A compromise has been reached in the Minnesota legislature over funding for a mesothelioma research study. MyMeso has been following the progress of a bill in the Minnesota House that would provide $4.9 million to fund a study of mesothelioma and asbestos disease in the state’s Iron Range miners. More than 58 taconite miners have died from mesothelioma or other asbestos disease.

There was some controversy over the source of the funding when the bill was introduced in the House. Gov. Tim Pawlenty objected to the proposed funding source, a special state worker’s compensation fund, fearing it would raise premium costs for businesses that use the fund. The governor had threatened to veto the bill unless an alternate funding source was established.

An amendment proposed by the Minnesota Senate yesterday afternoon would fund the bill from a Department of Commerce fund, which is an “assigned risk” worker’s compensation fund.

The money will fund a five-year research project headed up by the University of Minnesota, which will review the health of miners and spouses, study the health records and occupations of miners who died and analyze the air quality in and around the mining communities.

The Senate has indicated support of the revised bill, with a final vote expected early next week. It will then move back to the House, where it also is expected to be met favorably.

According to TwinCities.com, a Pawlenty spokesman said the governor supports the amended bill and “believes it’s very important that this study moves forward.”

The Worthington Daily Globe in Worthington, Minn., reported yesterday that a Minnesota Senate committee is backing the proposed $4.7 million to be designated for mesothelioma research. The rare cancer has been reported in an unusually high number of cases in northeastern Minnesota, in association with a taconite mine.

The state Health Department in Minnesota has documented close to 60 deaths from mesothelioma in the Iron Range mining area.

According to the story published by The Globe, “The dean of the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health [Professor John Finnegan, Jr.] is calling it ‘the best shot we’ve had in 25 years’ to find answers about a lung cancer that might be connected to mining taconite.”

If approved by the Minnesota legislature, the money would fund a combined study led by the University of Minnesota and including state health, natural resources and pollution control officials. The study would take about five years to conclude.

The Globe reports that the Senate bill has at least one more committee stop, and a House plan is also progressing. It says the plan faces some opposition from the business lobby, which is taking issue with the reliance on a workers compensation fund to pay for the research.

Last week I talked about an area in northeastern Minnesota called the Iron Range, where health officials have identified unusually high numbers of mesothelioma cases. The Iron Range is a mining area.

The report, which was published by WorkDay Minnesota, noted that 58 people in that area have died from mesothelioma. As a result, the Minnesota legislature is proposing a special meso study in cooperation with the University of Minnesota.

On March 6, the Duluth News Tribune published an article about a related air-quality issue in Silver Bay, Minn. The Tribune reports the Sierra Club and Save Lake Superior Association are pursuing a lawsuit upholding the air standard that compares asbestos fiber levels near Silver Bay to the air in St. Paul, Minn.

The report notes that asbestos-like fibers have been found in the ore mined on the eastern Iron Range, which is processed into taconite by Northshore Mining Co. in Silver Bay.

The Tribune says the environmental groups report violations of the control city air standard, with Silver Bay air showing higher asbestos levels than St. Paul air.

A story in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal yesterday announced the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics will distribute nearly $6 million to seven research teams. Among the research projects that will benefit from the funding is a mesothelioma study.

The group is a partnership between the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and the State of Minnesota. Mark Paller is the partnership’s program director at the University of Minnesota. He said that projects were selected by a panel of national experts, who considered the potential for commercialization of the research.

Other topics for study covered by the grant are heart disease, infection prevention and epilepsy.