Northshore Mining contests air testing requirement
Using a 35-year-old rule, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has told Northshore Mining that they are required to perform air quality testing for asbestos fibers near Silver Bay. Northshore, however, says that the ongoing air testing requirement – which would compare North Shore air to air from St. Paul, the control city – is inaccurate, outdated and unnecessary.
Federal courts ruled last year that the federal government no longer has jurisdiction in this particular case, but that Minnesota could still require the air testing as part of the state’s air pollution permits. Northshore filed a lawsuit to have the air testing rules dropped because the asbestos levels in Silver Bay have been consistently below those in St. Paul.
State District Judge Kenneth Sadvik rules in Northshore’s favor back in January, but the MPCA has appealed the decision, contending that the testing is still important because there is no hard data on what constitutes a safe level of the fibers.
Northshore is a mining operation in Minnesota’s Iron Range, an area with unusually high rates of lung disease. Researchers from the University of Minnesota are conducting a study of Iron Range miners to discover why so many of them have died of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
For the full story, go to Duluth News Tribune.
