Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Reeve Derrick Annable wondered Oct. 21 whether a more affordable product could be applied on Vulcan County gravel roads to allow more ratepayers to pay for dust abatement.

The County did dust abatement on gravel roads this year five to 10 times.

But 245 people in the County of Lethbridge paid for dust abatement this year.

“I think there’s a lot of people who would use (dust abatement) if it was more cost effective,” said Annable at a public works committee meeting last week. He added that few Vulcan County residents could afford the $3,000 to $4,000 price tag.

Coun. Rod Ruark questioned whether the County could afford to subsidize the dust abatement program.

But Annable later clarified that he’s simply asking the County’s public works department to come up with some options for replacing its current products.

“I just want something that’s more cost effective,” he said. “If there’s four or five people using (the current product), that sort of says that it’s not the right product.”

Nick Zubach, the County’s public works manager, said there is no warranty for dust abatement in the county, but Ruark pointed to a policy that states there is one.

The County needs to make sure the policy reflects that there is no warranty, he said.

Larry Baran, the County’s administrator, said that would be addressed.

After the meeting, Zubach told the Advocate during a phone interview that the County uses three different products for dust abatement, although there are two that are usually used by County residents.

The County probably does subsidize the work, given workers’ time and for the equipment usage, said Zubach. The County tries to operate the dust abatement program on a cost recovery basis, he said.

While it might cost more to apply some of the County’s products, they can last years, he said, and that can save ratepayers money in the long run.

The County of Lethbridge uses magnesium floride, and has done so for seven or eight years, said Sandi Trockstad, administrative assistant with the municipal services department at the County of Lethbridge, last week.

“It seems to be the most effective with our ratepayers,” she said.

The product is applied seasonally, and the County of Lethbridge does not give a warranty, she said.

“It’s got its pros ands cons,” Trockstad said, adding that the magnesium floride is effective in the right conditons.

But if there’s a heavy rainfall, the product loses its concentration, said Trockstad.

The effectiveness also depends upon how frequently the road is travelled, she said.

But the magnesium floride seems to work better than calcium chloride, which some other municipalities use, she said.

The County of Lethbridge subsidizes the cost of dust abatement. The County covers half the cost of dust abatement, to a maximum of 200 metres of road.

Applicants pay $3.60 per lineal mile. For workers to cover 200 metres, that’s a cost to the applicant of $720.

The County of Lethbridge typically starts its dust abatement program in mid June and tries to get it down as soon as possible, said Trockstad. County of Lethbridge crews can usually finish putting the magenesium floride down in about four weeks, she said.

But its magnesium floride supply is shipped from Salt Lake City, and the train the product is travelling on can get delayed, Trockstad said.

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