While some towns near Buffalo warn of salt shortages, Irondequoit says it has enough to last

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x

An update on the salt supply issues in Monroe County

The News10NBC Team details breaking News, Traffic and Weather.

IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. – As some towns around Buffalo warn of cutting back on road salting due to delayed deliveries, towns in the Rochester area say their supply is safe. In Irondequoit, they showed News10NBC’s Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean why their salt lasts longer.

Erin Magee, the head of public works in Irondequoit, picked up a sample of the salt they use.

Erin Magee, Commissioner, Irondequoit DPW: “So we use a brand of salt and it’s called Fire Rock. So what that means is that this is a pre-treated salt and what that allows us to do is to use less salt.”

The source for Irondequoit’s salt is the same as the Town of Tonawanda and Lockport near Buffalo, American Rock Salt, which warned that their deliveries are delayed.

In a tweet, Tonawanda wrote:

“Due to a shortage of street salt, the Highway Department is cutting back on salt usage and will only be salting the main roads, every intersection, and Stop sign locations until further notice.”

Berkeley first reported on this two weeks ago when contractors said their deliveries were postponed.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “Where do you get your salt? What is the source?”

Erin Magee: “Our source right now is American Rock Salt.”

Berkeley emailed Tony Zucco, a contractor he interviewed previously about the delays, who says the situation hasn’t changed.

In Irondequoit, the salt is mixed with a brine that makes it blue in color, allowing them to use less salt when spreading it across the road.

Erin Magee: “Because it doesn’t bounce around as much and sticks to the road surface more effectively.”

Andrae Evans, Irondequoit Supervisor: “It means we use one third less salt than on average.”

Berkeley Brean: “What we’re looking at right now, is this enough to deal with what you have to deal with in the next few weeks and the next month?”

Erin Magee: “Our salt barn holds about 6,000 tons. So yes, this is enough to keep us going.”

In a series of emails, the Town of Greece said “No change since last time” when it said it does not have salt issues.

The head of DPW in Chili said the town has not altered any salting because of delays in deliveries.

“With that said, our recent orders are taking longer to fulfill than typical but I generally keep a healthy stockpile so as to insulate us if there is a delay of a few days in a delivery,” wrote Commissioner David Lindsay.

The Town of Webster wrote “we are not experiencing anything out of the ordinary for this time of year and have not been informed of any imminent salt shortage issues from our suppliers.”

Irondequoit and most towns get rock salt from American Rock Salt near Geneseo, the largest salt producing mine in America. When Berkeley first reported on supply issues to local contractors, the mine said, “The magnitude of this year’s early storms obviously has caused some challenges. We work very hard to not have anyone run out of our product and will continue to do so as the winter continues.”

*A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.*