The Chesapeake Bay area is experiencing its second major snowstorm this winter, and it’s only the start of February. With each snow, crews around the state are forced to treat roads and sidewalks with salt and chemicals. But when the snow begins to melt these substances can end up going into the Chesapeake Bay.

Many articles have examined this issue but one in particular, “Snow, Road Salt, and the Chesapeake Bay,” by Tom Schueler from the Center for Watershed Protection, is rather informative. It explains that the natural salt in the bay is different from the salt used on roads because the latter salt has chloride and other elements in it that can have a negative impact on the environment.

A main concern of many environmentalists of this “snow runoff” is how it is affecting aquatic life and the treasured seafood of the bay. Chloride can be very harmful to aquatic life, but as Schueler points out, there has not been enough testing on this topic specifically in the Chesapeake Bay. In Canada, however, they have “designated road salt as an environmental toxin.”

Perhaps next year, environmentalists will think about asking for legislation regulating salt use or ways of helping prevent runoff into the bay.