The Secret To 'Beeting' Icy Roadways
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) - Chester County has been experimenting with a new way to keep pavement from getting icy and it's un-beet-able.
Who knew? But it turns out that a mixture of mashed up sugar beet skin in brine is very effective at keeping snow and ice from sticking to paved surfaces.
John Mikowychok, director of County Parks and Recreation, says it's been used to good effect this winter at the Government Services Center in West Chester.
"It's not only good for government in terms of saving money, it's good for the environment," he said. "We're going to be putting this material down on some of our big regional trails when they open next year, and some of those are next to high quality streams."
Which stay high quality with less salt run-off. Mikowychok says the beet-brine mixture requires less reapplication and, by the way, isn't red, so it doesn't stain.
Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio
