Low road salt supply creates crisis , may drive up costs

Summer is still going strong but those who need road salt for the winter ice and snow season already are experiencing big problems.

Supplies are limited, and officials in Lake, McHenry and Cook counties are scrambling to find enough salt for this winter. And when they do find it, they could pay two or three times as much as last year.

Last year's winter - the worst in 40 years - wiped out salt stockpiles. Not wanting to get caught short this year, many entities ordered more salt than normal, according to state Sen. Pamela Althoff, a Republican from Crystal Lake.

"We had two extraordinarily severe winters back to back where the use of salt was extreme. Now, we have huge demand and little supply."

She said this year's bids called for 70 percent of the ordered amount delivered immediately, and the provision to deliver 130 percent if need be, putting pressure on suppliers.

"Normally, it's not such an urgent issue because people have enough for the first couple of storms," said Susan Hofer, CMS spokeswoman.

The result could be prices double or triple those of last year. So dire are the possibilities that Althoff, a Republican from Crystal Lake, says legislation will be introduced to cap the price towns should pay and create a special state fund to make up all or part of the difference.

"We have to determine what kind of money we're talking about. Crystal Lake just told me it will cost them an extra million," she said.

In Lake County, the cost could be more than that. The county wants to order 25,000 tons of salt. Last year, the cost was $41.65 per ton, according to Kevin Kerrigan, engineer of maintenance for the Lake County Division of Transportation.

"I'm hearing upward of $100 a ton," he said. "We're all dealing with this right now. It's a major priority."

At that price, Lake County's bill would be more than $1.4 million higher than last year.

"The cost is the issue now," said state Rep. Kathy Ryg, a Democrat from Vernon Hills. "All the area legislators in Lake and McHenry counties are in communication on this."

Many counties, townships, municipalities and other agencies, including the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Toll Highway Authority, are part of a joint purchasing agreement with CMS, which sends out bids for salt.

This year, although CMS sent out bids twice, none were received for many agencies, including all those in Lake and McHenry counties.

On Tuesday, the agency sent letters to participants saying it is aggressively exploring its options but that the current market for salt ranged from $145 to $165 per ton.

Participants were asked whether they wanted to stay with the state at that possible price and how much they would need, or whether they wanted to withdraw and seek their own supply.

"The cost is the issue now," said state Rep. Kathy Ryg, a Democrat from Vernon Hills. "All the area legislators in Lake and McHenry counties are in communication on this."

Local governments have until 5 p.m. Friday to respond.

The Island Lake village board has called an emergency meeting for 7 p.m. today to discuss and make a decision regarding the CMS request.

"To sit here in August and commit yourself to paying $145 to $165 a ton doesn't seem like much of a bargain for our towns. Unfortunately, communities aren't being given a lot of options," said Mark Fowler, executive director of the Des Plaines-based Northwest Municipal Conference.

So far, 25 members in Cook County were on the state list of towns that did not receive bids for salt, he said.

"It could be a timing issue, it could be a supply issue, it could be people ordering more. It could be a combination," he said. "As we understand, this is a Midwest problem, it isn't specific to Illinois."

Hofer said salt supplies coming north by barge along the Mississippi River were hampered first by floods, then by an oil spill and now by low water levels.

"We're competing with Minnesota and Iowa and Wisconsin and the Dakotas and Michigan and Indiana and Ohio for the same salt that's coming up the Mississippi River," she said.

There even has been talk of ordering salt from overseas, such as Germany or Chile. That could lead to another problem, as some salt produced out-of-state can contain magnesium, which is "really bad on concrete," Althoff said.

Not everyone is in a pickle, however.

The DuPage County Division of Transportation already has secured a contract for 26,000 tons of salt, priced in the mid-$40 per ton range, according to John Kos, director or transportation and operations.

DuPage decided to go it alone in 2004 and hasn't looked back.

"We opted to go independent of the state contract just to see if it would work out," he said.