Ohio calls on states to buy road salt as group

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Some Midwest states are thinking of ways to get a better deal on road salt.

Ohio officials have been calling for Midwestern states to band together to buy road salt after an investigation found some local governments there were paying twice as much as those across the border in Kentucky and Indiana.

Ohio wants to join with Wisconsin and other states to solicit bids and manage seasonal salt supplies to avoid shortages.

In Wisconsin, Greendale village manager Todd Michaels says he would welcome a multistate purchase to help stabilize the market. Greendale has already used nearly one-third of its salt for the winter.

Some Wisconsin municipalities paid as much as $134 per ton, or more than three times the normal price, for salt during last year’s heavy snows.