The Fairport Harbor salt mine is flooded — but a geologist says don't panic about Lake Erie

Thank you for article on the Morton Salt Fairport Harbor mine (Nov. 4). You ask what if the mine collapses? Could Lake Erie flow into the salt mine? It’s happened elsewhere, right? As a one-time geologist and having toured the Cleveland Cargill salt mine, I would like to put readers at ease that there is likely zero chance that Lake Erie is the cause. The mine is 2,000 feet down. The lake is 40 feet deep above the mine. Two thousand feet is mind-bogglingly deeper 40 feet -- all that rock between the lake and the mine.