PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city is trying to beef up its salt supply following last week’s winter storm. But there’s been a delay after two barges carrying 21,000 tons got stuck due to all the chunks of ice in the Delaware River.
The salt was supposed to end up at the port in Fairless Hills. City officials said they order salt after each storm, and they tapped into the supply big time in January, using around 31,000 tons.
Philly’s Clean and Green Initiatives Director Carlton Williams said the city's supply right now is about 15,000 tons.
“We definitely need to make sure our salt levels are at a sufficient amount, so if we get another storm like this, we can be out there preparing to fight it,” Williams said.
Williams said they’re monitoring the delayed delivery and working with the vendor. The one barge carrying 15,000 tons was rerouted to Paulsboro in Gloucester County, where it will be unloaded and hauled away on trucks from there. The other barge with 6,000 tons will be going through the river at some point, at least for now.
The Coast Guard is using icebreakers to get ships moving again.