RoadsSaturday, November 14
Mahoning County could get only a third of its road salt this winter
The Daily Youngstown team
If you live in Mahoning County, plan for a different kind of plowing this winter. Morton Salt ceased underground operations at its Fairport Harbor mine after a "significant inflow of water." It has roughly 50,000 tons on hand for six Northeast Ohio counties, about 25-30% of what was contracted.
Mahoning County would get far less salt than it ordered
- 2,500
- tons Mahoning would receive
- 8,000-10,000
- tons it had contracted for
- 50,000
- tons Morton has for six counties
Source: WFMJ
County Engineer Pat Ginnetti said getting a third of the order would drastically change operations. "We may only be able to salt intersections, hills and curves," he said. A warmer winter won't necessarily help, since freeze-thaw nights send crews out salting.
- Mahoning's backup: brine added to salt trucks this winter
- Replacement salt could cost four to five times the contract price
- Six-county supply: enough for only 30% of orders, Trumbull's engineer says
Trumbull County is heading toward a shortage too. ODOT, which holds the contract, has said it's "confident" it will have enough salt this year, and Ginnetti says he's pushing it for answers.
ODOT says most of its statewide salt storage is already on hand
73%of ODOT's statewide salt storage already on hand
Source: WFMJ
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| of ODOT's statewide salt storage already on hand | 73% |
Sources: WYTV, WFMJ, Tribune Chronicle