Hearing is set on permit for Brush project in Elmore

7/14/2008

ELMORE - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will conduct a public information session and hearing next week on a draft air pollution-control permit for the Brush Wellman plant expansion project.

Agency representatives will be on hand for the meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. July 24 in Woodmore High School, 633 Fremont St., to address questions about the Elmore plant and its permit, which would cover air emissions of beryllium from five furnaces, two boilers, and other sources in the new facility.

Found in some high-tech instruments and machinery, beryllium is considered a toxic metal that, if inhaled as dust, can cause the potentially fatal chronic beryllium disease. Brush Wellman is a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Brush Engineered Materials, the leading U.S. manufacturer of pure beryllium and beryllium alloys.