Asbestos regulations for mining industry stalled; meanwhile, asbestos levels at Minnesota processing plant 20 times higher than asbestos limit required of other industries
Stricter rules regulating asbestos exposure among workers in the mining industry remain on hold 20 months after their proposal, causing miners to possibly face exposure to asbestos at much higher levels than the legally permissible limits in other industries, according to a March 30, 2007 article appearing in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Although federal air tests in September of 2006 found high levels of asbestos at the Northshore Mining Company’s processing plant in Silver Bay, Minnesota, mining safety officials’ hands are tied to do anything about it until the stricter proposed rules are in place.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is under renewed pressure to address unsafe levels of exposure to asbestos dust in the iron mining industry after the Minnesota Health Department recently reported that 52 Iron Range miners died of the rare asbestos cancer mesothelioma between 1988 and 2005. According to a prepared statement, MSHA says it is working with mine operators to voluntarily reduce worker exposures.
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