Snow-brush bristle debris concerns city environmental group

A group that advocates for Edmonton's river valley says plastic bristles are being left behind when the city clears paths and bridges.

An Edmonton conservation group is concerned about the number of plastic bristles being shed by the city’s snow-clearing machinery near the North Saskatchewan River.

It’s a problem that the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition identified nine years ago and brought up with the city a year later, says chair Kristine Kowalchuk, “but nothing seems to have changed.”

Kowalchuk told CTV News Edmonton that two volunteers have picked up 430 blue bristles on the central Tawatinâ Bridge this month alone.

“Just think about all of the bristles that are on all of the other bridges, on all the sidewalks that are ending up in the river and causing microplastics, and harming birds and fish and other wildlife,” she said.

Members of the group started to collect data on bristle debris from city machines soon after they became aware of it. Kowalchuk said between 2019 and 2023, they gathered 16,618 of the bristles and 17,15 small pieces of wavy wire that are also dropped by the equipment.

Instead of using brush machines, she said the group would like to see snow removal on bridges done with blades instead.

But that’s something Ashley Salvador, the city councillor whose ward has direct access to the Tawatinâ Bridge, says might not be possible as the paved surface of the pedestrian crossing has a coating that wouldn’t stand up to it.

Salvador said city crews are “quite careful recognizing that there is proximity to the river to make sure that bristles aren’t going into the river itself.”

“It’s an important balance,” the Ward Métis councillor said. “First and foremost, we of course want to make sure that in our winter months that our entire transportation network is as safe as possible and clear of snow and ice.

“When it comes to ongoing improvements, these are important things to flag to ensure that crews are aware and can go back in the spring to make sure that debris is not left around in the environment.”

A city spokesman told CTV News Edmonton that snow-brush machine operators are directed to sweep away from bridge edges and to use a lower speed while clearing paths on bridges. He said crews do additional sweeps in warmer weather to pick up loose debris before washing bridges annually.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny and Sean McClune