Washington-The Federal Aviation Administration cited the strike at three PotashCorp mines in Saskatchewan as a reason for a shortage in airport deicer this winter. FAA said in an October 10 memo to airport executives that a leading maker of potassium acetate runway deicers, Cryotech Deicing Technology, Fort Madison, Iowa, said that the availability of its E36 (trade name) will be significantly limited for the 2008-09 winter season. The memo said the situation was a direct result of the lack of raw materials used in making the product, and cited a short supply of raw materials due to an ongoing mine strike in Canada. The strike has since been settled. However, in the memo FAA said that if the mine strike had ended Oct. 10 it would still take a few months to alleviate the situation. FAA reported that CDT said it produced 9 million gallons of E36 in 2007-08, but will only produce up to 3 million gallons this upcoming winter. FAA said it confirmed that all major North American potassium acetate makers are having similar difficulties, including CDT, Old World Industries Inc., Clariant Corp., Octagon Process Inc., and Jarchem Industries Inc. FFA advised that airports develop contingency plans to deal with winter conditions without the use of potassium-based deicers.
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