Warren R. Muir Reserve Mining Case papers

In 1973, asbestos-like fibers were found in Lake Superior water, which was used as the source of drinking water by Duluth, MN. The source of the fibers was traced to taconite tailings being disposed in the lake by the Reserve Mining Company in Silver Bay, Minnesota. Taconite is a low-grade iron ore. The taconite was being mined on The Iron Range, well inland, and shipped by train to the plant on the shore of the lake. In Silver Bay, the Reserve Mining Company would crush the rock-like taconite in a stream of water, use magnets to extract the iron from the resulting slurry. The concentrated iron was shipped to smelters around the country and the slurry was discharged, untreated, into Lake Superior. It turned out that the crushed taconite in the discharged slurry included large quantities of asbestos-like mineral fibers.

When the fibers were associated with the discharge of the Reserve Mining Company in Silver Bay, MN, U.S. House Representative John Blatnik called President Nixon to request he designate a high-level coordinator of Federal efforts assessing and responding to the situation, including the release of information. The President, via Melvin Laird (Counsellor to the President for Domestic Affairs), responded on June 22, 1973, by designating Russell E. Train, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President, to be the Federal Coordinator. Dr. William R. Muir was asked to staff the response on behalf of the CEQ Chairman. His background was a Ph.D. chemist and the staff member dealing with environmental health issues at the Council.

(Biographical/Historical Note adapted from Dr. Muir’s description of the collection, available in “Additional Description – Other Finding Aids”.)