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Senate Committee Backs Iron Range Cancer Studies

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Mar 25, 2008 3:19 pm US/Central

Senate Committee Backs Iron Range Cancer Studies

ST. PAUL (AP) ― The dean of the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health is calling it "the best shot we've had in 25 years" to find answers about a lung cancer that might be connected to mining taconite.

With that declaration from Professor John Finnegan Jr., a Senate committee has backed nearly $5 million in research on the rare cancer found in alarming numbers in northeastern Minnesota. The state Health Department has documented nearly five dozen deaths from mesothelioma.

The university would lead the studies in consultation with state health, natural resources and pollution control officials. The goal is to complete all four areas of study within five years.

The Senate bill has at least one more committee stop; a House plan is also progressing.

The business lobby is taking issue with the reliance on a workers compensation fund to pay for the research.

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