Red road de-icing salt, mined near Redmond in Sevier County and used on many Utah highways, is "environmentally friendly" and less corrosive than other road salts, and it may take less to do the job, company officials say tests show.
The conclusions were reached after chemical testing of the product by an Ogden laboratory and by some officials who have used both the red and white salts."Although salt is believed to be the culprit in corrosion and concrete damage, we have demonstrated lab tests and actual in-field usage that it is the high level of alkalis, combined with sodium chloride, which actually does the damage," said Walt Jones, marketing and sales director for Redmond Clay and Salt Co.
The Sevier County salt, generally red in color, was found through testing by Analco Laboratories of Ogden to be three to 10 times less corrosive than conventional white road salt, the company reported.
Nonetheless, the Redmond company hasn't always found it easy to get its product used on the highways. About 60 percent of its production for highway salting is used along the Wasatch Front.
The Utah Department of Transportation contracts for use of the red salt. A controversy surfaced last October when the Utah Division of Air Quality said the salt was a source of air pollution along the Wasatch Front.
The problem hinged on an interpretation of "evaporative salt" and the amount of particulates emitted into the air by road sanding and salting. Evaporative salt was finally interpreted to include only white salt from the Great Salt Lake, however, and continued use of the red salt was authorized.
Salt company and state officials acknowledge that property damage is an understandable concern. But they said the alternative of not salting roads would pose a large safety risk.
Jones reported that the Analco labs determined that Redmond salt penetrated ice deeper and longer than conventional white salt and that it took 30 percent less salt to achieve the same de-icing effect as white salt. Provo city officials and those who have used the red salt at Weber State University in Ogden also agree.
Redmond Clay and Salt officials noted that Provo city maintenance supervisor Berton "Frank" Rewis reported that in some cases the city has had to salt streets two or three times with white salt as compared to once with red salt. Also, less salt was purchased during the 1992-93 winter for de-icing needs at Weber State although heavier-than-usual storms were experienced, according to Becky Curtis, buyer for landscape maintenance at the university.
Jones said the red salt is mined from ancient salt beds located deep below the surface. The deposits have been protected from the buildup of alkalis and pollutants and contain natural trace minerals that help buffer the effects of damaging fluorides, he added.
Those minerals colorize the salt, resulting in its red color.