Minnesota (MN) Asbestos And Mesothelioma General, Medical, & Legal Resources

Minnesota (MN) Asbestos Resources & Information:

It is a sad fact--but all too often true--that the good die young.

Once such person was U.S. Representative Bruce Vento of Minnesota, who died from mesothelioma shortly before the November 2000 election. Vento championed causes popular among the American people that the U.S. Congress in subsequent years pointedly ignored, or even worked to defeat, such as environmental cleanup and affordable housing for working people.

While perhaps the most prominent, Representative Vento was only one of nearly 700 Minnesotans who died from asbestos-related causes in the two-decade period running up to the year 2000.

Industrial Sites

Big Stone Lake Point, Hoot Lake Plant, Koch Petroleum, Marathon, Monticello Nuclear Power Plant and Prairie Island are some of the main jobsites where Minnesota's workers have been exposed to asbestos. These jobsites are primarily located in Duluth, Mankato, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Superior.

The general rule of thumb is that wherever heat or fire poses an industrial hazard, asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) are being used somewhere. This is particularly true of facilities constructed before 1980, when the hazards of asbestos exposure--which corporate America worked very hard to conceal from the public--were made known.

Asbestos packing is found in pipe fittings, furnace doors and general insulation. Ironically, it has also been used in clothing especially designed to protect workers, such as fireproof aprons and gloves. When these became torn or the outer fabric began to wear away, friable asbestos fibers from the lining would be released.

Between 1980 and 2000, there were 677 recorded deaths statewide in Minnesota. Nearly 65% of these were from the rare form of cancer known as mesothelioma. Generally, asbestosis is far more common; however, in 2007, the reason for the prevalence of mesothelioma started to become clear.

Taconite Miners in the Iron Range

Most of Minnesota's naturally-occurring asbestos deposits--both serpentine chrysotile and amphibole--are located in the northeastern region of the state. It is in this area that iron mines, long closed down, were re-opened by the Reserve Mining Corporation in the 1970s in order to meet China's demand for iron ore. Most of this iron ore is found in deposits of a silicate mineral known as taconite.

Taconite was once disregarded by iron mining operations as a waste product. However, now that U.S. iron mines are fairly well depleted, taconite has become the source of most iron ore presently being extracted. It is a silicate mineral that is found among layers of shale, much like asbestiform minerals.

In the past decade, sixty miners in this area have died from mesothelioma. There may actually have been many more, since prior to 1999, the Minnesota Department of Health did not differentiate among various forms of cancer when it was listed as a cause of death on state certificates.

In the years following the reactivation of the mines, rates of mesothelioma in the area increased by 70%; in addition, asbestos-like fibers were found in community water supplies.

These fibers are either taconite, or the taconite has been contaminated with asbestos fibers.

It should be noted that "asbestos" is simply a generic term for a number of different geologically similar, but not necessarily chemically related minerals, only six of which are "officially" recognized as asbestos by U.S. regulatory agencies. As a result, other types of asbestiform minerals, such as winchite and richterite, are not subject to any kind of regulation.

Today, health officials in Minnesota are trying to determine whether taconite dust itself is responsible for the increased rates of mesothelioma in the area, or if--as is more likely--the taconite is contaminated with asbestos fibers.

Minnesota (MN) Legal Resources: Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma

A search through the Minnesota Federal District Court Cases for asbestos-related personal injury product liability lawsuits brings up a more than fifteen recent lawsuits from 2006 and 2007. Garlock Sealing Technologies, L.L.C. is one of the major defendants in a number of these cases. Wyeth is another defendant listed frequently.

Minnesota is ranked 13 in the U.S. for mesothelioma cases. With a mesothelioma mortality rate of 16.34 per million, Minnesota has a crude mortality rank of nine in the country. In the summer of 2007, new concerns were raised over the possible link between taconite mining and rising rates of mesothelioma in Northeast Minnesota. Taconite mining has been an industry in the area but Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach was widely criticized in 2007 for not reporting the fact that 35 miners had died as a result of mesothelioma. Questions especially arise from the fact that the link between the miners and mesothelioma seems to have been well established. The Minnesota Health Department announced in 2003 that 17 taconite miners had died from their exposure to commercial asbestos, which is used in iron ore processing. Health Department officials stated in March, 2006, that two additional studies would be conducted to look into whether something in the taconite had caused the mesothelioma of the 35 miners as well as those of the 17 miners revealed earlier.

A major asbestos case in the state involved Colonial Sugar Refining Co., Ltd. (CSR), an Australian company sued by 187 plaintiffs for allegedly manufacturing and selling asbestos products in the state. An early decision found that CSR is subject to personal jurisdiction in the State of Minnesota. CSR appealed the decision and in 1996 the compliant against CSR was dismissed.

Minnesota has a number of known asbestos exposure sites. These include Big Stone Lake Point and Hoot Lake Plant in Fergus Falls, the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant, Koch Petroleum in Rosemont, Marathon in St. Paul Park and Prairie Island in Welch. While these are known exposure sites and while many have already been cleaned or otherwise made safer, if you have worked or been exposed to these areas you may wish to be checked for mesothelioma by a qualified physician. It is also important to keep in mind that these are known exposure sites. Some areas of exposure in the state may not yet be known.

Those interested in filing lawsuits should know that the statute of limitations for personal injury law in Minnesota is six years. However, if the injury was caused by unsafe conditions associated with real estate, the statute of limitations is two years. In either instance, the statute of limitations is limited by a discovery rule which states that the amount of time begins when the problem (in this case the mesothelioma) either was discovered or should have been discovered. There is no specific statute about asbestos.

It should be noted the statute of limitations for wrongful death suits is different from that for personal injury suits; that statute of limitations is three years after death and no more than six years after the act or omission which caused the death.

DISCLAIMER: The material displayed on Asbestos.Net has not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by either a medical professional, such as a licensed doctor, or a legal professional, such as an attorney, and may contain factual inaccuracies. Nothing on the this website should be taken as either medical or legal advice, but instead should act as a resource in providing general information that may be useful the general public. Please see our Terms & Conditions of Use below for further information.

HOME | ABOUT ASBESTOS.NET | TERMS & CONDITIONS OF USE | CONTACT US

Copyright © 2007 Asbestos.net, Inc. All Rights Reserved.