The two types of Flathead winter days most enjoyable to me are those 20 below zero and blue sky days. The majority of you would agree on the blue sky description, but you may be scratching your head on the below zero comment.

These are the two extremes when “slurry” de-icers on our roadways are not needed. The compounds used by the highway and roads departments are ineffective at the very cold temperatures and not needed when there are sunny skies.

Senate Bill 369 is my second attempt to get the Montana Department of Transportation to examine their policy on the use of chloride based de-icers which makes our blacktop look more like white-top. Last session’s bill required them to abandon the practice, while this bill will require them to go to the historical levels used from 2007 through March of 2010.

The only person who has contacted me about the bill previously was named Mr. Morton from the Salt Institute in Washington, D.C. You understand his interest in the topic if you’ve ever used the grocery variety of salt.

Flathead people are proud of their pristine waters and do much to protect them, including the North Fork designation recently. We do not, however, weigh in strongly enough in state government to have them look at concerns from an environmental standpoint when chlorides are spread on our roads.

MDT would use the safety argument, although I tend to believe that spreading the slurry increases the chance of an accident. We all drive too fast in the winter knowing that those wet roads are not the ice and gravel ones in the past. It’s safer, right?

MDT has increased the gallons of salt brine from just over 1 million gallons in 2007 to almost 6 million gallons in 2014. When is enough enough? When will they look at an alternative product that won’t affect our water, vegetation and wildlife (such as the sheep lapping it up near Thompson Falls)?

Constituents have discussed the nature of the products eating away at their vehicles, causing unsafe brakes and corroded parts. My family didn’t have that to deal with years ago in the Flathead, since sand was the primary road compound.

The department notes that the use of sand has decreased in the last 10 years. I wouldn’t say the substitution was the best way to go. I would much rather have sand and rocks in the bottom of the river and in Flathead Lake than I would the chloride compounds.

How long could I throw out 80 pound sacks of salt per mile on Flathead roads and get away with it? Not long, I would guess. It’s time to stand for cutting back on this environmental wreck which is in its infancy. Let’s pressure MDT to lessen the cost of future disaster to the Montana we know and love.

If you have the governor’s phone on speed dial, I would urge you to contact him. The agencies of state government are under his oversight, so the sooner we start working on a solution to the solution the more we can keep our environment as pristine as possible. Montana’s future depends on a stand today.

Sen. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, represents Senate District 2.