WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	New Mix May make Icy Roads Easier to Clear and Drive On (Thompson-WTNH) _ And it's slow going out there. Even though the worst is over the roads are still slick in spots. One community may have a slick solution to the road problems. News Channel 8's Peter Standring has that story. Public works crews in Thompson are cutting 'salt' out of their highway diet. Instead of using traditional salt and sand supplies to melt the ice and snow they're using a new product called 'Ice Ban Magic.' Ed Billington, Thompson Public Works: "The less sand and salt we use, the better it's going to be for everybody. Last winter I tried about 1000 gallons of it and it seemed to work pretty well." It works pretty well on the ice and pretty well on the environment. They say this stuff is relatively harmless compared to what's used on the roads now. The traditional de-icing compound most towns use is rock salt. It's made up of sodium chloride and it's pretty corrosive. 'Ice Ban Magic' is a mixture of organic proteins and magnesium, and company officials say it isn't corrosive at all. Plus they say no matter how much is used it won't build up like rock salt does. Jeff Johnson, Ice Ban America: "You go thru the winter applying the Ice ban magic product, it goes into the ground, it basically decomposes there and it's gone within weeks." Unlike the sand and salt that's left behind on the road for months. That's another reason why Ice Ban Magic fans hope it replaces salt and sand entirely, predicting it will save them time, effort, and money. Barney Seney, First Selectman: "The sand we put down we have to pick up, it takes the town 2 months to do it with 2 sweepers... The cost savings in the long run, ya have to figure that in and it's gonna be significant." Right now it appears only three Connecticut towns are using Ice Ban Magic: Thompson, Putnam, and Coventry. Killingly has placed an order. Judging from all the excitement here other towns may follow suit. It costs about $1 a gallon, a little more than salt. Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

New Mix May make Icy Roads Easier to Clear and Drive On
(Thompson-WTNH) _ And it's slow going out there. Even though the worst is over the roads are still slick in spots. One community may have a slick solution to the road problems.
News Channel 8's Peter Standring has that story.

Public works crews in Thompson are cutting 'salt' out of their highway diet. Instead of using traditional salt and sand supplies to melt the ice and snow they're using a new product called 'Ice Ban Magic.'

Ed Billington, Thompson Public Works: "The less sand and salt we use, the better it's going to be for everybody. Last winter I tried about 1000 gallons of it and it seemed to work pretty well."

It works pretty well on the ice and pretty well on the environment. They say this stuff is relatively harmless compared to what's used on the roads now. The traditional de-icing compound most towns use is rock salt. It's made up of sodium chloride and it's pretty corrosive. 'Ice Ban Magic' is a mixture of organic proteins and magnesium, and company officials say it isn't corrosive at all. Plus they say no matter how much is used it won't build up like rock salt does.

Jeff Johnson, Ice Ban America: "You go thru the winter applying the Ice ban magic product, it goes into the ground, it basically decomposes there and it's gone within weeks."

Unlike the sand and salt that's left behind on the road for months. That's another reason why Ice Ban Magic fans hope it replaces salt and sand entirely, predicting it will save them time, effort, and money.

Barney Seney, First Selectman: "The sand we put down we have to pick up, it takes the town 2 months to do it with 2 sweepers... The cost savings in the long run, ya have to figure that in and it's gonna be significant."

Right now it appears only three Connecticut towns are using Ice Ban Magic: Thompson, Putnam, and Coventry. Killingly has placed an order. Judging from all the excitement here other towns may follow suit. It costs about $1 a gallon, a little more than salt.

Today's News Page.

WTNH Home Page.