August 7, 2004 Story: TALLEVAST -- Tim Brady thought he was doing his part to help the United States during the Cold War by building nuclear warheads at the American Beryllium Co. plant in Tallevast. For four years, Brady operated million-dollar pieces of machinery, and even when he noticed boils on his arms, he shrugged it off. "I was gung-ho," said Brady, 40. "I was helping stop the Cold War." Now Brady is convinced his time spent in the plant nearly cost him his life. Seriously ill for a decade, he needs monthly infusions of hemoglobin to stay alive. He's not alone. Coveted for its strength and durability, beryllium is so dangerous the government set up a program in 2000 to reimburse those who got sick from working around it. The government has approved about 12,000 claims and paid out $855 million in compensation and medical services. But nearly all of those claims came from large plants in the Midwest. Brady and other former American Beryllium Co. workers said word of the program never got to them -- only two of the more than 1,000 former plant workers have filed claims. Government officials acknowledge they have done a poor job of advertising the program and signing people up. They hope to change that in two all-day workshops scheduled at a Bradenton hotel Tuesday and Wednesday. "We're now ready to do outreach to smaller locations," said Bill Franson, who administers the compensation program for the Department of Labor. Former American Beryllium machinist Larry Paquin said he plans to go. Paquin, 58, said he has the same address as he did when he worked there from 1980 to 1985. "No one has tried to find me," Paquin said. The fine, black dust that is a byproduct of beryllium production can cause Chronic Beryllium Disease, an incurable, often fatal lung ailment. Because symptoms can take 20 years to appear, experts say there may be another 800,000 people who have berylliosis and don't know it. Paquin said in the past year his breathing has become labored and he has to face the ceiling in order to cough. He's getting thin and tires easily. Paquin said his bosses at American Beryllium never warned him about the dangers of beryllium. "There was a lot of beryllium dust in the place. It looked clean, but it was actually dirty," Paquin said. Alexander Primrose, a machinist at the plant in Tallevast from 1959 to 1985, developed stomach cancer four years ago. His bladder quit functioning in 1999, and he uses a catheter twice a day. Since 2000, he has had 25 chemotherapy and 25 radiation treatments for his stomach cancer, which is now in remission. He also thinks his problems may be the result of years of exposure to beryllium dust. "We didn't know what beryllium could do," Primrose said. "I thought I was doing something good." Primrose said he could see the black dust on his hands and on his machine. He said some younger machinists would come to work, and once they learned they were working with beryllium, they'd pack up their tools and leave. Primrose is going to the meeting this week to see if he qualifies to file a claim. Federal officials said that American Beryllium Co. workers are eligible for compensation only if they have Chronic Beryllium Disease. "But we encourage anyone who worked there to apply," Franson said. Brady, whose immune system is so compromised he spends six hours a day once a month receiving a $5,400 blood infusion, said medical compensation would help. Without the infusions, Brady said he'd probably live two years. His HMO threatened to drop him several times, until his physician filed grievances. Brady, whose hands and feet are numb from a spinal infection, coughs constantly. A nonsmoker, he wheezes when he breathes. X-rays show his lungs are scarred, and he's certain it's from the four years he breathed in beryllium dust on the graveyard shift. Brady and his wife, Flor, have a 7-year-old daughter, Lorena. The couple say his health problems are difficult to cope with. Brady is forced to spend most of his free time resting on the couch. "It sucks. I can't even play with my daughter," Brady said Back to Top