Troy declares emergency for rock salt needs

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- Troy has declared a public emergency as road salt levels continue to dwindle with more winter weather on the way. Because of persistent mining and manufacturing delays, American Rock Salt could not meet the municipality's contract demands for road salt, contributing to a statewide shortage.

City officials said the frequent winter weather had taken a toll on Troy's road salt reserves, becoming incredibly low and approaching exhaustion. Mayor Camella Mantello said the shortage had canceled salt deliveries for Troy.

As more winter weather approaches, officials say there is insufficient time to secure road salt from other suppliers. Mantello said the city's top priority is ensuring the health and safety of residents.

"The statewide salt shortage, like many municipalities, has impacted our city to the point where I have issued an emergency declaration to allow us to purchase road salt from other suppliers," Mantello said. "We have two upcoming storms in the forecast and there is no time to follow normal procurement policies to prepare."

A statement on the American Rock Salt website said since October 14, 2024, teams have worked in the salt mines 24 hours a day, every day, excluding the holidays. The salt supplier has shipped over 2.1 million tons of salt this winter, shipping a total of 1.8 million tons during the winter of 2024.

"This historic demand is due to the long stretch of cold weather events impacting the region where the constantly low temperatures require salting roads for even very small snowfall events," the statement said. "This trend is consistent throughout the Northeast and across the nation as even parts of Florida have experienced snowfall this winter."