Salt shortage hits winter-stricken Ohio
Salt shortage in Ohio has been brought on by a snowy winter, but the state may get some help soon in alleviating its salt shortage .
Equipment operator Tyler Pearson uses an end loader to move a shipment of salt to the edge of the salt dome Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014, at the Rockford City Yards in Rockford, Ill. Ohio's roads are facing a salt shortage thanls to the long run of snowy weather.
Max Gersh/Rockford Register Star/AP/File
Columbus
Local governments in Ohio might get some help soon replenishing their dwindling road salt supplies.
The snow started early in Ohio and hasn't stopped yet, leading to a shortage of salt for treating roads. The Ohio Department of Transportation is nearing its purchasing limit on four contracts negotiated last summer with suppliers to provide the salt for the state and for local governments.
The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1fu5RUa ) reports Wednesday that the state is trying to negotiate new deals, asking salt companies to bid on a set of new contracts that could make an additional 150,000 tons available to local governments across the state.
The new supplies could reach salt barns across the state within two weeks.