Huron County Director of Operations Says Warmer Winters Slightly Reduce Demand For Road Salt

by Bob Montgomery

Director Of Operations Imran Khalid says Huron County gets its road salt from Compass Minerals and they're very happy with the arrangement they have.

He says they're not required to meet a minimum amount of salt, they can order what they need as they need it, and what they need often depends on what they have left over from the previous year. He explains the warmer winters we've experienced in the last couple of years do help reduce the amount of road salt they need to some degree, but he adds, there are other factors that go into that. One of them is pre-salting before the snow falls, and salt doesn't work if the temperature drops below minus-ten.

“The challenge with warmer temperatures that we find is you get less snow fall, but the moisture is still there. You still have some snow that melted, pavements are wet and as long as you're in freezing temperatures that melted water can turn into icy conditions. So I think the perception that a warmer winter will significantly reduce the need for salt is not entirely accurate.” Khalid says there are a lot of conditions caused by warmer temperatures that still require the use of salt.

The also have other materials that they use, like anti-icing materials, and as the temperatures get warmer they tend to use more of that than salt.