All this snow has our towns desperate for salt

Some warm day soon, we'll go back to regarding salt as something passed around the dinner table.

But until that happy moment, the humble mineral that fights ice and snow is a precious commodity in the storm-plagued Midwest.

With one of the worst winters on record refusing to quit, public works crews are rationing salt, thieves are raiding unprotected piles, and prices are going through the roof.

A Daily Herald survey showed local governments using 47 percent more salt and paying 53 percent more than normal.

Forty municipalities contacted were forced to order extra salt this year. While many governments take advantage of a state bulk-buying program, which sells salt at $41 a ton on average, once their allotment is expended, they've been turning to the open market, which has been charging more than $100 a ton.

McHenry County normally buys its salt through the state, but on Tuesday officials agreed to buy from an outside supplier at $82.50 a ton for 2,000 tons.

Like many locales, Naperville budgeted for a typical year, estimating about 14,500 to 15,000 tons of salt would be needed. But as of mid-February, it was 17,500 tons and counting. To keep up with demand, Naperville bought extra salt in early February, spending $100 a ton.

Similarly in Geneva, officials recently agreed to spend $97 a ton for salt.

It's expensive, but the cost of running low on salt is high, too, Gurnee leaders are finding.

Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik recently issued a public apology for what she called a disappointing snow-removal effort during a Feb. 6 storm that left icy roads and irate drivers.

"I got a lot of angry phone calls. A lot of angry e-mails," Kovarik said.

Public works employees were hampered by snowplow breakdowns and a dwindling supply of road salt because barges carrying shipments were delayed by ice.

Gurnee isn't the only town waiting for salt.

"Ordering it and having it delivered are two different things," Libertyville Public Works Director John Heinz said.

Buffalo Grove Public Works Director Greg Boysen was similarly frustrated.

"They're supposed to make deliveries within 10 days of ordering and they're behind," he said.

So what happens when a town runs low on salt?

"We've been mixing it with sand because of all the ice," Sugar Grove Public Works Director Anthony Speciale said.

Eking out salt with gravel or sand is becoming a common practice in a number of towns. Calcium chloride is also being used, and in St. Charles, a beet byproduct is helping de-ice pavements.

But some communities consider sand or gravel as a last resort because it can clog drainage systems.

So crews in numerous towns are making a little salt go a long way by prioritizing main roads, intersections and hills while side streets and cul de sacs do without.

"I just don't have the luxury of running all the way through subdivisions," Wheeling Public Works Director Tony Stavros said.

Meanwhile, the city of Elgin has taken heat for its overall snow-removal efforts. City officials pinned part of the blame on a salt shortage, saying limited use makes it harder to remove packed snow and ice.

According to the National Weather Service, the region has seen about twice the amount of snow than usual. At O'Hare International Airport, for example, 50.6 inches fell this season, compared to 27.5 inches on average.

And even light snowfalls consume salt, experts say.

"The little storms kills us as much as the big ones," Algonquin superintendent of streets Al Mozola said.

It's gotten so bad that enterprising criminals are absconding with salt from unguarded piles.

Three incidents of salt pilfering have occurred at businesses in Buffalo Grove since Feb. 9.

"I would assume it's another contractor concerned about their own salt supply," Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak said.

Salt thieves also struck in Schaumburg on Feb. 12, stealing a ton from behind a strip mall.

But if there's one good thing to emerge from the punishing winter, it's that motorists in general are following the law when it comes to driving in bad weather, Naperville's Van Vooren said.

Even though drivers are probably sick of the sight of plows, he urges them to be tolerant a little longer.

"If the motoring public could give truck drivers the opportunity to do their job -- don't tailgate them, give them room to maneuver -- they'll get out of the way as soon as they finish their street or route," he said. "You'll get to work safer and we will, too."

A winter to remember

Here's some factoids about the winter of 2007-2008.

• Normally, the Illinois Toll Highway Authority uses 60,000 tons of road salt each winter. This winter, that amount was 90,000 tons as of mid-February.

• Statewide, the Illinois Department of Transportation has used 738,000 tons of salt compared with 504,000 last winter. In Kane, Cook, DuPage, Will, McHenry and Lake counties, IDOT has used 287,000 tons of salt this winter compared to 196,000 the previous one.

• As of Tuesday, total snowfall at O'Hare International Airport since Dec. 1 measured 50.6 inches, the National Weather Service reported. That's almost twice the average of 27.5 inches at O'Hare.

• Rolling Meadows' snowplowing fleet was deployed 17 times in December compared to five times most years.

• It costs St. Charles $11,500 for each cumulative inch of snow.

• When you hit 15 degrees or lower, salt starts losing its effectiveness to melt snow and ice.

• As of mid-February, Kane County had responded to 56 winter storms compared to the average of 42.

• Itasca has paid 1,000 hours of overtime for snow and ice control this season.

Source: Daily Herald staff reports, Illinois Tollway, IDOT, National Weather Service

A heavy price

What some communities pay on average for road salt compared to what they're paying this winter.

Town Average cost 2007/2008 cost

Addison $95,000 $156,700

Arlington Heights $260,000 $430,000

Aurora $800,000* $1,000,000*

Barrington $95,000 $150,000

Carol Stream $70,000 $151,000

Glen Ellyn $75,000 $145,000

Hanover Park $80,000 $145,000

Libertyville $74,083 $170,000

Lindenhurst $59,000 $74,890

Lombard $111,170 $301,628

Mount Prospect $180,000 $210,000

Naperville $475,000 $665,000

Oak Brook $57,000 $69,000

Schaumburg $252,000 $417,600

Vernon Hills $105,000* $168,000

West Chicago $100,000 $183,000

Wheeling $92,875 $167,055

Total $3,008,318 $4,603,873

* High end of estimate