Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - As we get closer to winter and snowfall, public works and highway crews are preparing. Unlike last year, commissioners and superintendents say there is no issue with rock salt supply this season.
Erie County DPW Commissioner Bill Geary says the county is good to go this winter. "The county bids both a county contract, but we also use a New York State Office of Government Services contract, and we bid 20,000 ton on both contracts. Last year because of the Buy American Salt Act, we had to use the same vendor on both contracts. Fortunately, this year, we have two different vendors," says Geary. The "Buy American Salt Act" in New York was a law passed in 2022 that required public agencies to prioritize purchasing rock salt mined in the United States. However, due to supply shortages caused by the law, state officials made the preference "not apply" for the winter of 2025-2026.
Geary says there are 15,000 tons of rock salt on hand. "(In) a typical year, we go through anywhere from 35,000 to almost 50,000 tons of salt. So the 15,000 we have on hand hopefully gets us through the last quarter of this year. But if we get a couple nuisance events where we get just freezing rain, we go through a lot more than if we're just plowing snow. I would think that we should be making it to the 2026 budget with what we have on hand, and then in January through April, we'll probably go through another 75% of that," says Geary.
Geary credits town highway superintendents in Erie County, Niagara County and Chautauqua County for getting through last year. "That was probably one of the worst situations ever in January, not having rock salt right in the heart of our winter season, but I think everybody was able to get some sort of salt, whether we were sharing what we had on hand and delivering it to each other, or getting the emergency supplies which the county bought In excess of 10,000 ton at a cost of almost $1 million," says Geary.
The barns are also full in Clarence, says Highway Superintendent Jamie Dussing. "We're just waiting on the weather to turn. The trucks and the equipment, we will be ready to go as well as the employees. So we're in good shape," says Dussing.
Dussing says he goes through 6,000 tons of salt a season. "Some of that could be left over from the year before, and some certainly gets left in the barn at the end of the year. Right now, we have about 4,000 tons on hand. And like I said, we're ready to go when Mother Nature decides," says Dussing.
Dussing says the plow driver situation is also in good shape. He says while five long-time drivers retired, their replacements are being trained.