The man credited with a key role in the discovery of asbestos-like fibers in Iron Range taconite tailings in the 1970s has died.
Joseph Mengel, 79, a former University of Wisconsin-Superior geology professor, played his part in the discovery almost by accident, friends say.
Mengel read an article about the use of talc for rice-cleaning in Japan causing stomach cancer, said Grant Merritt, who was director of the Pollution Control Agency in Minnesota in the 1970s. Mengel's experience with geology in the region led him to see a connection between the physical characteristics of talc fibers and those of taconite tailings.
"He said, 'Hmm, I wonder if that's what we have coming in here,' " said David Parr, a former UWS colleague and friend of Mengel's.
"He was not actively researching ... but he saw the possible link."
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In 1972, Mengel attended a meeting about Lake Superior, thinking it would relate to another topic he was studying. While there, he mentioned to Arlene Lehto, a member of the Save Lake Superior Association, the connection he had made.
Lehto included Mengel's findings in testimony before the International Joint Commission, which led to a Pollution Control Agency study of Reserve Mining Co. and its emissions from stacks and the taconite tailings it was dumping into Lake Superior at its Silver Bay plant.
"Joe played a leading role in the discovery of asbestos(-like fibers) in Reserve Mining tailings," Merritt said. "It became a public health issue in the trial and really won the case. Joe was an important person in the chain of causation."
In the landmark environmental case in 1974, U.S. District Judge Miles Lord ruled the company must stop dumping tailings into Lake Superior. It took until 1980 for Reserve Mining Co. to stop completely and use a tailings basin.
"The question was, are they a health hazard?" Parr said. "That is a question that is still something of an argument. He was not against Reserve Mining. (Mengel) was more interested in looking for the truth rather than looking for a cause. His human nature was, 'We never know enough.' "
Merritt described Mengel as a Renaissance man with a profound knowledge of history, science and world affairs. He consulted with him on environmental work after he left UWS.
"He was a very important person," he said.
In addition to his work related to the fibers found in taconite tailings, Mengel's professional work encompassed studies of copper deposits and red clay stability in northern Wisconsin, and the oil and coal deposits of the Powder River and Williston basin regions of Montana.
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Among his projects was work for erosion abatement to stabilize off-shore sandbars in the Duluth-Superior harbor.
Parr, who remained friends with Mengel until his death, said he had an "uncommon mind" with a "distinct way of synthesizing information that was different from anyone" else.
"We got together once a month and he talked about what he'd been reading and how it fit into the larger realm," he said.
In February, UWS announced the donation by Mengel of 2,500 books; several detailed models of historic ships; and professional, personal and family papers. His family papers included personal correspondence and photographs of his father, Joseph Mengel Sr., from World War I. The elder Mengel was a member of the 148th Field Artillery, which included on its roster UWS president and library namesake Jim Dan Hill.
Mengel, who lived in Eden Prairie, Minn., died July 23.
