Ohio Citizen Action (Ohio's largest environmental activist organization) want more protection at beryllium plant

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http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/wednesday.html

Environmentalists want more protection at beryllium plant

June 16, 1999

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- The state's largest environmental activist group is

asking the nation's biggest maker of the potentially toxic metal beryllium

to do more to protect workers and the public.

``There are a number of people that could have been exposed and just don't

know it,'' said Ogdahl, director of the Ohio Citizen Action's Toledo

office.

Beryllium, a hard and lightweight metal, was used in nuclear weapons. It now

is used in a variety of electronic and automotive parts. Some golf clubs

also contain beryllium.

Inhaling dust from the metal can cause an incurable, often-fatal lung

disease.

The environmental group wants Cleveland-based Brush Wellman Inc. to:

-- Provide free medical exams to people living near the company's plant

outside Elmore near Toledo.

-- Reduce beryllium dust inside and outside the plant.

-- Add more air monitoring stations.

-- Install a warning system to notify neighbors of accidents, spills and

explosions.

Last week, Brush Wellman announced several major changes to protect workers,

including requiring some to wear respirators.

Brush Wellman spokesman Hugh Hanes said he would not comment on Ohio Citizen

Action's concerns because he had not seen details in writing.

Ohio Citizen Action said its demands were sparked by a series of articles in

The Blade, which in March reported that government and industry officials

knew for years about the dangers of beryllium but allowed workers to be

exposed to it.

Researchers estimate there have been 1,200 documented cases of beryllium

disease nationwide since the 1940s, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, nearly all of the soil tested at a closed weapons plant in Luckey

has remnants of beryllium, but the government is years away from cleaning up

the site.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials met with neighbors of the former

beryllium plant Tuesday night to discuss the cleanup. Corp officials said

they expect to begin the work in May 2002.

They estimate the cleanup will take about three years. The contamination

doesn't pose a health threat to the neighbors and doesn't appear to be

spreading, officials said.

During the 1950s, the former Brush Beryllium Co. -- which later became Brush

Wellman -- used the site to make beryllium for the Energy Commission. The

47-acre site is 25 miles southeast of Toledo.