Salt alternative used for traction around ice palace
By EMILY HUNKLER, Enterprise Staff WriterSARANAC LAKE - While the transparent, blue-tinted ice for this year's ice palace has been applauded for its color and clarity, the ground it sits on will be getting the green treatment to keep palace visitors from slipping.
The village has received a one-ton donation of EcoTraction from the Canadian company that produces it.
EcoTraction is a road salt substitute made from an environmentally friendly volcanic mineral that has a unique, honeycomb structure which acts like a sponge and bonds with the ice, creating a sandpaper effect.
The idea to use the product was brought to the village board by Saranac Lake resident and Adirondack Green Circle organizer Gail Brill, who said she had been using it this winter and recommended the village look into it.
"I contacted them to see if we could get a demonstration of the product, and they said they didn't have the manpower for that," Village Manager Marty Murphy said. "But, they were willing to send us a ton - literally, a ton - for free to demonstrate the product ourselves."
Murphy said the product will likely be spread around the palace sometime today.
Brill, along with members of the Green Circle, will also have bags of the product for sale during the Carnival near the ice palace.
The cost is $16 and $8 for 22-pound and five-pound bags, respectively.
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Contact Emily Hunkler at (518) 891-2600 ext. 24 or ehunkler@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
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1nobody
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02-10-09 9:17 AM
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This better be good stuff at $1500/ton!!!!!!
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