Winter Storm Deluge Depletes Rock Salt Supply

When Warminster residents hit the road Tuesday morning, they were met with some unwanted challenges from iced over neighborhood roads.  

The morning commute led one bus driver to exclaim that "Warminster doesn't believe in rock salt."

Township manager Rich Manfredi explained that Warminster does, in fact, have a firm belief in using rock salt to clear ice off the highway. The problem was that the township's resources had run out following the one-two-three punch of winter storms in the past week, and the supplier did not have any to deliver.

"The up and down weather last week depleted our salt, along with a lot of other townships," said Manfredi Thursday afternoon. "We have received a new shipment of 300 tons of salt, with another order for 200 more tons on the way."

An early draft of the 2014 budget included a project to create a storage facility that would allow the township to increase its supply, but it was scrapped in later revisions. Manfredi told supervisors Thursday night that the Public Works department is exploring ways to use existing resources to store more salt.

By Wednesday afternoon, sunshine and 40-degree weather melted much of the ice. According to the National Weather Service, we can expect highs near 70 degrees this weekend, which should wipe the majority of the accumulated ice and snow. There is no snow or rain predicted for the following week.