The latest Salt and Highway Deicing features a discussion on how agencies can optimize "Inventory Management and Cost Minimization." Coming out of last winter's near-record salt usage, agency storage facilities were largely empty making the article timely reading for snowfighting professionals.

The Transportation Research Board has produced a new report, Cost effective performance measures for travel time delay, variation and reliability with application and implications for winter roadway operations. NCHRP Report 618 argues that highway

system users-the traveling public, as well as commercial operators-are increasingly sensitive to delay and unreliable conditions. By measuring travel-time performance, and related system metrics based on travel time, agencies will be better able to plan and operate their systems to achieve the best result for a given level of investment. At the same time, travelers, shippers, and other users of those systems will have better information for planning their use of the system.

In winter storms, agencies meet their "customers'" concerns for delay and reliability through salting and plowing. Measuring road surface outcomes is the key to delivering on customer expectations.

Report 618 guides agencies to using cost-effective techniques to gather and process data enabling real-time management decisions which can significantly improve winter roadway safety.

Compañía Minera Cordillera SCM (CMC), a new Chilean rock salt mining company and part of the Mahoney holding group (Eastern Minerals Group and Eastern Salt Group) has joined the Salt Institute. The Mahoney companies have been long-standing significant importers of deicing salt for roads along the east coast of the U.S.

CMC owns the "Tenardita" mine) in Salar Grande de Tarapacá, Iquique-Chile, with claimed reserves for more than 180 years and a purity exceeding 99%. The surface mining operation can produce 600 tons/hour with a 3-million ton annual production capacity.

A new analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported fewer Americans using federally-mandated nutrition information, especially sodium. The 2005-2006 NHANES study of 9,416 representative consumers found about 7 in 10 use the Nutrition Facts label, about the same as a decade ago. For sodium, only 66% consulted the label in 1995-1996 and that number declined 10% to 60% in 2005-2006. Among nutrients, only cholesterol fell more, 11%. Among all the listed nutrients, fiber was the only one where consumers registered increased concern as reflected in label use.

The label was mandated in 1994; sodium labeling had been in effect a decade before that.

Over the past ten years, 5% more reported "never" using the label. For salt/sodium, the increase in "never use" increased by 10 points from 12% to 22%. A decade earlier, 36% "always/often" used the sodium label; that eroded to 34%.

It would take another study to tell us why consumers are shunning nutrition information, but the pattern is consistent. Eleven percent fewer are using label health claims (37% "never") and even the ingredient list (32% "never"). With the multiplicity of advisories and the fact that scientists dispute the health consequences of cholesterol and sodium (and other nutrients), consumers are overwhelmed and doubtful about the advice they're being given. That's why the new Dietary Guidelines should adopt an "evidence-based medicine" approach in lieu of the expert panel approach of past reviews.

US Salt Corporation has sold its only salt property, the former Akzo Nobel evap plant in Watkins Glen, NY., to a natural gas company seeking US Salt's salt cavern storage capacity for its product. Both seller US Salt and buyer Inergy Propane LLC are based in the Kansas City area. The Kansas City Business Journal reported August 11 that Inergy will invest $191 million in acquiring US Salt and expanding its storage capacity by 5 billion cubic feet. A second stage development would add a further 5 billion cubic feet. The story quotes Intergy CEO John Sherman's news release:

"First, the salt business is characterized by stable cash flows and long-term growth potential; and it meets all of our strict acquisition criteria. This transaction also provides us with a long-term pipeline of high-return storage development projects in the heart of the Northeast natural gas distribution infrastructure."

Welcome to the salt industry, Intergy.

Many consumers continue in ignorance about the primary reason for consuming iodized salt: fetal and infant brain development. This isn't an aesthetic issue. For example, as my comment to this blogger notes, iodine deficiency for an expectant mother can penalize her child 10-15 IQ points.

The general public understands that blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular health. Most people don't realize that the hormone aldosterone is an even more powerful risk factor predicting cardiovascular events and mortality. After reading the latest issue of the just-released Salt and Health newsletter, you will understand that aldosterone is the key to understanding why low-salt diets have not proved beneficial to human health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released results of the 2005-2006 NHANES database today. Entitled "What we eat in America," you're probably going to read about it in the MSM. I doubt you'll read in the newspapers what you read here.

This survey of what Americans eat and how it relates to their health and mortality has been conducted for about 35 years. The 9,349 individuals are selected to be a cross-section of American society.

Analyses of earlier NHANES reports (I, II and III) have consistently and convincingly disparaged the notion that those on low-salt diets enjoy any health advantages. See, for example, the analysis of NHANES III on this point presented recently to the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Clinical Nutrition.

The 2005-2006 data will eventually be combined with health outcomes data allowing this analysis. For now, however, we have the nutrient intake data. The sodium data is on page 4 . Those data unmask another shibboleth employed by crusaders for universal salt reduction, namely that African Americans and Mexican immigrants are particularly prone to consume "excess sodium" putting themselves at a health risk.

