While we here on the east side of the state continue to dig ourselves out of Snopocalypse - people on the westside continue to debate - to salt or not to salt.  And Seattle's "green" Mayor Greg Nickels has found himself answering to a resounding wave of criticism over a 10-year old city policy that barred the use of salt to melt ice off the roads during snow storms - due to the environmental impact on the Puget Sound and other water sources. 

Before 2009 had a chance to make an appearance, Mayor Nickels announced that he was ending the decade-long no salt policy saying that in cases of road ice and winter weather the city would resort to using road salt to melt it away.  The Seattle Times reports, "In normal Seattle winters, this practice has served us well," Nickels said in a City Hall news conference today. "This time, liquid de-icers were not enough. People were frustrated, and so was I."

Salt mixtures that are used to melt ice eventually run off into rivers, streams, lakes and oceans causing unbalanced and unhealthy saline levels.  The salt can also be harmful for plant life and not just plants that are in direct contact.  The salt can be picked up by your feet or car tires and transported to areas where it can become harmful. 

What people in Seattle ought to be considering is the fact that Mayor Nickels is up for re-election this year.  For the supposed "greenest mayor" in the country, to lose re-election because of an environmental issue, well that would just be salt in his wounds.

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