Taconite Worker Project Progresses

The second meeting of the Minnesota Taconite Worker Lung Health Partnership, led by SPH Dean John Finnegan and representing organizations with an interest in mine worker health, took place in December in Eveleth, Minn.

The partnership was formed to study whether particles generated by taconite mining are causing lung disease on Minnesota's Iron Range. Finnegan and Jeffrey Mandel, SPH environmental health sciences associate professor and lead researcher, updated partners on the project. They were joined by colleagues from the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute, who will study the geology of the Iron Range.

The highlight of the meeting came when a representative of Cleveland Cliffs Corp., operator of a mine in Silver Bay, Minn., announced that the company would not conduct its own research into mine worker health, as previously planned, and instead support the University in its efforts. The announcement was met with approval from partnership members, including several state legislators representing Iron Range communities.

In addition to reviewing the details of the proposed threestage, five-year research project, Mandel announced that nurses from the University of Minnesota's Center for Lung Science and Health would staff a toll-free phone line to answer health questions from mine workers and their families. The number is 888-840-7590.

The project must still be funded through an appropriation from the Minnesota Legislature during the 2008 session. Mandel said the research is projected to cost $5 million. Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) assured University officials that he and his colleagues would work to find funding despite the bleak state budget forecast. For the latest news on the partnership, visit www.sph.umn.edu/lunghealth.