Gazing out over Lake Erie from the Cleveland waterfront, you’re likely to see commercial and recreational watercraft. You’ll see white-capped waves and, in winter, some ice floes. But you may be in the dark about what lies beneath — not underwater, not on the lakebed, but 1800 feet further down, where people are busy at work.

Under Lake Erie lies Cargill’s Whiskey Island salt mine, actively worked by about 250 miners in round-the-clock shifts, extracting salt used largely for de-icing wintry roads.

When Heigh Ho returns in January, I’ll feature an exclusive Q&A with a salt miner who works 10-hour shifts in a 2400-foot vertical mine shaft.

Reflecting on those doing one of society’s least visible jobs unearths our own deep-seated values about work and working life.

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