Environmental activists say that residents in Tallevast, Florida, home to about 250 people, many whom are descendants of the former slaves who founded the town, may have to move.

For 25 years the American Beryllium Company ran a plant in Tallevast that made parts for nuclear reactors and weapons. Although the plant closed in 1996, residents were never told that an underground leak had released beryllium into water wells in the village. And when the defense company Lockheed Martin Corp. bought the plant and discovered the problem in 2000, it failed to inform the people of Tallevast for another three years.

Although nobody has conducted a formal survey of the damage, residents cite information on cancer, miscarriages, nosebleeds, and other health conditions and the Environmental Protection Agency says that beryllium is a probable human carcinogen. According to members of a local group called Family Oriented Community United Strong, or FOCUS, Tallevast is a prime example of environmental racism: the deliberate targeting of low-income and minority communities for hazardous waste.

Tallevast's representative in the Florida State Legislature, Bill Galvano, thinks the whole town should be moved to a new site and suggested that Lockheed Martin Corp. pay for most of the relocation costs, to a new site selected by Tallevast residents. In exchange, the town's residents are being asked to drop their lawsuit against Lockheed filed in 2005, claiming charges of property damage and mental anguish.

It remains to be seen what the town residents will decide.