NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 13, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its corporate credit rating, on American Rock Salt Co. LLC (ARSC) to 'B-' from 'B'. At the same time, we affirmed our senior secured rating of 'B-', the same as the corporate credit rating. We also revised our recovery rating to '4', indicating average (30%-50%) likelihood of recovery in a payment default, from '3'. All ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on Jan. 10, 2007. That placement was due to very thin liquidity and weak operating performance stemming from the unprecedented mild weather in ARSC's upstate New York operating area. The outlook is stable. "The downgrade
