Our fish life and waterways like Mimico Creek, Humber River and Lake Ontario are being harmed by tonnes of salt used to de-ice roadways in the winter.
Calls are underway for provincial and City politicians to reduce the mountains of salt in the winter dumped on our roads in a bid to protect our waterways and marine life.
Toronto City Councillor Dianne Saxe is calling for tougher Ontario laws to reduce the tonnes of salt used by contractors in the winter to avoid slip-and-fall litigation.
Her motion was considered by an Infrastructure and Environment Committee and goes before City Council at its meeting on June 25, 26 and 27.
South Etobicoke waterways including Lake Ontario, Humber River, Etobicoke Creek test poor for water and marine due to road salt flowing into the waters.
The mountains of road salt are injuring or killing our fish life, according to observers.
Tests have shown that salt runoff is a significant contributor to poor water quality in the Humber River and Lake Ontario especially concerning chloride levels. Excessive chloride disrupts aquatic ecosystems and negatively impacts the health of freshwater organisms.
“Excess salt poisons most freshwater ecosystems, and is having a serious adverse effect on Toronto’s rivers and streams,” Saxe wrote.
She said road salt is designated as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
It causes ‘serious irreversible, environmental and public health damage, as well as accelerated deterioration of public and private infrastructure.’
Saxe, a former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, said the excessive use of salt occurs from government contractors who over-salt to clear ice to protect themselves from slip-and-fall lawsuits.
Some of the tragic loss of fish life due to ‘toxic’ road salt.
“Toronto is doing the best we can to minimize over salting and salt pollution in our city, but we lack the policy and regulatory tools to reduce excess salt used by private contractors,” she said.
Saxe is calling on the provincial government to set best management practices, including the salt-smart training of private contractors who work with salt.
Her motion also seeks legislation that limits the liability of those who adhere to the provincially endorsed standards.
A group called The Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition is seeking a resolution from the City calling for provincial action on salt pollution.
They said similar resolutions have been passed in Muskoka, Georgina, Waterloo, Malahide, Sudbury, North Perth and Whitchurch Stouffville.
The City uses up to 150,000 tonnes of salt yearly depending on weather conditions. The salt is used to prevent ice formation on roads, parking lots, sidewalks, bridges and hills.
The province of Ontario uses about 2.2 million tonnes of road salt yearly, which is almost half of the salt used in Canada, which is five million tonnes.