The city of Duluth is asking residents to sweep up the salt and sand from sidewalks, curbs and boulevards and dispose of it at one of five collection sites.
While street sweepers can collect much of the sand and salt from street surfaces, the city said residents should clean up what the sweepers can't reach.
"If sand is not picked up before spring rains, it washes into our streams and can damage critical trout habitats," the city said in a news release. "With help from residents last year, the city collected 5.89 tons of sand in four weeks that would have otherwise gone into local creeks and streams."
Salt and sand can be dumped in large, green dumpsters marked with signs at the following locations:
- Chester Bowl (near the playground).
- Duluth Heights Community Club parking lot.
- Piedmont Community Center.
- Wheeler Field (toward the back).
- Portman Community Center (47th Avenue East).
The sites are only for sand and salt and will be monitored for illegal dumping. Yard waste, leaves, grass clippings and brush should be disposed at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District yard waste site, the city said.
Nothing should be dumped into catch basins, which go directly into streams and Lake Superior, the city added.
