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.”
Not every Portage County community buys from Morton. Kent City Manager Dave Ruller told the Record-Courier in an email that Kent purchases salt through the Community University Education Purchasing Association, which awarded this year’s contract to Morton competitor Cargill, and that the city has 4,000 tons ready for its 189 lane miles. Aurora Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin also told the Record-Courier her city is a CUE member supplied by Cargill and said, “This will not affect us.”
Streetsboro, which purchases salt from Morton for its 230 to 240 lane miles, faces more uncertainty. Streetsboro Mayor Glenn Broska told the Record-Courier the city has about 3,000 tons to start the season but typically needs 3,500 to 5,000 tons, and he warned that if the mine stays closed the city may have to stretch its supply, focusing on main roads along state routes 43, 14 and 303 while salting secondary roads only on hills and intersections and possibly skipping small residential streets. Ravenna Service Director Tim Contant told the Record-Courier the city, which buys Morton salt through an Ohio Department of Transportation contract, already received its 2,500-ton delivery for the year and is not concerned at this time.
At the state level, ODOT District 4 spokesperson Ray Marsch told the Record-Courier that ODOT purchases from Morton under a large contract covering its own needs and those of counties and communities that opt in, and that the district salts a little over 5,000 lane miles across Ashtabula, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties. Marsch told the Record-Courier ODOT currently has 625,000 of the 650,000 tons of salt it uses statewide in an average year. “We have the confidence that we have the resources to keep Ohio’s roads safe this winter,” Marsch told the Record-Courier.
For Portage County drivers, the practical picture heading into winter is reassurance mixed with an open question. County, city and state barns are stocked for the season’s first storms, and communities supplied by Cargill say they are unaffected, but a prolonged Fairport closure — with Morton as a major regional producer now offline — could tighten supply if a severe winter burns through stockpiles faster than expected. Local officials say they are monitoring the situation and waiting for word from Morton on how much salt it already has stockpiled and when, or whether, mining can resume.
Photo: James St. John, CC BY