Towns watch salt supplies melt away
Frequent winter storms, record snowfall and a few thefts have eaten away stockpiles, straining local budgets. And it's not spring yet.
BUFFALO GROVE, ILL — . -- When the first thief drove off with nearly a ton of rock salt last month, pilfered from a road de-icing firm's supply stored behind a strip mall, local police officers in this affluent Chicago northwestern suburb were flabbergasted.
"It was so strange," said Buffalo Grove Police Commander Steve Husak. "Salt?"
Then, as winter storms continued to bombard the Midwest with snow and sleet, there were reports of a second salt heist. This time, thieves scooped some from a towering mound of white crystals protected from the elements and greedy hands by only a few plastic tarps.
Days later, there was word of a third looting. Then a fourth.
"I've been here 19 years, and I cannot recall thefts like that ever happening before," said Husak, whose department has intensified patrols of area salt stockpiles in this town of about 43,000. "It's a sign of the weather, and the economic times."
With one of the worst winters in recent history pummeling much of the United States, particularly the Midwest and the Northeast, many local governments are finding themselves in short supply of this cold-weather staple.
Keeping roads clear -- and safe for driving rather than sledding -- usually means putting them on a steady diet of rock salt, which lowers the freezing point of water and helps prevent icy buildup.
This year, hundreds of municipalities are turning to sand, brine and other ingredients to stretch their dwindling salt supplies. At the same time, public works officials say they are scrambling to find new salt stashes -- and often paying suppliers double or more their normal price.
Although spring officially arrives in less than two weeks, it still looks like the dead of winter across parts of the nation.
More than a foot of snow buried parts of Ohio on Saturday, and covered swaths of Arkansas and Tennessee in recent days, stranding passengers at airports and stranding drivers for hours in whiteout conditions.
This storm once again forced communities to dip into their dwindling supplies of salt. Some Ohio cities -- including Akron, Cincinnati and Columbus -- have stretched this winter's stockpile by adding beet juice to the mix.
Many towns are trying to find a solution to the unexpected seasonal problem.
The City Council in Fort Wayne, Ind., recently approved spending nearly $250,000 to hunt down and buy more salt. Officials in communities outside Indianapolis have been begging neighboring towns for their salt leftovers.
