Proper dust control measures on wetland roads preserve ecosystems and create a better visitor experience. They also reduce your wetlands erosion control maintenance costs, allowing your budget to go further.
THE PROBLEM: HOW FUGITIVE ROAD DUST HARMS OUR ENVIRONMENT
Uncontrolled road dust impacts the surrounding ecosystem in several ways. Unfortunately, many of the common ways used to try to control dust on wetland roads actually compounds the problem.
Midwest’s leading dust control product, EnviroKleen, has been tested at multiple wildlife refuges, and has been demonstrably proven to effectively control dust on wetland roads while being completely safe for the environment.
The United States Geological Survey set up a study at the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge to quantitatively evaluate the effects of various dust control products. The focus of the study was on the two endpoints most important to road managers: dust production and surface distresses.
EnviroKleen achieved a 99% reduction in dust for the first eleven months after application. At nineteen months, the dust levels were still down 71%, demonstrating EnviroKleen’s long-lasting dust-controlling ability. Rutting and potholes were also significantly down for fifteen months after application compared to the control road. The treated surface did not require maintenance blading for seventeen months post-application.
Finally, tests were done to evaluate EnvironKleen’s effect on local fish and invertebrates. No negative effect on either was detected. Testing also demonstrated that EnvironKleen did not migrate to adjacent untreated areas, an important consideration in environmentally sensitive areas.
View the Visual Project Summary below along with the Image Gallery of project photos.
The United States Geological Survey also conducted a study at the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to determine the effect on dust production, surface distress and reduction in maintenance occurrences of multiple dust control products.
Over a twelve-month period, EnviroKleen reduced dust by 95%. Four months after application, road surface conditions were rated. The section of road treated with EnviroKleen had an improved surface condition compared to the untreated control.
Normal maintenance required blading monthly, or even more often during busy seasons. After applying EnviroKleen, the blading maintenance schedule was reduced from twelve or more times a year to between three and four times a year.
On the environmental side of the study, survival rates of juvenile rainbow trout exposed to leachates from aggregate containing EnvironKleen were 100%. There were no noticeable negative effects on the vegetation and soil surrounding the road. Testing also demonstrated that EnvironKleen did not migrate to adjacent untreated areas, an important consideration in environmentally sensitive areas.
Midwest’s proven wetlands erosion control programs have reduced dust by between 80-95%.
According to one study, the difference between areas with higher traffic volume and lower traffic volume is as much as a whole extra pound of dust per square meter.1 Another source states that “For every vehicle traveling one mile of unpaved roadway once a day, every day for a year, one ton of dust is deposited along a 1,000-foot corridor centered on the road.”2
Midwest’s custom dust control program for wetland roads can make the difference between your wetland ecosystem thriving or disappearing.
Two of the most common approaches to dust control for wetland roads are using water and chlorides. But both of these options can actually increase the environmental damage that dust is already causing.
Choose Midwest for a program that is customized to your specific circumstances, with products that are proven to get results and to be environmentally safe. We have experts who have decades of application experience with testing methods that will help you see the tangible results you are seeking. Superior wetland erosion control methods will help your ecosystem thrive.
Watering only erodes your road surface faster
Over time watering washes the fines out of the road. This has two effects. First, any soil in your road that is not local to your wetland can contain chemicals that differ from the soil surrounding the road. This creates an imbalance of nutrients and pH in the surrounding soil, impacting the growth of vegetation. Second, washed-out fines leave loose aggregate, which can wash out, causing rutting and potholes to develop much faster than otherwise. This increases your maintenance costs.
Chlorides ruin surrounding soil
By making soil impervious, chlorides block water infiltration, reduces soil stability and decreases pH and overall fertility. On top of creating a toxic environment for plants, chlorides create greater erosion and increase the sediment in run off.
Chlorides cause dehydration in vegetation
They disrupt nutrient uptake and lead to injury and eventually death to plants. In response to plants dying out, salt-impervious plants can move in and colonize, reducing biodiversity. Also, because plants alongside roadways serve as a block between pollution and water sources, as chlorides destroy plant life they open waterways to pollution from the road.
Chlorides are highly toxic to many aquatic species
Fish, macroinvertebrates, insects and amphibians are vulnerable to a decreased health of food sources. Nutrients and dissolved oxygen in the water that aquatic life depends on can be inhibited by toxic metals that chlorides release from sediment. And as land vegetation diversity is reduced, wildlife depending on those plants for food and shelter is gradually pushed out of the ecosystem.
PRESERVE YOUR WETLAND’S ECOSYSTEM WITH MIDWEST’S COMPREHENSIVE DUST CONTROL PROGRAM. FILL OUT THE FORM TO BEGIN THE PROCESS