Towns across the Tri-state area and the Midwest are facing a severe salt storage as they brace for the arrival of Winter Storm Fern.
Shortages in road salt and rock salt used to coat sidewalks and driveways were being reported Saturday throughout Midwest and Northeast, including parts of Vermont, New Jersey and upstate New York.
“We have about 500 roadway miles in our community, but we’re down to under 500 tons which is basically only going to take care of intersections,” Piscataway, New Jersey Mayor Brian Wahler told ABC-7 Eyewitness News.
Municipalities rely on private contractors to deliver road salt, but with supplies so low they’re being put at the bottom of the list for deliveries, the mayor said.
“The pecking order in the state of New Jersey is State [Department of Transportation] is first priority, then county and then the rest municipalities,” Wahler said.
So, we get the leftover breadcrumbs, so to speak, or whatever salt is left.”
In Cleveland, where a up to foot of snow is also expected, the shortage stems from delays by state-contracted supplier Cargill, the New York Times reported.
“The Department of Public Works placed salt orders in August, but a portion of that salt remains undelivered,” the city said in a statement.
“As a result of the shortage, the city said that it would plow all streets, but that it would prioritize salt for use on “main roads, hills, dangerous intersections and areas near hospitals and schools.”
Cargill said it was working “to ensure salt is available where it is needed most.”
In parts of New York and Pennsylvania, retail stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s were reporting low or unavailable stock.
The salt shortage is driven by a bitterly cold early winter in parts of the US that included plenty of snow.
The tri-state area is bracing for at least nine inches of snow beginning Sunday while in the midst of a frigid weather cycle expected to last at least another week.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday that more than 2,000 sanitation workers would be working 12-hour shifts to battle the storm.
“They will lay down salt as soon as snow starts to fall, and they will launch plowing operations soon after,” the new mayor said.
“We have more than 700 salt spreaders and 2,300 plow vehicles ready to be deployed. This is the largest snow-fighting operation in the entire country.”
