Moncton trucks in 3,000 tonnes of road salt after potash mine closure

Moncton is stocking up on road salt following the suspension of operations at PotashCorp’s Picadilly potash mine.

On Monday, the city spent $200,000 to truck in an extra 3,000 tonnes of road salt for the rest of the season.

Road salt is a byproduct of potash production and the mine is the only place that supplies it to the province.

READ MORE: Over 400 jobs lost as PotashCorp suspends New Brunswick potash operation

Moncton public works manager Mayhew Lloy said he’s been concerned about supply since PotashCorp announced the impending shutdown of the mine.

He said building up the city’s salt reserves is a backup plan.

“We are bringing it in just to give us a little bit of insurance to make sure that that we don’t run out,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are bringing it in just to give us a little bit of insurance to make sure that that we don't run out," he said.

“We’ve been given reassurance that there is salt up at the mine in Sussex to get us though this year.”

Lloy said the assurance came from Cargill, an international company that distributes salt from the mine. Cargill is under contract to provide road salt to the province and several municipalities until November 2017.

“Next year is a big question mark. There are no real answers yet, but I guess they are working on it,” said Lloy.

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Cargill has not revealed how it plans to fulfill its contract if the mine stops producing salt this spring. Representative Mark Klein told Global News the company’s focus is making sure its customers have the salt they need to get through this winter.

“I would like to see the mine in Sussex stay open so we can get our salt there, but I don’t know if it is feasible or not,” said Lloy.

Potash Corp announced Monday it is considering continuing its salt mining operations at Picadilly throughout next winter, but no final decision has been made.

The situation is unsettling for Nathan Orr from Riverview Public Works, who said his salt has to be trucked in from outside the province.

“We are always looking ahead. I think it would be shortsighted not to look ahead at this point,” he said.