Looming salt shortage; city of Kent responds

 

Although winter is a few months away, preparation is key for cities that experience harsh winters and expect large amounts of snow and ice.

Kent, as well as several other cities in Northeast Ohio, is preparing for the winter by bulking up on its salt supply in response to a salt shortage.

“We have to have the campus open for classes,” Brian Gardner, Senior Facility Manager at Kent State Stark, said.  “There are a lot of ramifications if we don’t. If we had a prolonged shutdown that would affect students, and the number of hours they’re in their classes and those types of things.  So we really don’t have an option to not be ready.”

Preparedness is a major factor when deciding how to tackle an Ohio winter, according to Gardner. However, when prices increase and commodities, such as salt, are unable to be procured, it can put municipal and school employees in a vice.

“It’s very important that we have our salt order in place and have it delivered,” Gardner said.  “As well as then all of the equipment up and running and ready to go as soon as the first snow or ice storm hits.”

When planning ahead doesn’t occur, the consequences could range from a simple class cancelation to a total inability to fill the original order of salt. Even when one finds themselves in a shortage like this year, it isn’t hard to always find salt somewhere. Morton Salt, based out of Chicago, IL, never runs out of salt, and the prices merely fluctuates like any other commodity.

“You go back to the supply and demand model that we learned back in the beginning of classes in economics,” Gardner said. “ Just like gasoline prices. Same demand and supply. If you have a natural disaster with gas prices, you’re going to have lower supply… That’s pretty consistent with a lot of commodities we buy.”

Even when prepared for winter, there can still be a negative impact of anti-snow-and-ice measures the city and university use annually. There is constant decision-making to determine how much salt to use.

Earlier this year, Dr. Anne Jefferson, a geologist at Kent State University, said that Northeast Ohio in general uses too much salt, which harms the environment.  Brad Mckay, Facilities Manager for the Central Maintenance Division of the City of Kent, agrees.

“I think we use too much salt,” Mckay said. “I think most cities, if not all of them in this area, use too much salt. It’s a convenience that we’ve gotten used to because the salt mines are located here. If you go throughout the northern part of the United States, the salt usage is nonexistent or a whole lot less than what we’re using.”

Director of Public Services Melanie Baker believes that it is very complicated to determine whether or not to use a lot of salt.  They have to decide whether to fulfill the requests of the residents or to keep the roads intact.

“In Akron they don’t ever touch the side streets, which is probably why they are in a lot better shape, because they allow that road to stay frozen all the time,” Baker said.  “There isn’t that freezing and thawing when you use the salt. Now residents will complain because it’s hard to get around on, and that’s why you’ll typically see municipalities taking and making sure we’re treating everything.”

Mckay says that it is hard to make those decisions because the roads being  “safe to travel” can depend on who’s driving.

“Safe to travel is a relative term depending on who’s behind the steering wheel,” McKay said. “We will get a compliment and a complaint on road conditions after every storm. Ensuring people can travel if they’re driving responsibly is the key.”

According to McKay, there are a few options that they have to acquire salt for Kent.  The City of Kent is part of a consortium made up of schools, park districts, cities and other publicly funded groups. The association pulls everything together in order to get a salt bid and hopefully get a lower price on the salt.

The other way to acquire the salt is to go an ODOT contract and purchase it through them.  The consortium that the City of Kent is a part of put in a bid for 85,000 tons of salt this year.

Mckay said that the price of salt has risen to $89 per ton in 2018-19 from $54 per ton in 2017-18.  In the area, there has been anywhere from $20 to $50 increase from last year. The City of Kent has paid a 25 percent increase from the 2017-18 year.

While Mckay hesitates to use the word ‘shortage’, CEO and President of Abraxus Salt Frank Dedon would call it just that.

“There is a massive salt shortage,” Dedon said. “There are going to be issues. We have to resort to multiple form of deicing to remove the ice and snow.”

Abraxus Salt is the largest supplier in the region, providing up to 70,000 tons of salt per year.  Its relationship with Cargill has resulted in a major partnership and growing salt business.

Cargill declined to comment on the shortage.

According to Baker, if regions in Northeast Ohio haven’t started thinking about salt yet, they may want to now.  

 

 

Salt shortage…? In NE Ohio…? How will this lead to cities such as Kent to prepare for winter? Find out in my new story that will be live tomorrow.

— Will Kovach (@trillkovach) September 26, 2018

Just finished up my first reporting project. I talk about how the region is responding to a salt shortage in Northeast Ohio. Check it out tomorrow @ https://t.co/uKwXNJzFVm #JMCRPP

— Scott Lendak (@scott_lendak) September 26, 2018

Where am I today? Tune in to find out what I’m working on. https://t.co/YvzHsHbumb

— Christiana Ford (@christianaford_) September 23, 2018

 

Christiana Ford: Video Package, Interviewed Frank Dedon, Brian Gardner, Brad McKay and Melanie Baker

Scott Lendak: Writing, Interviewed Brian Gardner, Brad McKay and Melanie Baker

William Kovach: Writing/multimedia, Interviewed Brad McKay and Melanie Baker