Members of the Alaska Department of Transportation will attend the Borough Assembly meeting in Homer on September 19th to follow up on the ongoing discussion over the “salt brine” used on peninsula roads during winter. DOT legislative liaison, Andy Mills, will be present to provide an update on the department’s response to concerns raised by residents of the Kenai over the sodium chloride salt brine compound over the last several months.
“If the citizens of the area are concerned, and there’s a petition that shows that, it’s incumbent upon us as public servants to at least get back to folks and let them know what it is we are looking at and what we can review and look at for options,” said Mills in a call to KSRM.
Concerns over the brine’s use have been raised by folks on the peninsula for some time now, beginning with automotive shop owners and professionals who initiated the petition mentioned by Mills. The concerns center around corrosive effects the brine has on vehicle components, like brakes, wiring, and frames. The issue reached its greatest visibility during an assembly meeting last month when representatives from the auto professionals group gave public testimony regarding their concerns.
“I’ve seen more brake line failures, electrical failures, wire harness failures, frame failures than I’ve seen in 19 years,” said Robert Collins at the time.
It was during the August 1st assembly meeting that Mills committed to a DOT review a the brine’s usage, a commitment the DOT has thus far followed through. According to Mills, the department will be conducting a full analysis of the brine. That includes considerations on potential alternatives for mitigating winter road ice.
“We’re looking internally at the different practices among M&O [Maintenance & Operation] stations to ensure that we’re understanding how everyone is using brine,” Mills said, and also acknowledged that not all boroughs around the state even use the sodium chloride mixture for road maintenance. “Again, it’s been pointed out by folks that the Matsu M&O office and DOT does not utilize brine, they use a combination of sand and salt. So, just doing a contrast between those different practices, and of course if that’s an alternative strategy that is desired by folks on the peninsula that we would look to get a cost estimate and time frame in mind so folks can understand what that would look like.”
Mills does temper expectations of the time frame for the DOT analysis, cautioning that it may not be up to the public’s level of desired expediency. “A more in-depth data analysis and a literature review is going to take a substantial amount of time compared to what I know folks are looking for from the [AK DOT]. So, we consider this an interim response back to the area and the request of the citizens to take a hard look at this situation and see if there’s something we can entertain as an alternative strategy and bring that back.”
According to Mills, the analysis has been saddled with a one year timetable. So, residents of the peninsula shouldn’t expect any changes in M&O road ice mitigation practices this coming winter.
Mills also said the DOT Commissioner himself, Ryan Anderson, intends to be present at the September 19th assembly meeting as well, although scheduling conflicts may prevent his attendance.
The meeting will be held at 6pm in the council chambers of Homer City Hall. Members of the public welcome attend, or join via Zoom (Meeting ID: 884 7373 9641 Passcode: 671108).