Friday Morning - Mississippi River Forum: "Hold the Salt, Please: Chloride Pollution in our Waters"

Mississippi River Forum: "Hold the Salt, Please: Chloride Pollution in our Waters"

Friday, January 30, 8 – 9:30 am

McKnight Foundation, 710 Second Street South, Suite 400

Happy winter, Minnesota! We seem to love (hate?) our extreme weather here, and our public works crews make it possible even to bicycle through the nastiest of wintry conditions. But many Minnesotans don’t realize that road and sidewalk salt is polluting our waters. When snow and ice melt from roads, parking lots and sidewalks, the salt we apply to those surfaces goes with it, washing into our lakes, streams, wetlands and groundwater. It takes only one teaspoon of road salt to permanently pollute 5 gallons of water. Once in the water, there is no way to remove the chloride that comes from salt; at high concentrations, chloride can harm fish and plant life. In the heart of a cold Minnesota winter, come share a cup of coffee and pastry—and learn how road salt is impacting our water resources, what we can do about it and how the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is addressing the issue. Presenters Brooke Asleson and Rachel Olmanson are Watershed Project Managers with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Light breakfast provided. Free. RSVP to lark_weller@nps.gov. (Please be prepared to sign in at McKnight's front desk and get a visitor pass.)