Snow and ice storms continued to pound the US this week.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security blocked a shipment of road salt to the tristate region.
New York News
My FOXNY reported:
The salt shortage persists in New Jersey. Officials have failed to get permission for a barge with 40 tons of salt to set sail for the tristate region
Angel Morales, a resident of Jersey City says her car just won’t go anywhere.
“Look, you see I went up and I started sliding back,” she said.
N.J. officials were hoping a barge with 40 tons of salt would arrive from Maine. But the vessel wasn’t flying the American flag and officials couldn’t get clearance from Homeland Security to come to the Port of Newark.
The problem is because of the 1920 federal Maritime Act. It prevents foreign vessels from moving cargo from one U.S. port to another. It was designed to protect the U.S. shipping industry from foreign competition.
The barge sailed empty, leaving the salt in Maine.
Now municipalities are counting on smaller shipments from suppliers. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop says he’s been waiting for salt for two weeks“We got 200 tons today we are expecting another 300 tons today” said the mayor. “To put it in perspective we use about 800 tons this will get us through one more snow storm. One more storm we will be back in this place so we really need some larger relief. “