"The sound of water gurgling through storm sewers is the promise of a spring that's been a long time coming.

But it's also the sound of a toxic legacy that for decades has been quietly building in lakes and streams around the Twin Cities -- road salt.

The fish, bugs and other wildlife that live in the lakes pay a price for winter traffic safety when the snow melts. This winter, the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) started a four-year project to figure out which Twin Cities' lakes hold too much chloride, a primary ingredient in salt, and what it will take to keep urban waters healthy."

Josephine Marcotty reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune March 23, 2011. [2]