Rock Salt's Long Journey from Chile to Long Island Roads

How a vital winter resource gets from a Chilean mine to Long Island highways

Published on Feb. 21, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Each winter, tons of rock salt are mined from the Atacama Desert in Chile, loaded onto ships, and transported over 4,500 nautical miles to a terminal in Staten Island, New York. From there, the salt is distributed to municipalities across Long Island to help keep roads clear and safe during the winter months. This process involves a complex logistics chain, from unloading the ships to loading the salt onto trucks for the final delivery to highway departments.

Why it matters

Road salt is an essential resource for keeping Long Island's roads passable during the winter, but its use also raises environmental concerns due to the potential impacts on water, wildlife, and infrastructure. Understanding the supply chain and logistics behind road salt delivery helps contextualize the challenges faced by cash-strapped local governments in balancing public safety, budgets, and environmental stewardship.

The details

The rock salt used on Long Island roads is mined from a vast open-pit mine operated by Compañía Minera Cordillera in Chile's Atacama Desert. The salt is then loaded onto bulk carrier ships like the Equinox Melida, which can carry up to 55,000 tons of salt on the roughly 4,500-nautical-mile voyage to the Atlantic Salt Company's terminal on Staten Island. At the terminal, the salt is unloaded by crane and conveyor belt system, then loaded onto trucks for the final delivery to municipal salt storage sites across Long Island. This process can involve hundreds of truck trips per day during the winter months.

  • The Equinox Melida loaded 55,000 tons of rock salt from the Chilean mine about a month ago.
  • On February 17, a Massapequa trucker named Vinny Avanti delivered a 25-ton salt load to a New York State Department of Transportation yard off the Long Island Expressway.

The players

Compañía Minera Cordillera

The company that operates the open-pit rock salt mine in Chile's Atacama Desert, which is the source of the salt used on Long Island roads.

Atlantic Salt Company

A privately held, Massachusetts-based company that supplies much of the road salt used by Long Island municipalities, with a major distribution terminal on Staten Island.

Vinny Avanti

A 59-year-old Massapequa trucker who has been making regular salt delivery runs from the Staten Island terminal to Long Island highway departments for over 35 years.

Dan Losquadro

The Brookhaven Highway Superintendent, who oversees the third-largest road system in New York state after New York City and the state highways.

Stephen Canzoneri

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Transportation, which employs various techniques to try to reduce salt usage while maintaining safe roads.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“No matter what the budget is, what the political view is, if it snows, the salt's got to go down.”

— Vinny Avanti, Massapequa Trucker (Newsday)

“With proper management 'salt is still, by far, the best option we have to keep the roads safe and passable.'”

— Dan Losquadro, Brookhaven Highway Superintendent (Newsday)

“We understand that there is a delicate balance between protecting the environment and maintaining safe highways for motorists.”

— Stephen Canzoneri, New York State Department of Transportation Spokesperson (Newsday)

What’s next

The New York State Department of Transportation is continuously exploring ways to reduce salt usage, including pre-brining, pre-wetting, and using treated salt, while still maintaining safe road conditions.

The takeaway

Road salt is an essential but complex resource for keeping Long Island's roads clear and safe during the winter, requiring a global supply chain and logistics network to deliver millions of tons from a remote Chilean mine to local highway departments. However, the environmental impacts of road salt use remain an ongoing challenge for cash-strapped municipalities to balance with public safety.