt. Because of the stockpile of residential recycled salt, services did not suffer due to supply chain issues. The city will continue its recycling program next season, hoping an earlier start will enable more residents to recycle salt.
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This is a bi-monthly newsletter produced by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Please contact Angela Bourdaghs angela.bourdaghs@state.mn.us with editorial questions or to share your story!
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