Sand on roads worse than salt, scientists say | Seattle Times Newspaper

Sand — one of Seattle's main weapons against icy streets — is more likely to harm aquatic life than the salt the city refuses to use out of concern for its environmental effects, say scientists who have studied the issue and officials from other cities.
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Professor Wilfrid Nixon, a winter-highway-maintenance expert at the University of Iowa College of Engineering, said salt is the best ice-buster around and that using it should be weighed against the environmental costs of other measures.

Plows burn more fuel when they have to plow more, and accidents caused by icy roads have environmental consequences, too, he said.

"Every crash in the winter is an environmental disaster," Nixon said. "You have spills of engine oil, gas, coolant. ... It may not be hundreds of miles of road, but the effect is intensely local."