This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 8:10 AM- MONTICELLO -- The Utah Health Department has found that Monticello has an unusually high rate of lung cancer.
Members of the town's Victims of Mill Tailings Exposure committee say dust from an old uranium mine nearby could be to blame. San Juan County commissioners are in Washington, D.C., this week to ask federal lawmakers for a bill that would provide funding for early detection and treatment based on the new data.
Epidemiologist John Contreras says it's impossible to determine whether the dust actually caused the cancer. But, he says, there is a significantly higher rate of sickness, and some risk factors have been associated with exposure to the contaminants.
