(WXYZ) — Getting around metro Detroit could be getting dicey soon — with winter just around the corner.
It requires a lot of salt on the part of road commissions, but that salt isn’t always good for the environment.
The concern is that road salt, even brine, can melt into out waterways, hurting wildlife or even getting into drinking water.
RELATED: EGLE considers limits on mineral brine use; county road agencies concerned
That being said — not fully treating the roads — presents its own dangers.
As drivers get ready for winter, so are road crews.
In Wayne County this week there was training for plow drivers. We asked if drivers are being taught how to be environmentally conscious when using brine and salt.
"We’ve taken precautions in our vehicles and preprogrammed some of our salt settings," said Scott Cabauatan, deputy director of public services for Wayne County.
It’s a tricky balance — get enough salt on the roads to protect drivers, but also be environmentally conscious.
Salt alternatives — like beet juice — or sugar and corn by-products — are an option.
But not a cheap option.
"As we replenish our fleet, and start looking at new investments, we are looking at those things, but right now, we are not at that point where we are ready to make those investments," said Cabauatan.
Beet juice is something the Road Commission for Oakland County has played with.
But it created a new danger.
"One of the big problems with the sugar beet material, when we have a lot of deer in Oakland County, they come to the road to lick the salt brine off the roads," said Craig Bryson, senior communications manager, Road Commission for Oakland County.
Bryson also said it did not work as well as brine — a salt water mixture used to pretreat the roads and help rock salt stick to the roads.
These talks of alternative ways to treat roads comes after a bit of controversy.
Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy or EGLE proposed limitations on brine — a mixture of salt and water, including brine not being applied within 100 feet of surface water — or on bridges.
"There were communications problems with how this process was initiated, and we have learned from that," said Jeff Johnston, EGLE spokesperson.
Johnston tells me this a matter of getting off on the wrong foot.
He says EGLE is now working with road commissions across the state to create recommendations to safely apply brine and salt treatments.
"What we are doing is we are talking with and learning from and working together with the other stakeholders in this process," he said.
Johnston tells me they agree some of the alternatives — like beet juice — aren’t doing the trick.
He does not anticipate any new recommendations on salt and brine limitations for this winter season.
For both EGLE and road commissions, it’s a balance with no clear answers just yet.
"One of the things that we have into account is human safety, and while we are extremely concerned about the environment, we have to value human life, we have to balance those two. And every day human life will come out at the highest factor in that equation," said Bryson.
I did check in with Macomb County as well. I’m told they have been able to reduce their salt use by 30 percent by pretreating the roads.
