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.

I mentioned in my last post that a research partnership in Minnesota is using part of a $6 million grant for mesothelioma research. That was announced yesterday.

This morning, WorkDay Minnesota published a series of stories about another quest for mesothelioma research in the state. Unrelated to the first grant, a Minnesota House of Representatives committee has approved legislation to allocate $4.9 million – to come from the state’s worker’s compensation special fund in fiscal year 2008 – for a special study of Iron Range mine workers’ deaths due to mesothelioma.

Inforum News writer Scott Wente reported today that the Minnesota Health Department in 2007 linked the deaths of 58 mining industry workers to mesothelioma. The University of Minnesota plans four studies related to the mesothelioma cases and other health issues for taconite industry employees and communities, according to the Inforum News story. Data points to an abnormally high rate of the cancer among the mine workers.

WorkDay Minnesota reports that in 2007, the state Department of Health announced that 35 miners, in addition to 17 previously identified, had died from mesothelioma. The number currently stands at 58 mesothelioma deaths.

The legislation for the funding must go through another House committee before getting to the floor, and the Senate has not yet held a hearing on the bill. If approved, the funding would direct the University of Minnesota to initiate a study this year and complete work by 2013.

The university’s School of Public Health will spearhead the project and already has set up a toll-free nurse helpline for questions on taconite worker lung health (1-888-840-7590) and launched a special website.

In the meantime, WorkDay Minnesota says that Friday the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration issued new rules that increase protections for miners who may be exposed to asbestos.