One of the many pet projects slipped into the federal budget -- the one that will reportedly sink the nation into umpteen billion dollars' worth of red ink -- is $283.5 thousand for the opening of the Western Hemisphere's first salt mine museum in Hutchinson, KS. This, however, is a worthy expenditure, as we need to show the Old Hemisphere that they can't push us around, and neither the SALT I nor SALT II treaties forbid such activity.

The Kansas Underground Salt Museum will be 650 feet underground in a working salt mine, and could open as early as 2005. The Hutchinson Salt Co. mine, which already stores government records and thousands of Hollywood films, has 67 miles of passages, so there should be plenty of room for the museum, events, and conferences, particularly of survivalists and missile silo squatters.

Update - July - 2004: Shaft drilling is proceeding on schedule. Ground water at the 125-ft. depth was frozen using chilled brine, allowing workers to continue without filling the 14-ft. wide hole with water! May 2004: Ground was broken in April to create a new elevator shaft for the Salt Mine Museum, which will tell the 300 million year story of salt. It will be comprised of about 45 large underground rooms and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2005.

[02/23/2003]