road salt

Who's to blame for New Jersey's road salt shortage this winter? It depends on who you ask.

A barge carrying much-needed road salt has arrived in New Jersey as another winter storm approaches.

With another winter blast expected to bring a light coating of snow to parts of the Garden State on Wednesday, a load of much-needed rock salt is still stuck on a barge in Searsport, Maine, the Asbury Park Press has reported.

With supplies of road salt almost completely used up after the snow and sleet that fell earlier this week, the New Jersey Department of Transportation got some very welcome news Wednesday -- a huge shipment of salt is arriving at Port Newark from South America.

New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone has joined U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker in calling on federal officials to grant a waiver of the Jones Act -- which would allow a foreign vessel to pick up a huge load of rock salt at a port in Maine and deliver it to the Garden State.

New Jersey's two U.S. Senators are urging federal officials to expedite the state's efforts to get 40,000 tons of road salt transported to Port Newark, despite the setback posed by maritime law and the lack of an available American vessel large enough to carry the entire load.

With more snow and ice falling Tuesday, the Garden State's road salt shortage continues to be a major concern.

A representative from the American Maritime Partnership said Monday that the industry is taking steps to resupply New Jersey with additional road salt as fast as possible.

As winter ice puts lives at risk on New Jersey roads, Townsquare Media has learned that a 1920 federal maritime law stranded a shipment of road salt at a Maine seaport while urgent requests for a waiver were denied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Jim Simpson, commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Transportation said today's snow and ice storm presents "worse" problems for the state than the post-Christmas storm of 2010, in part because this unusually severe winter is forcing some tough choices in deployment of limited road salt supplies.