Minnesota’s health commissioner apologized during a four-hour public hearing held Tuesday about her department’s one-year delay in releasing to the public data about additional mesothelioma cases among Iron Range miners. Some lawmakers questioned whether Minnesota’s governor was also involved in the decision to withhold information about the additional mesothelioma cases from the public. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure. To date, 58 mesothelioma cases have been identified among Iron Range miners, six of which were reported in the past week.
The controversy regarding the delayed release of mesothelioma data involved 35 cases that were identified by the health department in March 2006 but not released to the public until March 2007. The health commissioner said that the department delayed the release of the information while waiting for federal funding for research into whether taconite dust from the mines may be a cause. A University of Minnesota environmental sciences expert who spoke at the hearing said the state should focus its research instead on measuring the level of asbestos-like fibers in current mining operations and require the mining companies to adopt practices to reduce the dust.
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