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Ohio announces who shares in $11.5M road-salt settlement

The Attorney General’s Office says this agreement between Cargill and Morton left highway departments and public works companies across Ohio paying above-market prices for salt, as they tried to keep roadways clear of ice and snow in the winter season.

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The state settled a lawsuit with the companies in June.

In Auglaize County, the village of New Bremen will receive $2,901.28.

In Darke County, the county engineer will receive $10,352,90.

Among the local governments, Cleveland gets the biggest disbursement of about $250,000, followed by lesser amounts for Toledo, Cincinnati, Akron, Columbus and Youngstown.

Last August, Springfield purchased up to 5,500 tons of rock salt at a cost of more than $80 per ton through the ODOT Cooperative Purchasing Program for an expenditure of up to $440,000 – a 45 percent increase from the previous year.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the local government distributions this morning.

He said the payments were calculated based on how much rock salt an entity bought from Cargill or Morton during the applicable timeframe, from 2008 to 2010.

A list of entities receiving claim checks from the rock salt settlement is available here. Every entity that submitted a claim is receiving a few reimbursement. He wasn’t sure how the money was going to be divided up, he added.

All public entities in Ohio can receive free help from the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section to detect possible anti-competitive activity.

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The Ohio Department of Transportation gets $1.7 million as Ohio’s largest single rock salt buyer. For more information, entities can contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or 800-282-0515.

Local counties receive thousands in rock salt settlement