Taconite Plant Changes Strategy on Study of Rare Lung Disease

The owner of a Silver Bay taconite plant is scrapping its own investigation into whether mining dust is to blame for elevated rates of a rare lung disease in northeastern Minnesota. Instead, the company says it plans to collaborate with the state and University of Minnesota on a larger study that’s already in progress, Minnesota Public Radio reported today.

Cleveland Cliffs Corp. argued in federal court in St. Paul last month that an air quality rule on asbestos fibers should be clarified or lifted. Environmentalists argued that standards shouldn’t be relaxed in part because 145 cases of mesothelioma, a rare and deadly lung disease, have been reported in the region since 1988.

The condition is associated with asbestos exposure.Some of the taconite that’s processed at Cliff’s Northshore Mining facility contains asbestos fibers, but the mesothelioma cases have never been scientifically linked to mining dust. The state study will attempt to determine whether there’s a link.

The Duluth News Tribune reports that there are still questions about how the state will pay for the $5.5 million study.