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FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1974 Feb 10 DOC NMA082 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT - Court Bids Company End Dumping in Lake Superior Company Court Bids By JANE BRODY End Dumping in Lake Superior New York Times Currentfile Feb 10 1974 ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times 1851 - 2002 Pg Court Bids Company End | | Dumping in Lake Superior | = By JANE E. BRODY A Federal judge has warned of pollution has sought to the Reserve Mining Company prove that asbestos fibers from 1 of Silver Bay Minn to stop the rocky waste are contamin dumping its waste into Lake astuimnegdthbeywathtoesreawndhobeidnrginkcointSuperior or face the possibility to the possible detriment to that its large plant will be or- their health der^,d closed upon conclusion The Government also con- of apollution trial some tends that large amounts of three months from now asbestos fibrers enter the air in The warning was issued dur- Silver Bay from Reserve's ing a Federal District Court smoke stacks endangering the he suit seeking to stop the dump- 3.272 residents of the company- ing of waste that the Govern built community ment says contains large Studies of asbestos workers amounts of asbestos fibers have shown that the fibers can Judge Miles Lord told Re be deadly when inhaled in large serve's attorney Edward Fride amounts over a period of years that had hoped that by Asbestos workers have un- cajoling Reserve and working usually high death rates from with them and begging them cancer of the lungs and gastro- and doing whatever what was intestinal tract necessary I would get Reserve The hazards if any of con- to start working on an land suming asbestos are not pre- disposal systems cisely known although several But he continued you Government witnesses have apparently are reluctant to put testified on the basis of pre- pen to paper and make liminary studies that consump- first move toward trying to tion could well be as deadly as abate what I consider to be health Inhalation very substantial public health Reserve which mines an ore menace based on the evidence called taconite from which it that I have heard up to this eitxtirnatcotspeillreotns afnodr sctoeneclepnrtordautce-s point tion employs about 3,200 per- Health Concern Cited sons in northern Minnesota Unless some dramatic new The company produces 11 mil testimony comes into the rec lion tons of taconite pellets a ord in this case the judge year which accounts for about continued the company will 15 per cent of the nation's _ required to switch to an on- steel production page land disposal system In a . ing He added that he was stat submitted memorandum by Mr. Fride in ing this now because the case still has three months to go response to the judge's ment Reserve said that statetesti- and at the end of this case mony on health and other liabil- am still as concerned about ity issues was not yet complete the public health as I am now and that the company should I will consider closing the not be compelled to act on the plant immediately basis of a hypothetical set of The company dumps 67,000 facts tons of rocky waste a day Noting specifical y specifically that a into the lake's pristine waters ordered study by medical -a policy it has practiced for scientists at the Mayo Clinic 18 years i com unities and University of Minnesota i lake's Many communities along the was not yet finished Mr. Fride _ lake's extensive shores includ said it was premature to act in ing the City of Duluth use the the absence of a firm conclu- discharge - extremely pure unfiltered lake sion that Reserve's , water for drinking purposes had any public health signifi- led . Last August Federal officials cance ' led by the Environmental Pro- The attorney added that un- | tection Agency took Reserve til a final ruling was made on " to the United States District health and other liability issues Court in Minneapolis to try to it would be impossible to de- put end to the lake dis sign an land disposal plan posal system because there was not suffi- Government in a case cient information on which to regarded as classic in the field base design standards Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission