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We measured dissolved oxygen, acetate, bicarbonate, and iron concentrations in groundwater near a state highway in southeastern Massachusetts. A closed drainage system sedimentation basin receives runoff containing calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), an alternative deicing agent. The data suggest that CMA impairs groundwater quality by increasing organics and iron in an anoxic plume downgradient of the basin. Drift plowed beyond the closed system is degraded by vadose zone aerobes in the highway shoulder upgradient of the basin. Open drainage systems with biologically active vadose zones reduce the oxygen demand before the runoff reaches groundwater.