Quinnipiac River Fund Supports Exploration of Impact of Salt from Roadways

Contamination of the Quinnipiac River in Connecticut was once so great that it prompted the first pollution control measure in the state and the eventual creation of the first sewage treatment plant in the Connecticut, according to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

It was also the subject of a lawsuit against the Upjohn Company concerning wastewater discharges from Upjohn's plant in North Haven. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 1990 that created the Quinnipiac River Fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, making the River the first in the state of Connecticut to have an endowment at a community foundation that generates income to protect it and its surrounding environment.

To this day, during the winter months, enormous quantities of salt are used to melt the ice and snow on local roads and sidewalks.  All of it eventually finds its way to streams, lakes and groundwater, and linger in the environment in the summer months and beyond, according to a study funded by the Foundation’s Quinnipiac River Fund.

The study, led by Yale professor of environmental chemistry Gaboury Benoit, is measuring salt in storm water catch basins along roadsides and at points on the Quinnipiac River. Professor Benoit’s research and teaching focus on the behavior, transport, and fate of chemicals in natural waters, soils, sediments, and biota. “The ultimate goals,” of his research, Benoit explains, “ are to understand how ecosystems function chemically, and how this knowledge can be used to reduce pollution and its impacts.”

The resulting information from the Quinnipiac River is helping in the creation of new technology that flushes salt from catch basins along with education campaigns to limit overuse, according to officials. 

“When people are spreading salt by hand, they are often applying 100 times more than is useful or recommended,” says Benoit.

The project was one of nine supported by the Fund during 2023.  Each year the Fund distributes more than $100,000 to organizations that work toward improving the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River, New Haven Harbor and the surrounding watersheds. 

The Quinnipiac River Fund’s 2024 grant application process is open through January 22.  More information is available at thequinnipiacriver.com/grants.

photo credit: Ian Christmann