The data tell a different tale. Whatever the ultimate health outcomes of these groups, don't blame salt intake. The average American in 2005-2006 consumed 3,436 milligrams of sodium a day -- the same as it's been for a century or more and smack dab in the middle of the global range of population intakes, contrary to anti-salt proselytizers' contention that Americans eat an abnormally high amount of salt.

Compare the average 3,436 mg/day to these groups; what do you find? African Americans ("non-Hispanic blacks" in the government's nomenclature) consumed only 3,257 mg/day. That is 5% less than average and 8% less than Caucasians. For Mexican Americans the difference is greater still; Hispanics eat only 3,162 mg/day of sodium, 8% less than average and more than 10% less than whites.

The Salt Institute has argued that we need to focus more on total quality diet; our opponents have explicitly rejected that policy direction , arguing that sodium/salt reduction would be superior. Let's follow the data. African Americans are the identified priority beneficiaries of salt reduction, its proponents say. Experts have argued that dietary potassium is an excellent indicator of a qualty diet: the higher the potassium, the better the diet. These new USDA data show African Americans eating 14% less potassium than average. The data support our call for an emphasis on overall dietary improvement, not salt reduction.

It's been another bad month for the anti-salt crowd. In early July, other USDA data showed no change in Americans' sodium consumption over the past 40 years, disproving the argument that our increased consumption of processed foods has led to an increase in sodium intake. Not so, said USDA. Then, the study they welcomed as "definitive," actually disproved their contention that salt worsened asthmatic conditions . Pesky data, those.

In matters of worker safety, everyone is a winner.

Results are in for the 2008 Metal/Nonmetal and International Mine Rescue Contest . Congratulations to from the Cleveland, OH mine for its salt industry-leading overall 6th place award. Joe Desko is the team leader.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. Ten teams from eight countries participated. Host Team U.S.A. finished fourth.

Salt mine rescue teams were well represented among the leaders in the several individual skills competitions.

In the multi-gas instrument benchman contest, of Cargill's Whiskey Island team took 2nd, on Cargill's second Cleveland team, Cuyahoga River, finished 4th and from Morton Salt's Grand Saline, TX "Team Texas" earned 6th place.

, Cargill Deicing Technology's Cayuga mine (Lansing, NY), garnered third place in the BG-4 Benchman competition.

And Cargill's Avery Island, LA mine "Rescue Runners" first aid team of placed 5th in their competition.

See our earlier post for salt inductees into the Mine Rescue Hall of Fame .

Snow Drifts is the monthly e-newsletter of the Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA) offering "Articles by Snow People, For Snow People." The July issue features my article "Salt Supply and the Snow & Ice Contractor 2008/2009 Season" explaining the challenges salt suppliers face in providing road salt to the small private contractors who are SIMA members.

Salt Institute member Salinen Austria has just re-launched its presence on the Internet with clean and attractive new website . Check it out.

Earlier today, former Google engineers launched the Internet's newest, biggest search engine, Cuil . Pronounce it "cool." Cuil has indexed 120 billion Web pages and claims to deliver the results three times faster than any other search engine. It's worth a look. Cuil claims its search algorithm is based on content quality, not page popularity (we'd like to think they're right).

A search on "salt" produced a near-instantaneous 130 million results. Predictably, and reassuringly, the Salt Institute's website ranked #1. Ditto a search on "sodium chloride."

If you live in California, particularly if they have home water softeners -- or if you have friends of the salt industry in California -- you need to take a look at a new website "Don't let the politicians take your water softener ." The site offers an easy way for California citizens to register opposition to CA AB2270.

If passed, AB 2270 would allow the government to intrude into a private residence and remove an appliance. If your softener is banned, your pipes, appliances and even clothes will fall apart faster and your energy costs will increase.

The Salt Institute opposes the bill.

The Legislature will act in August. If you value your water softener, the time to act is NOW.

Measured by the number of media calls, requests for Salt Institute presentations and webinars and trade press articles, the "salt shortage" stories of last winter were just a warm-up for what we can expect in the coming months. Latest evidence: a story in the Elyria, OH Chronicle-Telegram by reporter Brad Dicken which extracted the pearl of our interview when he told readers:

Although increased fuel and transportation costs are contributing factors to the rise in prices - asphalt also shot up in price this year - last year's hard winter led to the nation using more salt than normal and leading to an increased demand this year, said Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute.

What a market! Last year's 20.3 million tons of road salt was the second-highest ever. But the year before, 2006, we sold only 12.1 million tons, lowest since 1998. And the year earlier, 2005, set the all-time record of 20.5 million tons. Not too many industries are asked to boost sales by two-thirds in a year as the salt industry did from 2006 to 2007. And, from publicly announced bid amounts we've seen so far this year, agencies want even more.

It's always gratifying to hear someone saying you're doing a good job. It's especially gratifying when they know what they're talking about.

True Value announced its top suppliers last month and named North American Salt, a unit of Compass Minerals as its 2007 Supplier of the Year in the lawn & garden category. Compass Minerals announced the honor today. Congratulations.