Politics & Government

MCA: Salt Levels in Scott's Run Killing Wildlife

McLean Citizens Association says nature preserve threatened by salty storm water trickling from the Beltway.

The McLean Citizens Association voted on a resolution this week asking state officials to consider de-icing a section of the Capital Beltway with a low-salt solution to preserve wildlife in Scott's Run, a nature preserve in McLean.

Frank Crandall, chairman of the association's Environment, Parks & Recreation committee, explained high salt de-icers used on I-495 cause salty storm water to trickle down into Scott's Run, killing wildlife near the freshwater stream.

A low salt option "will save much of the wildlife in Scott’s Run," Crandall said.

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The resolution, which passed unanimously, also asks the state health department to monitor salt levels in the nature preserve.

"The health department does a certain amount of stream monitoring, particularly for bacteria contamination," Crandall told the rest of the citizens association's board. "It would be very easy to add salt water concentration … that way we would have some consistent reporting on it."

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