Road salt running short

Harry Henderson went to the cupboard this week, and discovered the town's cupboard was bare — of road salt.

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Road salt running short
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff - Published: February 16, 2008

SPRINGFIELD — Harry Henderson went to the cupboard this week, and discovered the town's cupboard was bare — of road salt.

Henderson, Springfield's longtime public works director, wasn't surprised at the status of the town's nonexistent salt supply. He's praying for clear weather and a delivery of road salt ASAP.

"I'm standing here waiting for the Easter Bunny," said Henderson, laughing, a tad nervously.

By Friday afternoon, Henderson said he was still waiting, and the tiny pile of salt in the large salt shed on Fairground Road had dwindled overnight to virtually nothing, certainly not enough for the 130 lane-miles of roads the town usually treats with salt.

"That's enough to salt Main Street and up to the hospital," Henderson said. "I'm holding it in reserve."

Springfield usually uses 60 to 80 tons of salt in a storm. It has less than 5 tons in its hangar-like shed, he said. The Rutland district is also said to be suffering a shortage.

"Normally this is half-full," said Henderson, gesturing to the enormous but empty building, adding he was hoping for a delivery of salt later that day. Crews were hauling sand from a pit outside Walpole, N.H., to replenish the town's other weapon against winter.

Springfield's problem, while extreme, is not unique in the winter of 2008, and especially this February, when it has snowed or stormed almost every day, putting salt and sand reserves and road crews all over the state to the test.

The salt shortage, which is being experienced throughout the Northeast, is a result of the continuous winter storms affecting the region, Henderson said.

The state Agency of Transportation, which traditionally is able to build up much larger reserves than most towns, has started to share what it has on hand, as long as its own supplies don't dip below a 48-hour supply.

As a result, it will have to cut back on the amount of salt it applies to state highways, and it has asked drivers to be more patient and careful during future storms.

The agency told its drivers this week to cut back on applying salt for the foreseeable future, because of the shortage, so it can share what the state is getting with the towns, according to John Zicconi, spokesman for the agency.

The state has so far "loaned" road salt to 95 towns and villages, and at least two state colleges, a total of 900 tons in the last 48 hours alone, Zicconi said, with most of the salt going to communities in Chittenden, Addison and Franklin counties. He said the state had shared close to 4,000 tons of salt since the shortage first cropped up.

As a result, Zicconi said, Vermont drivers will encounter "less than ideal" conditions both during and after a storm.

Drivers had been told to be conservative applying salt, but to still pay attention to steep sections, intersections, curves and other perennial trouble spots.

Zicconi said the state is in better shape than many Vermont towns because it gets its salt supply from four different companies; most towns just get salt from one supplier.

The Rutland district's salt supplies are so low it cannot share any more salt with towns, Zicconi said. Two other highway districts, in Caledonia and Essex-Orleans districts, are dangerously close to their 48-hour limits.

The districts will share their salt reserves with towns until they hit the 48-hour limit, or 25 percent of reserve, he said.

Zicconi said the state's suppliers were working hard to keep up with demand, but couldn't keep up. The state is receiving deliveries weekly, he said. The state buys salt from Cargill, which is based in Ohio, American Rock Salt in Buffalo, SiftCo Canada of Repentigny, Quebec, and Morton International from in Chicago. Cargill is Springfield's supplier, and the salt is delivered by Barrett Trucking of Burlington, Henderson said.

Henderson said the AOT's Springfield district has already helped Springfield by salting Main Street and Park Street up to the hospital, as well as some other roads.

Springfield's troubles were not just due to Wednesday's intense storm of snow, sleet, slush and rain that left 8 inches of rain-soaked snow all over town and a thick coating of ice on the roads.

Because of the salt shortage, Springfield's secondary back roads are now mostly coated with a 4-inch layer of ice, which makes travel difficult, Henderson said.

Normally on a sunny day like Thursday, with temperatures in the 20s, road crews would be pouring salt onto the roads to create a brine to lift up that layer of ice bonded to the pavement, and ploughs would be back to peel back the ice crust, he said.

But not today, or this week, or next, Henderson said.

Henderson said that Springfield, like most of Vermont, had 10 major storms by Jan. 1, including a nasty storm on that day. And since that time, he said, there have been 10 more major events. He's already blown through the town's usual $200,000 annual salt and sand budget, noting he will certainly overspend his budget, and end up deferring some other highway project.

"Bob says, 'You gotta do what you gotta do,'" Henderson said of Town Manager Robert Forguites.

Compare that with last year, Henderson said, where the year's first major snowstorm occurred on the day before Valentine's Day.

The issue isn't money, although Henderson said if he was willing to bust the bank and pay $90 a ton and travel to Portsmouth, N.H., to get it, the town could have all the road salt it wanted. The town generally pays about $47 a ton for road salt, and Henderson bought some last week at $65 a ton from a Claremont, N.H., company.

Springfield, like many Vermont towns, piggyback on the state's salt bid, which averages $50 a ton, but varies a couple of dollars depending on the delivery location, Zicconi said.

Meanwhile, Henderson keeps in close contact with other towns' road crew chiefs, and rumors of deliveries of road salt are the subject of phone calls and speculation.

And while Henderson admits to usually keeping inventories low in a bid to save the town money, he said the practice hadn't backfired. "We have 400 tons on back order," he said. "I'm still waiting for the Easter Bunny," he added.

Come Sunday night, when a storm is slated to hit the state, Henderson may be headed down to the state's district garage at Exit 7 in Springfield, and borrow the proverbial "cup" of salt.

"I may have to do that," he said. http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802160377