CLEVELAND, OH — January 13, 2006 — The Department of Defense has awarded a $9 million contract to Brush Wellman Inc. to help the company build a new plant to process beryllium, a lightweight, strong metal used in missile systems, satellites and jet fighter targeting devices. The facility will be located either in Delta, Utah, which is the home of a company–owned beryllium mine, or at the site of an existing beryllium manufacturing plant in Elmore, Ohio.

Although some view the creation of another beryllium plant as an economic boon, others see potential problems ahead for workers and the surrounding community. They point to Brush Wellman’s checkered past at Elmore. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fined the company over $275,000 for offenses that occurred between 1980 and 2004. Brush Wellman had failed to monitor or record information related to 15 pieces of emission–control equipment and lost data logs for one device, the agency charged (Toledo Blade, January 12, 2005). In 1996, the Ohio Attorney General reached a $292,300 settlement with Brush Wellman for other various solid and hazardous waste violations at the Elmore plant.

The government Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry issued a report or “health consultation” about the Elmore Brush Wellman beryllium plant in 2001. The beryllium levels in Elmore air over a 30–day period were below the EPA limit, according to the report. However, the agency said that this limit “ …may not adequately protect the public from repeated short–term exposure to releases of beryllium during plant upset conditions.”

Plant upset conditions include furnace fires and air pollution control system problems. Three beryllium upset conditions occurred during 1991. In one instance, residents were evacuated when a smoke plume containing beryllium came from the plant’s barrel storage area. On two other occasions, workers had to be evacuated in order to reduce their beryllium exposure. The report also noted that Brush Wellman does not perform routine wipe sampling on equipment or vehicles leaving the facility, and that therefore beryllium could be transported into the neighborhood.

How Beryllium Exposure May Lead to Chronic Beryllium Disease

Some individuals who are exposed to beryllium develop chronic beryllium disease or berylliosis, an incurable illness that damages the lung tissue. Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, fevers, skin rash, and night sweats. In the later stages, the lung tissue becomes scarred.

Beryllium disease victims first develop “beryllium sensitization,” which is an allergic response to beryllium. The average time from first beryllium exposure to the development of chronic beryllium disease symptoms (the latency period) can be a few months to as long as forty years. Screening for chronic beryllium disease includes the use of chest x–rays and blood tests (see Detection). Once a person has been exposed to beryllium, he or she has a lifelong risk of developing the disease.

In private workplaces, the current legal limit for beryllium in the air is 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter during an 8–hour shift. However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has admitted that this 2 microgram level “may not be adequate to prevent the occurrence of chronic beryllium disease” (OSHA Hazard Information Bulletin, September 2, 1999). For government workers with the Department of Energy, the limit is 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of beryllium during an 8-hour shift—an amount that is 10 times less than the limit for private workplaces.

The defense department award to Brush Wellman is part of a program known as Title III under the Defense Production Act. The government will fund engineering, design and equipment while Brush Wellman provides buildings and operates the plant. Since the new Brush Wellman plant will be managed by the company, it is subject to the more lax 2 microgram beryllium level for its workers.

Your Beryllium Case

At Brayton Purcell, we are concerned about the effects of beryllium exposure on workers and their families. We have successfully handled cases involving beryllium and other toxic substances for over 20 years, and have earned an excellent national reputation in this legal field. If you have been exposed to beryllium and developed chronic beryllium disease, please feel free to contact us to learn about your legal options.