A drain of salt?

摘要

What is a snowball's chance in 2008-09? Many public works agencies would like to know. After a killer snow season last year, many officials found themselves tapped out of road salt before January hit. Panic is in full swing this fall, as officials brace for another thick covering of flakes and ice. The salt industry is spinning its wheels trying to keep up with the spike in demand. "After last year, we had a lot of people who were scared to death about running out of salt," Dick Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, told Roads & Bridges. "Their response has been to increase their bets this year, and we have been running domestic supply production at maximum capacity since early last winter, so there is no more to be squeezed out of it." Hanneman used a bit of logic to calm the catastrophic predictions. In 2006, he said, salt consumption went from a record high of 20.5 million tons in 2005 to 12.1 million. Usage went back up to 20.3 million in 2007, but on average, the U.S. goes through about 15 million tons of salt a year.