Warmer weather brings relief, and some concerns, as snow melts

Temperatures are starting to melt some of that snow and ice that we have been stuck with now for more than two weeks. There is concern tonight that all of the melting snow, though, could cause some new issues. Action News reporter Elizabeth Worthington live for us now right along Kelly Drive with that story tonight. What's the latest there? Yeah, good evening Sherry. This is what a lot of us have been waiting for for the city to start to thaw out. Check out the Schuylkill River. Tonight you can actually see water flowing for the first time in a while as that ice starts to break up. But again, like you mentioned, this good news does not come without its concerns. Puddles of water pooling on the streets of Philadelphia are as welcome a sight as the temperature in the forecast today. I just always come out to this door to look out and I could feel just that the glass was warmer. It just felt so good. Thank God we finally have some sun and I can go out with just a light jacket. What a difference. It's definitely looking and feeling better on the sidewalks. As the snow slowly begins to melt, some residents plan to do their part to help move things along. I have my little ice chopper. I'm going to come out today and start chopping some of the ice away, which will help it make it break up a little bit better, faster. But not everyone is cheering on the snow melting process, knowing how much salt has been thrown down on the streets. What I'm really worried about is that as that snow starts to melt, it's just going to turn into a concentrated brine that's ultimately going to go down our storm drains and into our streams. Dr. Stephen Goldsmith is an environmental science professor at Villanova University and a committee member at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. He says too much salt in our waterways can harm aquatic life and possibly even our own health, especially those with high blood pressure. I've even teamed up with Aqua PA, and we've actually measured, we've looked at their long-term data set of how road salt is entering the drinking water supply for the region. And it's rather troubling. The salt concentrations are increasing over time. Now this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but his suggestion is for residents to swap out the shovel and take out the broom and sweep up some of that excess salt to prevent it from running off into the storm drains. Now the city is also going to be monitoring for potential flooding concerns, and the Water Department is going to be inspecting the sewer inlets this week. We're live along Kelly Drive tonight, Elizabeth Worthington, Channel 6 Action News. Shari? Alright, the thaw underway. Elizabeth, thank you.