environment
How Toronto's snow mountains hide a toxic secret
The Guardian reporter Leyland Cecco visits an almost 100ft-tall snow mountain, one of six created in Toronto to store all the snow cleared from roads and paths across the city.
TL;DR
- Toronto has created six large snow mountains to store cleared snow from city roads and paths.
- These mountains hold over 130,000 tonnes of salt, along with oil, metals, and dirt, from a winter of record snowfall.
- The melting snow will release salt into groundwater and water systems.
- This salt contamination poses a risk of an ecological crisis and is toxic to fish in freshwater environments.