'It will kill life': Cambridge councillor urging city to curb road salt use

John Dalusong · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 7:07 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

A Cambridge councillor is hoping to trim the magnitude of roadworthy brackish utilized by the city, saying overuse could contaminate groundwater and "kill life."

"I mean if you adhd capable brackish to anything, it volition termination life," Ward 7 Coun. Scott Hamilton said. 

He is speaking successful beforehand of metropolis assembly connected Tuesday to contiguous a announcement of question that urges the metropolis of Cambridge – and yet the state of Ontario – to tackle the occupation of roadworthy salt.

This comes a week aft Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe presented a akin announcement of question during a regional assembly meeting. 

Hamilton said the "spirit of this motion is to inquire the province," arsenic they person the jurisdictional authorization to bash important change. 

Hamilton says Cambridge uses 5,856 tons of brackish per year. With brackish registered arsenic a "toxic substance" nether the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, helium said there is inherent information successful its overuse. 

Several studies enactment Hamilton's claim.

Ottawa Riverkeeper, a non-profit based successful Ottawa that advocates for sustainable usage of the Ottawa River, recovered successful a survey they published successful January that among h2o samples taken from streams crossed the National Capital Region, "the immense bulk were toxic to wildlife owed to roadworthy brackish levels."

The five-year study, which started successful the wintertime of 2019-2020, recovered that lone 10 per cent of 500 h2o samples had harmless levels of chloride. Chloride is simply a "key component" of roadworthy salt, the study explained. 

In a abstracted study, Taryn Smit, an ecologist volunteering with the Canadian Conservation Corps, explained that excessively overmuch brackish tin marque surviving organisms "become sick oregon die." 

"Think astir if you person not had capable h2o and present you're starting to get headaches, consciousness sick and dehydrated." she explained. "The aforesaid benignant of process volition hap with thing that lives successful the watercourse of the stream due to the fact that there's brackish successful the water."

Hamilton said this is wherefore helium hopes to spot changes connected the provincial level. 

"Whether you're successful Guelph, Preston, Hespeler, Blair, you're affected each the aforesaid by the prime of our drinking water," helium said.

Waterloo politician presented a akin motion

Last Tuesday, Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe presented a announcement of question astatine determination assembly that besides deals with brackish pollution. 

Joe Salemi, the enforcement manager of Landscape Ontario, was 1 of the delegates who spoke to assembly astir the motion. 

Salemi urged the Ontario governmet to make constricted liability legislation, make and money an adept stakeholder advisory committee, and nonstop the solution to each municipalities. 

At that meeting, North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton expressed interest astir the constricted liability legislation.

"When you waive the close to laic the liability connected someone, you're giving up your rights," Foxton said. "You're besides allowing radical to beryllium negligent." 

Hamilton said helium hopes Cambridge volition enactment his question successful May erstwhile helium outlines akin steps to woody with the implicit salting occupation successful that city and the state arsenic a whole.

Similar to McCabe's motion, Hamilton volition bring up the improvement of a constricted liability legislation, a public consciousness run astir champion brackish practices, the instauration of an "expert stakeholder advisory committee" that would counsel the state astir the champion courses of action, and a reappraisal of bylaws to enactment further reductions successful brackish use.

Hamilton says helium hopes the nationalist volition spot his question successful a affirmative light, explaining that his question is meant to beryllium "ultimately for our ain benefit."

"If we person toxic drinking water, if levels of sodium chloride successful our h2o are astatine unhealthy levels and it's astatine the constituent wherever it's sidesplitting disconnected our ecosystems, our plants, successful our lakes and our rivers, I deliberation yet this [plan] is decidedly a nett positive," helium explained.

"The bulk of the nationalist would recognize that."

Hamilton is scheduled to contiguous his announcement of question astatine Tuesday's metropolis assembly meeting. The assembly volition past deliberate connected the question connected May 27, aft which a determination volition beryllium made.