Some Connecticut towns are struggling to clean up the icy roads due to a national road salt shortage.
“We’ve still got a lot of winter left and we’re getting product in. But of course, as you might expect, we put it out at a rate fast than we take it in,” Bloomfield’s Public Works director John Lawlor said.
Bloomfield gets its salt from a company called Cargill, which transports the product from Ohio to Massachusetts by rail. Then, it is transported to Bloomfield by truck. With a high demand for salt in the Midwest, it is possible that the salt may not get to the East coast as quickly.
“There are salt problems in terms of getting salt product all across the country,” Lawlor said.
Other towns are in a similar predicament. Simsbury’s supplies are “nearing critical levels”, according to the town’s Public Works director. Enfield is using a salt and sand mixture to make its supply last longer.
“We take untreated rock salt and will dilute it with water and we will put that down in a liquid manner onto our roads,” Lawlor said.