To the editor:

I’ve operated Seale’s Auto Body in North Vernon for more than three decades. I’m concerned about what the future will hold if the OSHA Beryllium rule stays in place, since I do some abrasive blasting. I’m eager to see this rule rolled back. Congress must allow small business owners to run our businesses.

OSHA has a tendency to overreach their boundaries, and this is just the latest example of how they’re imposing rules that will harm small businesses. They were set up to protect workers in the industrial sector. The use of beryllium in those industries at the high concentrations they use does pose some risk. However, the rules have been inappropriately applied the blasting industry. The amounts of beryllium in our abrasive blasting applications are concentrated at 20,000 times less than those. Abrasive blasting materials contain about as much beryllium as what’s in garden soil.

I have two employees, and I don’t want to see them lose their jobs. It’s important that small businesses are able to stay open and continue to provide jobs to their communities. I sincerely hope that Representative Luke Messer will encourage President Trump and the new administration to roll back this rule.

Clayton Seale

North Vernon