Iron Range board approves money to study rare cancer in miners

Rep. Tom Rukavina
DFL Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia wants the state to investigate more fully the potential link between taconite exposure and mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer.
MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire

(AP) - The Iron Range Resources board wants to put more money into studying a rare lung cancer that strikes miners disproportionately.

The board voted Thursday to spend $250,000 on medical testing as part of a larger study of mesothelioma, the fatal cancer identified in 58 miners. The money won't be spent unless Iron Range Resources Commissioner Sandy Layman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty also approve.

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, said he proposed the spending because he didn't want the research to wait until the Legislature convenes in February. His proposal would require the state or another entity to match the amount.

Rukavina and others have criticized Pawlenty and the Minnesota Health Department over the mesothelioma issue.

Former Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach resigned after admitting that she waited a year to release data on 35 miners who got mesothelioma.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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