In unusually snowy winter, how are salt supplies holding up?
This January, the snowplows and deicing trucks of Butler County have been put to the test.
Hardly a day in the past few weeks has gone by without at least a dusting of snow somewhere in the county. According to records from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Slippery Rock station, 2025’s snow totals have reached 10.8 inches in the first 23 days of the year. That total surpasses the 10.5 inches from all of 2024.
Some municipalities have had to make financial decisions regarding their supplies of road salt, including Cranberry Township. The municipality has already had to place an order to replenish its salt shed capable of holding 6,500 tons of salt.
“It was actually overflowing (at the start of the season) because of the last two winters hardly using it,” said Kelly Maurer, township director of public works. “We had 6,500 tons and we’ve used 3,200.”
However, Maurer says that the timing couldn’t have been better, as the township is in the middle of renovating its salt shed.
“For us, this has been very beneficial because we have to unload our salt shed at the end of the year,” Maurer said.
Forward Township also has had to order 200 tons of road salt before the end of this winter.
“During this winter season, we probably used about 40% of our supply and just replenished it with 200 tons of fresh salt,” said Forward Township manager Tom Hartwig. “We had no problems getting 200 tons delivered this week promptly. We are now back to full capacity in our stockpile.”
According to Bitler Township supervisor Tom Knights, the township’s supply of road salt fell from 2,700 tons at the start of winter to 1,200 tons, forcing them to make an order to replenish their stocks.
Mercer Township, on the northern edge of the county, has already pledged to increase its annual salt order from 80 tons to 100 for next winter. The township had reduced its order to 80 for this winter after two consecutive below-average seasons of snow.
Most municipalities in the county, along with some school districts and hospitals, acquire their road salt through Pennsylvania’s COSTARS cooperative purchasing program. A program that allows them to enter into a contract to purchase goods from a list of state-approved vendors for competitive prices.
“Municipalities go through an agency where we get a contracted price that’s guaranteed,” said Mercer Township supervisor John Bennett Jr. “But in order to get that guaranteed price you have to take a minimum, and then you can take a maximum.”
Each year, prior to March, municipalities put in a bid for a certain amount of road salt. Then, when winter rolls around, they can purchase a minimum of 60% of the bid amount and a maximum of 140%.
During the summer, salt vendors bid for the right to supply each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties with road salt. For this winter, Compass Minerals in Monaca is supplying Butler County for $90.07 a ton. The company also is serving seven other counties.
Compass Minerals is one of five companies supplying all of Pennsylvania.
“They put all that out to bid during the summer,” Knights said. “Usually the award is in August, but certainly by the end of summer, you know what your county’s price is and who the supplier is.”
Cranberry Township also is part of the South Hills Area Council of Governments purchasing program.
“We do that so if there’s ever a shortage, we have the backup,” Maurer said. “We use two different ones, and then we place an order with each.”
