I began my career, dealing with hazardous materials, in the late 1980’s by being trained in the Nuclear Propulsion field of the United States Navy. At that time, I was young and invincible, and I really didn’t take those responsibilities very seriously. Still, I remember what the experience meant to me.
You see, in that job, we were constantly being trained to deal with the unexpected. When nuclear materials are involved, the workers need to react to any possible event with the correct action for the situation. Almost immediately after the event, someone would pull you aside for questioning. This analysis was and is aimed at preventing any future re-occurrence. Men wearing red armbands, signifying a training exercise, would often find numerous ways to make your evening much more eventful than you could possibly have planned, and all to serve a purpose. That purpose was to constantly remind the plant operators of the price of failure. Frequently, I’ve heard the sentence, “If you make a mistake in this line of work… people die.”
My reaction to this type of constant training was to think, very secretly, “Man… these guys really take themselves too seriously. Why don’t they just lighten up?” Well, I’m here today to tell you that after working in the Beryllium industry, I have my answer. Want to hear it? People Die from Beryllium exposure. Believe it, because it happens. Not only do people die, but they die by the horrible process if incremental suffocation. It’s important for you to remember that as you contemplate the information given you by the Beryllium industry today about their miraculous product. It’s even more important for you to remember that many of these people could have been saved, but the beryllium industry chose not to do so.
My career in the beryllium industry began a little more than five years ago. Let me tell you now that compared to the standards I’d experienced, working there seemed like (if you’ll excuse the pun) a breath of fresh air. Things were so relaxed. My coworkers didn’t have to jump when things went wrong. It wasn’t considered that big of a deal when furnaces would expel clouds of poisonous fumes unexpectedly. “Just try to stay out of the cloud,” I was told. These emergencies and failures were treated as either, “One time freak occurrences,” or “too common to be prevented and, therefore, not worth worrying about.” Investigation of cause and effect for emergencies at Brush Wellman is either nonexistent, or merely a show to keep the workers quiet, but no one is ever found at fault. Responsibility for one’s own actions is not required.
This changed for me a few years ago. In 1997 I met a person with Chronic Beryllium disease (We called it (whisper) CBD). It was the most distressing event that could have taken place in the career of a beryllium worker with a conscience. Beryllium disease became real to me for the first time. The disease has a face attached to it now, and one that looks surprisingly like any other person I’ve seen. Seeing someone have to sit down because they cannot find the oxygen to stand any longer (and may fall down) rocks me to my core. I still share the pain of a worker on oxygen who’s just been rudely treated by people who think that carrying an oxygen tank means you were a smoker, and instantly assume that you deserve what you have. I noticed all of this, and then went back to work.
The next day, I really saw the beryllium industry for the first time. I saw all of the broken and neglected safety equipment. I saw that the roof fans were pulling toxic fumes out of the buildings and expelling them to the atmosphere without being filtered in any way. I saw the failings of my employer, my coworkers, and myself and I am ashamed of what that industry does. I listened to their words; I mean I really listened to what they had to say. Then I asked them to fix the problems that exist. Believe me they got very angry when I found the courage to stand up and say, “This is not good enough!”
When you listen to the words as spoken by the beryllium industry, they really do sound impressive. They’re fond of saying things like, “We regulate beryllium exposure using the fundamentals of the ALARA Principle.” Or, “Our safety equipment fully complies with BAT standards.” If you ask, they’ll break down these Acronyms for you. ALARA means as low as reasonably achievable (or in plain English as high as we can get away with for the least amount of money) and it’s a far cry from being as low as possibly achievable. BAT stands for best available technology, but they seem to get angry when you point out that this frequently means best technology for the year 1949, not the year 2000.
The Ohio EPA members, who are entrusted with the public’s protection from this type of industry neglect, remain blissfully unaware that there is anything at all wrong with the beryllium industry. Why? Because they don’t even bother to check the integrity of the records provided to them. Heck they’ve even go so far as to let one beryllium producer file an incomplete petition for a hazardous waste permit. Important details were left out of that report… several pages were blank, purposefully omitted with the full endorsement of the OHIO EPA. Time and again the Ohio EPA fails when subjected to scrutiny, and then they stand here and say, “Trust us… we’re looking out for you?” Mr. DeWine, it’s time that you realized that every time you endorse the Beryllium industry, or give them a break, you impinge your own credibility. I’m not saying that you have to side against them in all situations, but you must opt to protect the worker and citizen in Beryllium exposure cases. Brush Wellman needs to learn to plan for the worst possible situation (the way the Naval Nuclear Power Field does) if she is to accomplish anything in the fight against CBD.
Shielding the company against personal liability for its actions with a onetime payoff to Beryllium disease victims only prevents their need to improve the standards. The creation of real exposure limitation policies would encourage Brush Wellman and the rest of the beryllium industry to take responsibility for its actions. These policies must be included in any bill which addresses the issue of Beryllium compensation. Setting real manageable limits on worker exposure for which an individual can be exposed to before being removed from active service is the first step in that goal. Any compensation that clumps workers together and alleviates the responsibility of Beryllium manufacturers is counterproductive and reactionary to say the least. If you are going to address these issues, then you need to be more informed and base legislation on all of the information. In general this bill is flawed because it lacks that very premise.
Thank you for your time, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to correspond with you in this manner.
Very Sincerely,