Portage County road crews say they have enough road salt on hand to start the winter season, but the sudden closure of Morton Salt’s mine in Fairport Harbor has left officials across Northeast Ohio watching how long the shutdown lasts. Morton Salt announced on Oct. 26 that it had ceased mining operations at its Fairport mine in Lake County after discovering a significant inflow of water in the mine on Oct. 22, according to the company’s own media release.
Morton said in that release that it evacuated miners immediately, ceased all underground operations and notified regulatory authorities, and that all employees were evacuated safely with no injuries. The company said it is working with independent experts and regulatory authorities to investigate the intrusion and determine next steps, that surface activities at the site will be severely limited while the mine is closed, and that it will notify impacted customers and vendors of the force majeure event.
In Portage County, the engineer’s office is responsible for about 736 lane miles of county roads in the townships. Tom Klejka, general superintendent of the Portage County Engineer’s Office, told the Record-Courier the office has 3,000 to 3,500 tons of salt available now, compared with the 4,000 to 4,500 tons it typically uses in a season. “Obviously the closure is affecting a lot of people, but we have salt on hand, a significant amount of salt, so as of right now, it’s not going to affect us at all,” Klejka told the Record-Courier. “But it all depends on how long the mine is closed.”…