Road Salt Shortages Due, In Part, To Ice On Rivers & Great Lakes
PENN TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- More communities are reporting tight road salt supplies, and there's still more than a month left before winter wraps up, at least according to the calendar.
On Thursday, the state - which has contracted with American Rock Salt in Belle Vernon to deliver salt to municipalities in all or parts of five western Pennsylvania counties - said that one of the major problems with getting salt shipped in locally was the thick ice, which was causing transportation problems on both the Mississippi River and on the Great Lakes.
Some of the salt supplies in our area are shipped in from Canada.
American Rock Salt, according to the state, is now moving forward in trying to meet the heavy demand.
However, the company has more than 200 back orders, totaling 25,000 tons of salt.
It could take about a week to fulfill those orders.
Trucks are lined up at American Rock Salt's Belle Vernon facility on the Mon River, waiting to be filled, but trucks can normally transport no more than 4,000 tons of day.
In Westmoreland County, Penn Township Manager Bruce Light said, "Right now, we're like a lot of other municipalities, down to a conservation mode - salting hills, and curves and things of that nature."
Light said his town hasn't had any salt deliveries for about a week, though several had been expected.
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