City Uses Sugar Beet Byproduct to Keep Roads Ice-Free

It’s still Minnesota, so don’t get too happy yet, but it seems that yesterday and today’s storm is another boon for the city’s budget. As we last week, Inver Grove Heights stands to save approximately $100,000 this year, since low snow totals mean it can keep the big plows indoors more often.

There has been some discussion, however, about the use of chemical to ‘pre-wet’ the streets, and keep snow and ice from sticking to the pavement, so they melt more quickly. Last week, City manager Joe Lynch told us the chemicals are better for the environment, because they allow road clearing crews to use significantly less salt.

But not everybody is so sure. “I'd be curious as to what the chemicals are”, remarked one reader.

We asked the city to clarify, and, by way of Lynch, got the following response:

“We use a blended liquid that is 70% salt brine (that we mix using Mn/DOT’s guidelines) and 30% Geomelt (an organic co-product of sugar beet processing that accelerates melting).  The blend is less corrosive than straight salt brine and it allows us to use less salt (and thus less chloride) overall, which is beneficial to the natural environment.”

GeoMelt is distributed by several companies. According to Iowa-based GeoMelt LLC, the product is a liquid derived from sugar beets. “GeoMelt works by lowering the freeze point of traditional de-icing products,” states the company’s website. “It also lowers the corrosion rate of all traditional de-icing products, including rock salt, salt/sand mixtures.” 

However, according to a 2011 paper for the Association of American Geographers, the definitive verdict on GeoMelt is not in yet. “While environmental impact reduction strategies for road snow and ice control have been investigated for decades, little published literature exists on GEOMELT like products.”