Funding for study of Iron Range cancers moving through House
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(AP) - Funding for a study of a kind of lung cancer that might be connected to mining taconite is moving through the state House.
Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, says Iron Rangers have been waiting 30 years to find out if taconite does, or does not, produce asbestos-like fibers that cause the cancer.
That's why he's been shepherding the funding bill through the House. It was passed last week by his House Higher Education and Work Force Development Policy committee.
If adopted, the $4.9 million for the University of Minnesota study would come from the state Worker's Compensation Fund.
The bill has another House committee to clear before going to the floor for a vote. The Senate has yet to hold a hearing on the issue.
The latest count from the state Health Department says 58 people in the area have died from the rare cancer called mesothelioma.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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