Inside vast salt mine under Lake Erie helping keep roads clear

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — Below Cleveland, in a subterranean world many surface dwellers don’t know exists, miners extract a crucial winter mineral — salt.

The Whiskey Island salt mine, owned by food giant Cargill, helps supply road salt across the Northeast and Great Lakes, where a colder, snowier-than-usual winter has driven demand. Many municipalities exhausted supplies that typically last through spring, said Cargill spokesperson Emily Tangeman.

“Our teams have been working overtime since September to support customers across the snowbelt,” Tangeman said, noting that early, persistent winter weather boosted demand across the industry.

George Campbell, maintenance supervisor, walks down an incline in the shop at the Cargill salt mine on Whiskey Island in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The salt, formed 440 million years ago, is mucked up and loaded onto a conveyor belt 1,800 feet below the surface of Lake Erie, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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A worker repairs machinery used to muck the salt, in the shop at the Cargill salt mine on Whiskey Island in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The mine beneath Lake Erie, one of the world’s largest, produces 3 million to 4 million tons (2.7 million to 3.6 million metric tons) annually, although that can fall short of demand in especially harsh winters.

Located 1,800 feet (549 meters) underground, it’s accessed from Whiskey Island, an industrial area on the shore right beside downtown Cleveland. The mine opened in the 1960s and operates year-round, with salt extracted by drilling and blasting through vast tunnels formed from an ancient inland sea that dried up millions of years ago.

Inside, the mine is a maze of roughly rectangular caverns with chalky white walls and ceilings that extend for miles. It’s dimly lit and often pitch-black beyond the glare of headlamps and floodlights. Heavy machinery and conveyer belts rumble as small ATVs whisk miners around.

The finished product, de-icing solution – rock salt – approximately 11,000 – 14,000 tons per day, is transported by conveyor belt to a skip which will take it to the surface at the Cargill salt mine on Whiskey Island in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Relief holes are drilled into a face in the Cargill salt mine, 1,800 feet below the surface of Lake Erie, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The salt, formed 440 million years ago, is mucked up and loaded onto a conveyor belt 1,800 feet below Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The absolute darkness of the mine is broken as supervisor Andrew Adkins uses a headlamp to lookover a map of drilling sites at the Cargill Salt Mine, 1,800 feet below the surface of Lake Erie, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Maintenance superintendent George Campbell said operations are continuous, with downtime used for upkeep and repairs to keep production steady. Cargill said it is prioritizing shipments to ensure salt reaches the areas of greatest need as winter lingers in some regions. Frequent smaller storms also increase usage, Tangeman said, requiring repeated salting and creating logistical challenges.

A return to harsher conditions across the Eastern U.S. meant some cities — including Boston; Bangor, Maine; and Ithaca, New York — shivered through their coldest seasons in more than a decade. And winter weather is still not over in some parts of the country, so it’s not over in the Cleveland mine, either.

Campbell said there’s still decades of salt left to be extracted.

“I think that we have enough reserves to continue to keep people working for a long time,” Campbell said.

A seagull flies past piles of the finished product, de-icing solution - rock salt - at the Cargill Cleveland salt mine on Whiskey Island before being distributed by truck, rail and boat to Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Minnesota, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A seagull flies past piles of the finished product, de-icing solution – rock salt – at the Cargill Cleveland salt mine on Whiskey Island before being distributed by truck, rail and boat to Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Minnesota, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Salt pillars, left behind for support during mining, line the tunnels in the Cargill salt mine in, 1,800 feet below the surface of Lake Erie on Whiskey Island in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The headlights of the vehicle driven by George Campbell, left, maintenance supervisor, light the way through the tunnels of the Cargill Cleveland salt mine in Whiskey Island, to a current work location, 1,800 feet below the surface of Lake Erie and six miles from the entrance of the mine, in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

Inside vast salt mine under Lake Erie helping keep roads clear

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