\n\tKris Stepenuck, extension leader of Lake Champlain Sea Grant, could be called a road salt shaker and mover.<\/p>\n
\n\tStepenuck works to educate about road salt use and its impacts on our environment and waterways throughout the Lake Champlain basin of Vermont and New York, including\u00a0the Adirondack region. Through training events, online tools, and educational videos, she helps homeowners, businesses, winter maintenance professionals, municipalities, and now state government, with road salt application decisions.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn December 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Stepenuck to the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force charged with protecting the state\u2019s waterways and environments from further pollution caused by road salt use.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt is an honor to serve the people and state of New York as a member of this task force as we work to better understand and make recommendations about road salt best practices that can benefit the environment and people of the Adirondacks,\u201d said Stepenuck, associate director of Lake Champlain Sea Grant and extension associate professor with University of Vermont (UVM) Extension and the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.<\/p>\n
\n\tLearn more about Stepenuck’s appointment on the New York State Governor\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0Stepenuck joins Lake Champlain Sea Grant program advisory committee member Dan Kelting who was also appointed to the task force. Kelting serves as vice president of research at Paul Smith\u2019s College.<\/p>\n \n\tStepenuck partners with Vermont\u2019s City of South Burlington, where she lives, to learn from and share best practices of the city\u2019s Department of Public Works, which serves as a leader and a model in the state for road salt reduction, to work towards protecting streams and Lake Champlain. Chronically high chloride levels from road salt run-off can ultimately impact the health of aquatic life and plants and the safety of drinking water.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tShe collaborated with South Burlington personnel Tom DiPietro, environmental services director; Adam Cate, operations manager; and Dan Guillmette, vehicle maintenance manager, to create videos that teach about salt use and safe salt reduction. City staff join Stepenuck in educating other municipalities and contractors at salt summits, workshop events hosted by Lake Champlain Sea Grant with Vermont and New York partners.<\/p>\n \n\tRead more about South Burlington\u2019s salt success story in the December 16, 2021 article \u201cSalt Shrinkage Saves Streams, Cuts Costs<\/a>\u201d in South Burlington\u2019s The Other Paper<\/em>.<\/p>\n