From the Duluth News Tribune, by John Meyers
There's no question that sand is a critical traction tool for motorists navigating Duluth's icy streets during winter months, but it's also a big mess come spring.
Everyone waits for the first cleansing rains of spring to wash the streets and gutters clear of sand and make the streets safe for Rollerblades, bikes and skateboards.
Far from "cleansing" the environment, however, all the rain really does is transport sand downstream -- into storm sewers, ditches and creeks. Eventually, it ends up in Duluth's 42 named streams, the St. Louis River and even Lake Superior.
This week, for the first time, some Duluth residents are getting curbside sand recycling service to encourage efforts to sweep up and remove the sand before it harms the environment. And up to 800 Duluth families will get free sand buckets to remind them to sweep.
The problem is volume. Tons of sand can build up in small streams, changing flows and clogging spawning beds for trout. And the road sand can carry ugly pollutants -- from salt and motor oil to pesticides.
Of the 10 tons of sand Duluth dumps on its streets each winter, only about one-third is collected by mechanical street sweepers each spring.
"It gets so bad that the city has to go out and dredge some of the streams just to keep them open," said Mindy Granley, conservation specialist for the South St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District.
For years, conservation experts have asked residents to sweep or shovel up the sand to keep it from going downstream.
Like leaves, dog feces, trash and grass clippings, sand is bad stuff for downstream environments.
"'It's not a chemical pollution per say, but one of the worst pollution problems we have is sedimentation. It's important to keep the sand out of the environment," said Dick Larson, Duluth public works director.
Residents in Chester Park and Piedmont are being asked to participate in the pilot sand collection program, which aims to keep sand out of Chester Creek and Miller Creek, both designated trout streams.
Residents on some blocks have been given free, 3.5-gallon buckets and asked to sweep curbside, then either leave the bucket out for pickup (in Piedmont) or bring it to a recycling center (Piedmont and Chester Park).
The program is paid for with a $27,000 grant from the Great Lakes Commission. The city of Duluth and South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District are sponsors.
Timing is critical. Residents need to get sweeping before repeated heavy rains wash the sand into the city's 250 miles of storm sewers.
"We're already getting some rain, so we need to get going. But it takes a few heavy rains to get it all going downstream, so there's still time to get most of it," Granley said.
Recycled sand will be screened to remove trash and gunk, then used either as fill for construction, city athletic fields or to enrich soil at the city's tree nursery, Larson said.
It's the same destination as the sand picked up by Duluth's mechanical street sweepers. Those trucks will be out in force during the next eight weeks.
But residents may be able to do more. And the "Chester Bowl Bucket Brigade" and "Piedmont Pail Pick-Up" could be expanded to more areas of the city next year if they pitch in.
"We're going to monitor how much sand comes in from both neighborhoods to see how it works, so they can consider it kind of a contest," Granley said. "What we're really aiming for is more awareness of how everything we put on our streets can end up in our streams."
