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DEC: Sunnyside Brook TMDL approved; agency weighing applicator certification to cut deicing chloride
Summary
Vermont DEC described how road and parking‑lot chloride runoff has impaired Sunnyside Brook, noted EPA approval of a chloride TMDL, and discussed a possible certification program for commercial deicing applicators modeled on New Hampshire’s Green Snow Pro.
Pete Loutham, director of the Watershed Management Division at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, told a state committee that chloride from road‑salt use accumulates in watersheds and poses a growing threat to aquatic life.
“Chloride is what we call a conservative substance,” Loutham said. “You put chloride on the ground, it's going to stay in the system, and it's going to move through the system.” He explained that unlike nutrients such as phosphorus, chloride does not readily bind to soils or volatilize and therefore can accumulate and cause chronic or acute toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Loutham said the agency targets…
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