Report: N.J. Lawmakers Fighting Decades-Old Maritime Law To Get More Rock Salt
A salt truck on the road prepares for snow on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. (credit: CBS 2)
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – Town and city officials across New Jersey are dealing with a shortage of road salt to help keep highways and side streets clear of snow and ice.
The brutal season has depleted Jersey City’s stockpile, but Mayor Steve Fulop said help is on the way.
The city is getting a delivery of 500 tons of rock salt on Monday, Fulop tweeted.
“We go through about 800 tons of salt per storm, we’re getting 500 today, so we’re not really up to where we need to be entirely, but it’s a start, it’s better than what we had,” Fulop told WCBS 880. “This will get us through one event.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the state is waiting on a shipment of 40,000 tons of salt that’s stuck on a vessel in Maine. The shipment has been delayed by a 1920 federal maritime law that prevents foreign vessels from moving cargo between U.S. ports.
According to The Record newspaper, New Jersey’s senators are working with Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation to secure special permission to get that much needed salt to the Garden State in a matter of days, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported.
“I am convinced that a waiver a couple of days ago would’ve had the salt here already, so the faster we get a waiver, the faster we get the salt,” New Jersey Assemblyman Jon Bramnick said. “I’m deeply troubled that there hasn’t been a waiver.”
Department of Transportation Spokesman Joe Dee said the state has used more than 370,000 tons of salt as of Feb. 11, before last Thursday’s storm. That compares to 258,000 tons of salt used all of last winter.
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