Bethany Kunz, Ph.D.

Unpaved roads make up at least 14 million kilometers of the worldwide road network. Although investigations of road runoff often are focused on paved roads, unpaved roads contribute large volumes of runoff to roadside aquatic habitats and introduce unique constituents to runoff, such as chemical dust suppressants. At least 200 products across five...

The worldwide network of unpaved roads is estimated to include at least 14 million km (8.7 million miles; 1). Although they are vital for local communities, these roads are expensive to maintain and may cause environmental damage through sediment and dust pollution (e.g., 2). Among aggregate-surfaced roads, locally available materials are often...

IntroductionCrab Orchard Lake in southern Illinois is one of the largest and most popular recreational lakes in the state. Construction of the nearly 7,000-acre reservoir in the late 1930s created employment opportunities through the Works Progress Administration, and the lake itself was intended to supply water, control flooding, and provide...

Fugitive dust from unpaved roads creates human health hazards, degrades road surfaces, and increases the cost of road maintenance. As a result, many different chemical treatments are applied to unpaved roads in an attempt to control dust and stabilize the wearing course. However, investigations of the effectiveness of these treatments have often...

The health of soils along roadways is critical for maximizing habitat quality and minimizing negative ecological effects of roads. Adjacent to unpaved roads, soil chemistry may be altered by the deposition of dust, as well as by road treatment with dust suppressants or soil stabilizer products. If present in roadside soils, these product residues...