Milwaukee To Fight Road Ice With Cheese Brine
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Milwaukee has literally been down this road before.
What could the city's Department of Public Works mix with rock salt to deice its streets in the winter? Rock salt is plentiful and inexpensive, but concerns have been raised about its long term effects on roads and the environment.
This winter, public works crews will try mixing cheese brine with the rock salt. The brine is a liquid waste product left over from cheese making. The downside is its distinctive odor.
The city has experimented with anti-icing alternatives before. The Journal Sentinel says beet juice used in 2009 turned into something resembling oatmeal when mixed with salt in the city's trucks.
Milwaukee has also used a molasses-type product as a deicer in the past. But, residents complained they were tracking the sticky stuff into their homes.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
