Lake Erie salt? But, Lake Erie is one of the freshwater Great Lakes, you say. So what’s this about salt? Since salt is not in the lake water. Where does Lake Erie Salt come from? It comes from under the lake. Deep below Lake Erie is an enormous salt mine. The salt is left behind by an ancient inland salt ocean that existed 400 million years ago. It spanned the area roughly from Michigan to New York.
Indeed, salt comes from seawater and saltwater springs. It is one of the most precious substances on Earth. Salt is essentially sodium chloride (NaCI). When used with food it is called “Table Salt”. Consequently, in its natural crystalline form, it goes by the name of “Rock Salt”. It comes from seawater and/or saltwater springs. Significantly, salt is necessary for life. One of the very basic human tastes is saltiness. Salt improves the taste of food. It is an essential nutrient for human health due to the electrolytes it contains. Excessive use can be harmful to one’s health.
Salt Processing
Basically, salt processing goes back to at least 6000 years and is considered to originated in present-day Romania. Some will argue its beginning is in China, however. Nevertheless, salting, brining, and pickling are ancient methods of food preservation, especially for meat. It was a highly prized trade article, by Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Hittites, Egyptians, and Indians. The ancient Celts were known as the “Salt People”. Wars have been fought over it. Salt has been used to raise taxes. It has even been used in religious ceremonies. Salt is mined in many locations around the Earth.
Cargill Deicing Technologies leases the mine area beneath Lake Erie from the state of Ohio. The mine entrance is located at Cleveland, in the northeast of the state. It is found some 1800 feet below the lake and goes for 4 miles away from the shoreline. 4 million tons of rock salt are brought up from the mine annually. This salt is used to deice road surfaces to make them safe in winter. Production began in 1958. Cargill took over in 1997.
The Miners
Accordingly, miners are lowered by a high-speed elevator into the mine. Lighting is provided by strung lights and the lanterns on the miners’ helmets. Otherwise, you can not see your hand in front of your face. Air comes into the mine from the entrance. Chiefly, the raw salt is brought to the surface by a system of sorting machines and conveyors, 24/7. Lake-going ships like the “Mark Barker”, which is 640 feet in length carries 20,000 tons of salt per shipment. Certainly, Cargill takes the safety of its 200-plus employees very seriously with many emergency breathing supplies stations and safe rooms throughout the mine since the most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner.
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