Spring Break
Winter roads suck county salt supply
Juliana D'Amico
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
The City of Hillsdale buys 1,000 tons of salt every year from Michigan's purchasing contract to last the entire winter season. It's Feb. 21, and the 1,000 tons are gone.
City of Hillsdale Director of Public Services Keith Richards said this winter's ice storms drained the city's salt supply.
"[The storms] haven't been large in quantity but large in duration," he said.
These weather conditions, which triggered a severe shortage of salt, led to an increase in fatal automobile accidents and several school closings statewide. Hillsdale has seen its share of damage.
Hillsdale EMT Specialist Noah Bernhardson, a junior, said the conditions have caused serious accidents.
"We're not talking about fender benders here but the need to be extracted from a car," he said.
Cities all over Michigan face the same situation, and they all turn to the state for help. Richards explained that, according to a purchasing agreement between cities and the state of Michigan, cities may purchase an additional 20 percent of their original order of salt for an accelerated price.
"So, everybody's scrambling to get the last 20 percent of the back up contract [of salt]," Richards said.
Thanks to the efforts of the Hillsdale Department of Public Services, the City of Hillsdale could purchase their additional allotment of 200 tons of salt. Richards said the department was told that was the end of Michigan's salt supply.
Despite the additional salt, Hillsdale now only has 150 tons left to keep the 50 miles and the state trunk line within the city limits safe.
Hillsdale City Engineer Manager Stan Clingerman said he expects the city to run out of salt this winter.
A shortage of salt in Hillsdale and in Michigan has never happened until this year, Richards said. He said Hillsdale has only had to purchase surplus salt twice, and the city has never ran out of the surplus supply. Because this has become a statewide crisis, the Michigan government is discussing increasing the surplus of salt that cities can buy.
City of Hillsdale Director of Public Services Keith Richards said this winter's ice storms drained the city's salt supply.
"[The storms] haven't been large in quantity but large in duration," he said.
These weather conditions, which triggered a severe shortage of salt, led to an increase in fatal automobile accidents and several school closings statewide. Hillsdale has seen its share of damage.
Hillsdale EMT Specialist Noah Bernhardson, a junior, said the conditions have caused serious accidents.
"We're not talking about fender benders here but the need to be extracted from a car," he said.
Cities all over Michigan face the same situation, and they all turn to the state for help. Richards explained that, according to a purchasing agreement between cities and the state of Michigan, cities may purchase an additional 20 percent of their original order of salt for an accelerated price.
"So, everybody's scrambling to get the last 20 percent of the back up contract [of salt]," Richards said.
Thanks to the efforts of the Hillsdale Department of Public Services, the City of Hillsdale could purchase their additional allotment of 200 tons of salt. Richards said the department was told that was the end of Michigan's salt supply.
Despite the additional salt, Hillsdale now only has 150 tons left to keep the 50 miles and the state trunk line within the city limits safe.
Hillsdale City Engineer Manager Stan Clingerman said he expects the city to run out of salt this winter.
A shortage of salt in Hillsdale and in Michigan has never happened until this year, Richards said. He said Hillsdale has only had to purchase surplus salt twice, and the city has never ran out of the surplus supply. Because this has become a statewide crisis, the Michigan government is discussing increasing the surplus of salt that cities can buy.
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