GROOM LAKE PLAINTIFF SUCCUMBS TO CANCER

Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 14, 1995

By Warren Bates

  A former worker who sued the government alleging violations at 
an Air Force operating location near Groom Lake has died, 
prompting the attorney handling the case to ask if his wife can be 
substituted as a plaintiff.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who 
represents six former base workers and the widow of another, said 
the man recently died of cancer, declining to elaborate on his 
illness.   The suit contends that hazardous waste dumping at the 
base, which is 35 miles west of Alamo in Lincoln County, caused 
workers to suffer various medical problems .

A current court order has al lowed the workers to remain 
anonymous. But Turley said he will ask U.S. District Judge 
Philip Pro to add the man's widow as a named plaintiff.

"(The death) has had a sobering effect on an already serious 
case," Turley said. "It is easy to lose sight of the fact that 
these workers, while anonymous, are real individuals with, in some 
cases, serious medical problems."

He said he expects that once the widow is allowed into the suit, 
the workers' affidavit will be unsealed, leading to additional 
discovery in the case. 

"We hope to gather additional information from the (government) on 
his medical and employment history," Turley said. "Thus far they 
have been unwilling to share that.  We will continue to ask the 
court to access to documents that have no national security 
value."

Pro has already ruled against the workers on the issue of what 
types of chemicals have been used at the base. He did so after 
U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall submitted an 
affidavit explaining why the government felt disclosures would be 
a grave threat to national security.

Turley said that in response he is filing under seal an Air Force 
Security manual containing much of what the military has deemed 
classified. He said the manual itself has been marked 
unclassified.

He said he will ask Pro to accept the document and then unseal it, 
which will prompt a review of the military's position.

"We have repeatedly objected to the use of national security for 
purely tactical purposes in this case," he said.

The Air Force does not acknowledge a military base with an 
airstrip and hangars exists at Groom Lake. The Air Force only 
confirms "there is an operating location near Groom dry lake." 

###

REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION