Dirty Snow Can Degrade the Bay

Snow may appear to be as pure as, well, the driven snow, but in fact it is anything but.  As it falls, snow scrubs air pollution from the atmosphere.  Once it lands on our city streets and is plowed into massive snowbanks, it carries even more noxious stuff: road salt, motor oil, heavy metals, pet waste, even cyanide (which is present in road salt to keep it from melting).

Friends of Casco Bay advocates for no dumping of plowed snow into coastal waters (more on that below).  But land-based snow piles can also damage water quality: as the snow melts, pollutants are released into stormwater that can end up in Casco Bay, damaging water quality and marine life.

Snow Dumping: Some Facts

Did you know…?

Falling snow is polluted before it even hits the ground.  As it falls, snow scavenges particles from the air, polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from car exhaust and smokestack emissions, some as far away as Ohio.

Plowed snow can contain road salt, motor oil, dirt, pet waste, heavy metals, and even cyanide (present in road salt to keep it from clumping).  Snow dumped into the Bay sends a toxic shock of chemicals into the water that threatens marine life.

In Maine, it is illegal for municipalities to dump snow into the ocean unless the Department of Environmental Protection issues a wastewater discharge license for snow to be dumped into coastal water (to date, DEP has only issued 8 such permits).  There is no allowed snow dumping directly into freshwater.

New Hampshire and Massachusetts have also banned snow dumping into all bodies of water.

Casco Bay generates $450 million a year in clean industries – including tourism, fishing, recreation.  Dumping dirty snow into the Bay may save money in the short term but it will do long-term damage to our communities.

Alternatives to dumping snow in coastal waters

§         Move snow away from neighborhoods near the ocean to storage areas where it can melt gradually, allowing wastes to be filtered through the soil

§         Melt snow with a commercial snow melter that filters out debris and sand and directs the water into the city’s wastewater treatment system