Current procedures for cleaning salt spreaders used by VDOT to apply deicing chemials during winter maintenance include removing them from the trucks on the impervious loading pads, washing them, loading them back onto the trucks transporting them to the spreader rack, unloading them again, hanging them on the spreader rack, and lubricating them.  This process is both time consuming and potentially contaminating, considering that there is no means by which to collect the excess lubricants that drip from the spreaders. 

At the request of the Environmental Division and the Administrative Services Division, VCTIR will (1) attempt to characterize the runoff associated with the cleaning and lubricating process used by VDOT, (2) develop a cleaning procedure that will allow for the cleaning and lubrication to take place at the spreader rack (eliminating the need to unload and reload the spreader), (3) design an environmentally acceptable system for collecting runoff water.