Winter RoadsFriday, November 13
A flooded Fairport Harbor mine could leave Lake County with about a third of its road salt
The 5AM Mentor team
If you drive Lake County roads, here's why salt is in the news. Morton Salt's Fairport Harbor mine flooded, and employees were evacuated Oct. 22. Morton has about 50,000 tons on the ground and proposes splitting it among communities in ODOT's cooperative purchasing program, which would mean roughly 32% of contracted supplies.
50,000 tonsof salt on hand for six northeast Ohio counties
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Mahoning, Portage and Trumbull counties would share it.
Sources: The Vindicator, Tribune Chronicle
The Lake County Engineer's Office has a contract with Morton for 24,000 tons this winter. ODOT said it is "confident we have the resources to keep Ohio roads safe this winter." We'd still leave extra stopping room on icy mornings.
- Layoffs: 77 mine employees
- Mahoning County: usually 8,000 to 10,000 tons, could get 2,500
- Trumbull County's early buy: 4,000 tons at $45, not $60
Trumbull County received 5,000 tons of the 16,000 it ordered
Source: Tribune Chronicle
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Ordered | 16,000 tons |
| Received | 5,000 tons |
Crews can mix aggregate with salt at one-to-one or two-to-one to stretch supplies. Buyers can also seek extra costs for qualifying late deliveries, but Morton calls the closure a force majeure event.