In the URL line it is titled "... particulate study - 121707.pdf" [1217087.pdf, as previously posted, was in error].
To me, with no other evidence, I presume that it was the topic of a slide presentation on Dec. 17, 2007, and there was this:
SLIDE 2. "3-year long field study of airborne particulates in communities across the "Mesabi Iron Range"
SLIDE 3. "The community study will address the following questions
"1. What are the characteristics of the airborne particulates in the communities that surround taconite operations? Do they differ from the particulates in other communities in Northeastern Minnesota?
"2. How many mineral fibers (of various types, shapes, and sizes) and how much airborne metal are residents in Iron Range communities exposed?
"3. Have the mineral particles and fibers emitted from taconite operations changed over time in response to increased regulation and the implementation of more effective dust control procedures?"
SLIDE 7. "Samples of western and eastern Mesabi Range lake sediments will also be collected and studied to reconstruct the historical composition of airborne dust generated by mining activity. Other geological materials will be collected and analyzed as-needed."
Two things are noteworthy. Use of the future tense - a study apparently started at the end of last year, if the title has date information as I am presuming.
Second, encouraging news:
SLIDES 9-11 show a real spectrum of research skills and interests are represented in this study, and a spectrum of agencies are participants. It is NOT merely Zanko and the Lee lab with a questionable sampling of piles on the range, and hints of bias.
YET WHAT IS FUNNY ABOUT THAT, THE TIMING, TO TEST THE SAFETY OF THE JUNK, INCLUDING LOOKING AT LAKE BED DEPOSITION HISTORY?
What is funny is it looks to be launched Dec. 2007, the identical date to this already linked MnDOT blacktop spec, from Dec. 2007; saying go ahead and use the stuff, East is East, etc., with the closest thing to an attempt (a long-overdue attempt) at trying to reach a consensus effort (if not a consensus opinion) on safety and health threat - to get reliable science starting finally, when the equally dated MnDOT spec says, go ahead, or what's probably worse, continue using it in roads and never mind that a study is now three-years out to decide whether this is a good or bad idea at this time.
That sucks. It is bad logistics. It is cracker-jack marketing.
That grades Tinklenberg Group - the logistics and marketing gurus - at 50%, which is as good as pure chance, flipping a fair coin.
Elwyn, that does not cut it.
So, again, Elwyn, 'splain it, and make it simple - but not too simple - was that MnDOT decision making during your watch; or due to your lobbying for the tailings to be used, whatever the questions left begging?
And Elwyn, if I am wrong and that three-year study's been wrapped up, then I 'fess up to error. But, Elwyn, why do you go about talking about Zanko, when it is this host of better supporting scholars and specialists that represent the better study. That fact, East is East, and trust me, trust Zanko - all that suggests the jury is NOT still out, but will have to wait three more years, to be sent out to deliberate.
Cart before the horse, ass-backwards, however you term it; it does not cut it when the safety of an entire state's population is being subjected to unwarranted risk.
_______UPDATE_________
More helpful information, again undated. Tamara Diedrich is the lead investigator for NRRI’s portion of the research. The item puts a picture of Ms. D on the webpage; but no date. I would rather have a timeframe than a "human interest" photo. But there is this:
“When it comes to human health, what we’re interested in are the particles that can be transported into the lung,” explained Tamara Diedrich, lead investigator for NRRI’s portion of the research. “Your nose and throat are pretty good at filtering out the larger particles. It’s the smaller ones, less than five microns, that can be retained by the body.”
Diedrich holds a doctorate in geology from Arizona State University.
UMD’s new electron microscope will be used to study the tiny particles (one micron equals 1,000,000th of a meter) that are specifically three times as long as they are wide. Why so specific?
The Mining Safety and Health Administration uses the 3:1 length-to-width ratio to describe “asbestos.” The crushing of taconite ore by mining operations across the Mesabi Iron Range produces similar elongated mineral particles. Only on the easternmost portion of the range, near Northshore Mining, are some of the particles chemically identical to amosite asbestos, causing longstanding concern about their exposure to workers and the public. Geologists know that the elongated particles on the western portion of the Iron Range have a different, non-asbestos composition, but they will also be studied by NRRI researchers. Silica dust is also generated by taconite industries and will be studied.
“We’re characterizing all of the dust, all of the particles that meet the right size criteria,” added NRRI geologist Larry Zanko. “We’ll have quantitative data of what they’re made out of, how much there is in the air and in what size fractions.”
The sample gathering will be in full swing this spring. NRRI is a major sponsor of the research, providing up to $500,000 from the NRRI portion of the Permanent University Trust Fund. Legislative funding will be needed to move the scientific data collected into answers to the questions about Iron Range air quality.
All that is fine, for the mine safety question. But, that stuff is in piles. The piles get disturbed, and there are cleavage fragments. It gets loaded into rail cars and unloaded, and there are more cleavage fragments. So, from the East Iron Range, or the West Iron Range, if they test both for mine safety, then wait until the tests are done to see what is learned. And then, with more thorough sampling east and west, do some animal testing. Mesothelioma is nasty. It kills. Why risk it? Why let Elwyn profit from "marketing" the putting of the risk onto and into everyone else's roads? Elwyn has enough cash flow from Ramsey, Elk River, Albertville, Hassan Mainstreet, LLC, Anoka County Regional Railroad Authority, East Bethel - he can ease up on the NRRI cash cow. There's enough else to be milked.
Talk about hiding things under a hat. Yes, that study is an infant with three years to go; proof of the Dec. 17, 2007 date being here. See also, here for participant biographies, here and here (same text as quoted from above, another undated website, but with updated indicated as 2008, not 2003, as the earlier item). Also, see here, here and here. Those last two little hummers look as if each could have been authored by a logistics and marketing consultant, in exchange for a fee.