New "Neighbor" in the Columbia Waterfront district

As many of you may have noticed, there is a very large pile of white material on the upland portion of pier 9A in the container port, at the foot of Kane St. We have learned that the material is, as suspected, road salt. It isn't known if the salt is for the Dept. of Sanitation, privately owned, or for other governmental bodies. We do know that the salt was delivered by ship and is being shuttled to the storage pile by large dump trucks within the port complex. It is unknown how long the pile will be there.

As of 2/5, large tarps have been placed on the pile, covering some of it. Despite this, much of the salt is certain to run-off and blow into our neighborhood. Long time residents remember when there was another smaller road salt pile about 10 years ago closer to DeGraw St that remained there for about two full years. They have conveyed stories of stinging windblown salt and the need to cover their face when walking on Columbia St. in windy conditions. There is a strong liklihood that windblown salt could damage or kill the newly planted trees on the block as well as damage vehicles parked there.

We at CoWNA are working hard to get more information about this and will relay that as we learn more. Any neighborhood residents or businesses concerned about this are strongly urged to call 311.