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Resident group urges Princeton to curb road-salt use after damage near Mountain Lakes Preserve
Summary
Wendy Mager, president of Friends of Princeton Open Space, told the Feb. 24 Mayor and Council meeting that recent municipal salting left visible deposits on private property and at Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve and asked the council to review technical guidance on limiting salt pollution.
Wendy Mager, president of Friends of Princeton Open Space, urged the Princeton Mayor and Council on Feb. 24 to reduce the municipality’s use and storage of rock salt after she found heavy salt deposits on private property and at the Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.
"The effects of salt pollution are cumulative," Mager told the council during the public-comments period, referencing the Watershed Institute’s SaltWatch program and the institute’s Winter Salt Week webinar series. She said municipal salt had been scattered on the driveway and into the grass adjacent to the preserve and that salt piles appeared on Cherry Hill and Stewart roads. "I was truly horrified to drive into Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve this morning and find the driveway white with salt, with loose salt on the driveway itself, and scattered liberally through the grass for feet on either side," she said.
Mager said the salt application threatens the native shrubs and plants the group has been nurturing — including a pollinator garden next to the affected driveway — and said the added salinity endangers nearby surface waters. She said she reported the problem to Councilmember McDonald, Deanna Stockton and Dan Van Mater in Public Works and asked the council to direct staff involved in municipal snow-and-ice control to review the Watershed Institute guidance and technical presentations produced during Winter Salt Week.
"I know we can do better," Mager said, and asked the council for an update on corrective steps before the next rainfall.
Why it matters: Road salt elevates chloride concentrations in surface and groundwater, can kill salt-sensitive plants and harm aquatic life; Mager asked the municipality to consult technical guidance to reduce environmental impacts.
Council response: The council acknowledged receipt of the report; the meeting transcript records the report of Mager’s contact with council and Public Works staff but does not record a formal directive or a scheduled follow-up from the council during the Feb. 24 meeting.
