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The spring sniffles

'I haven't been crying, I just can't breathe'

Phil Duffy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 20/01) - Watery, red eyes and swollen, runny noses appear to be a regular affliction this time of year.

There are various reasons for the multitude of congested people walking around Yellowknife during the spring melt.

There is snow mold, airborn particles from freshly exposed garbage and canine excrement, and a horrendous amount of gravel dust in the air.

This means no shortage of spring related irritants.

Environmental Health officer Brad Colpitts provides some insight into why this perrenial problem exists.

"When moisture meets warm temperatures you will invariably run into airborn particles," he said.

"The refuse that is uncovered during the spring melt dries and supplies the air with these particles, and mold occurs naturally in the environment everywhere," he added.

The ideal conditions that spring provides makes for a whole new batch of mold and spores that weren't a problem during the winter months, (snow mold).

"There is definitely a huge increase in the sale of allergy medicines this time of year," said pharmacist Stephen Gwilliam. "This is mostly because of the road dust."

The reasons for using gravel during the winter over salt, like you would see in large cities in the south, are numerous.

Director of Municipal engineering, Gary Craig, offered this explanation: "Most Northern citizens prefer gravel over salt because of the corrosive aspects of salt. Salt is also very expensive to import."

"Another reason gravel is preferred is that salt fails to perform when the temperature drops to below 20 degrees. Salt also has a negative impact on the environment," he added.

While there will be gravel and dust clean-ups being done throughout the cities in the north wherever there is heavy traffic, more snow is anticipated and more gravel will have to be added to the roads.

The last of the winter gravel isn't expected to be cleaned off of Yellowknife's city streets until about mid-May.