Our Place Initiative is working on some advocacy issues to help make Etobicoke a better, cleaner, greener place to live.

Our first proposal is to address the overuse of salt in Toronto and the GTA, which is a leading cause of pollution in our waterways. Now that the snow from the winter months has melted away, it is taking all of our extra salt with it, all the way down to lake Ontario, causing significant issues for wildlife, infrastructure, and potentially human health.

Road Salt Advocacy

Up Front, What Are We Proposing?

We do not need any more studies or working groups enacted by government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). We are proposing:

1. That the City of Toronto, in its Salt Management Plan, require all contractors providing de-icing services for the city to be Smart About Salt Certified.
2. Changes be made to the Source Protection Plan for the area covering Toronto, as allowed under the Clean Water Act, 2006, to reduce the overuse of salt on private property.
3. That industries near in the area surrounding Pearson Airport, the source of the majority of the pollution afflicting Etobicoke, launch Road Salt Reduction Pilot Projects, similar to what was successfully done at Ryerson University’s campus, to reduce road salt overuse.

The State of Salt (Chloride) Pollution

Currently, the City of Toronto uses approximately 130,000 tonnes of road salt each winter. This does not account for private property within city limits, or salt used by neighbouring municipalities that makes its way into Toronto’s watersheds (i.e., Mississauga, Pearson Airport, Vaughn, etc…). 

Health Canada estimates that “5% of aquatic species would be affected at chloride (salt) concentrations of about 210 mg/L, and 10% would be affected at concentrations of about 250 mg/L.” (http://www.waterkeeper.ca/blog/2017/11/27/winter-pollution-the-environmental-impacts-of-road-salt) Additionally, the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines (CWQC) outlines toxicity thresholds for chloride pollution (long-term 120 mg/L (chronic) and short-term 640 mg/L (acute)). 

According to the Toronto Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) last annual surface water quality report in 2017, four monitoring stations in Etobicoke reported annual average concentrations of chloride above the CWQC acute threshold of 640 mg/L. One additional station, on Etobicoke Creek, directly adjacent to Pearson Airport, near the intersection of Dixie Road and Courtneypark Drive in Mississauga, reported average annual concentrations of chloride of 1079 mg/L. 

Data from Health Canada shows that some samples taken from Toronto-area creeks had chloride levels as high as 4,310 mg/L. 

Chloride pollution across southern Ontario has only been increasing over time, despite isolated efforts by environmental NGOs. The two maps below, taken from the WWF Canada website, show the increasing proliferation of chloride pollution. The first map is from 2007-2011, the second from 2012-2016:

Impacts on Wildlife and the Environment

Freshwater fish can’t survive in water that’s too salty, and salty water kills eggs and larvae of wildlife such as mussels. Additionally, frogs and turtles die when salt levels in lakes and rivers are too high. 

Elevated chloride levels in freshwater can kill local wildlife by impacting oxygen distribution within the water, by directly poisoning the water animals drink, or by impact reproductive and food cycles. For example, research at the Stroud Water Research Centre in Pennsylvania found water a tenth the saltiness of sea water (as has been recorded at several monitoring stations on Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, and the Humber River) can cause the deaths of three out of four species of mayfly, a tiny insect that acts as a major food source for wildlife in water ways (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/freshwater-is-getting-saltier-threatening-people-and-wildlife/). Meanwhile, research from the Darrin Fresh Water Institute in New York shows that salty water can slow down the growth of young rainbow trout, which has negative impacts on their reproductive capacity (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/freshwater-is-getting-saltier-threatening-people-and-wildlife/). 

The presence of ocean-dwelling blue crabs in Mimico Creek is evidence of the impact of salt pollution on our watersheds (https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2012/05/26/blue_crabs_in_mimico_creek_an_urban_mystery.html). 

Additionally, it should be noted that chloride can have a corrosive effect on the pipes that deliver water to our homes. Across Canada, communities are dealing with lead in tap water that exceeds some of the notorious cases of lead poisoning in the United States. In 2008, tests on Toronto tap water resulted in 50 percent of samples containing elevated levels of lead. Shortly after this discovery, the city began adding chemicals to the city’s water supply to combat corrosion (https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2019/11/04/is-there-lead-in-your-water-canada-wide-investigation-exposes-chronic-extreme-exceedances-of-toxic-metal.html).

Current Practices

Use of road salt by private property owners and small towns is currently not monitored by the province. 

In 2016, the City of Toronto developed a Salt Management Plan, however this plan only covers municipal land (i.e., roads, sidewalks, government property) and does nothing to regulate salt outside of this narrow jurisdiction. Additionally, the plan has not been updated since the TRCA’s 2017 report, or the wave of advocacy led by organizations like the WWF, Environmental Defence, and the Canadian Environmental Law Association. 

In the wake of the Walkerton E. Coli outbreak in 2000, the Ontario government established source protection committees through the Clean Water Act, 2006 based on regional divisions. Toronto’s committee is the CTC Source Water Protection committee (the CTC committee). The CTC committee is able to set forward policies, in their source protection plan, that municipalities are required to comply with, in concert with the Clean Water Act, 2006. The current plan does not require actions for private roads and parking lots of less than 200 square metres. For such roads and parking lots that are greater than 200 square metres, a risk management plan is required. 

Oversalting is rampant among private property owners in particular, in an effort to avoid liability in the event of slip and fall claims during winter months. The Smart About Salt Certification offers opportunities for reduced liability.