City councillor asks administration to mull return of calcium chloride road-salt use on Edmonton streets

Calcium chloride could be used for snow removal again years after it was removed for environmental and infrastructure concerns.

Don Meister has worked on cars for decades, and he’s seen what road salts can do to vehicles: rust them away.

But the owner of the west-end Buddy’s Garage says he’s seen less damage since the city started applying sodium chloride to Edmonton streets in winter to keep snow and ice under control instead of calcium chloride.

However …

“Salt is salt, right? It’s going to do its thing,” he said.

Meister says the best way to make sure salt doesn’t eat away at your vehicle is to wash it regularly using a pressure hose to get inside the wheel wells and other spots where salt collects.

But some say sodium chloride doesn’t melt snow as well as the old stuff, which is why city councillor Jon Morgan is ready to reopen the debate about calcium chloride.

“I’m looking for the city to use as many tools in its toolkit to respond to our snow removal challenges,” Morgan, who represents the southside Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi, told media on Tuesday, the day he made a motion at a city council meeting to reintroduce the controversial compound.

Edmonton has been dealing with the impact of significant snowfall this winter, leading to more snow and ice making city streets difficult for drivers to navigate.

City council voted to stop using calcium chloride in 2019 due to concerns over its impact on vehicle undercarriages and the environment.

Today, the city uses it only on bike lanes and sidewalks.

Provincial contractors who maintain the city’s Anthony Henday Drive ring road also use the compound.

Morgan said he understands, however, that the original calcium chloride solution was much more concentrated than what’s in use now.

Still, chemical engineer Arthur Potts says the city needs to expand its scope of studies before starting to use calcium chloride again.

“In the time since this was last looked at in detail, the chemistry hasn’t changed,” Potts told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

He said calcium chloride is a liquid spread and goes much more into crevices and other areas, making it harder to clean away.

“It also spreads further afield, so when you start to look at environmental impacts, you look at how invasive it can be, and therefore, the impacts of that,” Potts said

Morgan says he’s waiting for city administration to bring forward their ideas.