Salt resupply articles commonplace
Although not a single agency reports having been unable to put salt out to keep roads safe, the nation's newspapers are paying more and more attention to shortages of deicing salt. Agencies are telling the media it's a "really bad winter," and their supplies are dwindling. Private contractors like landscape companies report extreme difficulty getting salt; one in Romulus, MI told the Detroit News his prices paid have increased from $59/ton to $75/ton. The Detroit Free Press says snowfall is double the normal winter and includes a salt industry response:
Slow salt replenishment has spelled trouble for road agencies across the nation's hard-hit northern states, said Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, a nonprofit trade group in Alexandria, Va."We have plenty of salt," he said. "It's a question of putting it in the right place at the right time."
Localized shortages can stem from cities, particularly smaller ones, having limited storage space for road salt, and suppliers choosing where to send salt based on a community's need or the size and importance of a road department's highway network.
A spokesman for Chicago-based Morton Salt said ice on the Detroit River slowed the shipping of salt. Locally, the Detroit Salt Co. said it is delivering salt as fast as it can.
In western Michigan, the local TV station reported much the same:
"In a normal winter we'd be okay. If winter continues another two to three weeks, we'll be a little more concerned," said Jerry Byrne of the Kent County Road Commission.So the road commission is mixing salt with sand to make the best use of resources, something Rivers Edge is doing, too. They are also contacting customers to make them aware that the cuts will affect them soon.
Everybody involved is hoping Old Man Winter quiets down so the salt coming into West Michigan is enough to get them through.
