A plant official yesterday blamed the failure to report the installation and operation of the dryer on an administrative error and said there was no threat to public health. But the violation notice comes as neighborhood activists are pushing Pima County to impose stronger monitoring requirements as it renews the plant's emissions permit.
Beryllium is chiefly a threat to workers inside the plant.
At least 25 workers exposed to beryllium dust since the plant opened in 1980 have contracted chronic beryllium disease, a lung ailment that can slowly smother its victims. Blood tests on at least a dozen others have shown they developed a beryllium allergy that often precedes the disease. The violation notice issued Monday stemmed from a surprise inspection on Sept. 20 and 21. An inspector from the county Department of Environmental Quality asked whether the two clothes dryers in the laundry room were vented into the plant's pollution control system and was told they were, county records show. But the inspector found one dryer vented directly to the roof.