To the Editor:

On Feb. 6, my letter in the Gazette made the suggestion that the county and state should recycle all of the sand we find in our street gutters that was spread to improve traction for vehicles during snowy weather. My letter apparently struck a nerve with my down-the-street neighbor Paul Siegel who replied in last week's Gazette. Mr. Siegel sarcastically characterized my suggestion as the "independent invention of recommended Action C1-2 in Chapter IV of the Little Hunting Creek Watershed Management Plan of 2004" that was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2005. He conceded that, 9 years later, recommended Action C1-2 has not been acted upon.

Apparently, Mr. Siegel thinks I should have given attribution to the 2004 Plan in making my suggestion, even though I was unaware it was included in that Plan. Since the suggestion was made in the Plan almost a decade ago and has still not been acted upon, it seems perfectly appropriate to renew the suggestion (which does not qualify as an "invention;" as a patent attorney I understand the difference). Moreover, my letter to the Gazette was not the first time I made that suggestion. Besides suggesting it to the Board of Supervisors as explained in my prior letter, I suggested it as vice-chairman of the Land Use Committee of Supervisor Hyland's Visioning Task Force in 2009 and also in the mid-2000s while an active member of the MVCCA's Environment & Recreation Committee. The question is not "ownership" of the suggestion. The question is why hasn't it been implemented?

Mr. Siegel's discussion concerning recycling of salt evidences his lack of understanding of the science of the use of salt. Salt dissolves into ice and lowers its freezing temperature so that ice is liquefied. After that process takes place, the salt no longer exists in granular form and cannot be swept up. It has washed away mixed with the now liquified ice (water).

I reiterate my suggestion that the Board of Supervisors institute a program to collect the sand from the gutters of our streets every spring to reduce siltation into our waterways. Citizens can be instructed to collect it in approved containers at designated dates to make the process economically feasible. Impurities such as oils and litter can be filtered out to ready the sand for re-use.

H. Jay Spiegel

Mount Vernon