Congress began two investigations, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration warned workers that government safety standards may not be protecting them, and several contractors pulled their employees out of the Brush plant and offered them medical tests, discovering at least four cases of lung disease. The program may be expanded and extended for many years, costing even more. Mr. Vlasko said he asked Brush Wellman if state inspectors could be tested under Brush's health and safety program, but the company responded that its program was set up to accommodate testing of its own employees, not outside workers. Mr. Vlasko said Brush told him that if the state inspectors had been following the company's safety rules while at the plant, the inspectors needn't worry about beryllium disease. Cleveland-based Brush Wellman is America's leading beryllium producer.
Beryllium is a strong, lightweight metal.
Its dust can cause a chronic, often-fatal lung illness. An estimated 1,200 people have contracted the illness nationwide since the 1940s, including at least 65 current or former Brush workers at the Elmore plant. Most are inspectors who have conducted work at Brush's Elmore plant, but a few may have been exposed at two businesses in Marion, O., and a former Brush facility in Luckey. One person interested in having his blood tested is Jeffery Steers, assistant chief of the Ohio EPA district office in Bowling Green. Mr. Steers said he has been to Brush's Elmore plant two or three times.