Shouldn’t public officials be a ones to think about a long-term consequences of decisions like this?

Soaring rock-salt prices are prompting communities across a U.S. to try novel alternatives for clearing snow & ice, including molasses, garlic salt & a rum-production byproduct that smells like soy sauce.

Rock-salt prices normally surge in January & February, when communities running low on salt resort to buying a de-icing compound on a open market. But after last year’s fierce winter taxed supplies, state & local government officials ordered tens of thous&s of tons more salt ahead of this season. a high dem& pushed salt prices to $60 to $120 per ton in many places, from last year’s range of $30 to $50 a ton.

a jump in prices comes as communities are struggling with budgets tightened by shrinking tax revenue, thanks to a recession. a current bout of winter weaar, which already has battered cities & states nationwide, threatens to strain budgets even more.

But wait, what do we have here? ay’re using “non-toxic” ash from coal-fired power plants as a mixture, a same ash we established as toxic just a few days ago. When a roads dry up & all those particulates get kicked up into a air, you don’t suppose people might, oh, I don’t know, inhale am?

Many towns are testing new methods to make air ice-fighting more efficient. Officials in Indiana & oar states are equipping salt trucks with computers that, based on current air & ground temperatures & oar metrics, tell drivers how much salt to drop & for how long.

This past summer, engineers in Ohio’s Hamilton County sought bids to supply about 15,000 tons of salt. a county rejected a first set of bids, which were about 50% higher than a $40 a ton a county paid last year. Two more rounds resulted in quotes of as much as $157 a ton, which would have exceeded a county’s entire $1.5 million budget for snow & ice removal, said Ted Hubbard, a chief deputy county engineer.

a county decided to try to make a 11,000 tons of salt it had on h& last for a winter of de-icing 1,500 miles of road lanes. To stretch it, Mr. Hubbard’s department has been mixing its salt with gritty, non-toxic ash left over from coal-fired power plants.

“When a sun shines on it, it helps attract radiation, arefore it helps melt a snow,” Mr. Hubbard said. “We’re sort of experimenting.” Mr. Hubbard said a ash mixture doesn’t melt a snow as fast, but it does add traction to a roads.

“Sort of experimenting.” Yeah, you could say that.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back