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Lawsuit planned against secret base

A George Washington University law professor said Wednesday he has told the

Air Force to disclose any environmental crimes at its secret Groom Lake base for legal action he plans.

Professor Jonathan Turley, director of the Environmental Crimes Project, a pro bono program in Washington, D.C., confirmed that a letter was hand-delivered to the office of Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall telling her that he is preparing a case against the Air Force in connection with activities at the Groom Lake base in Lincoln County.

"We're primarily concerned with the Air Force disclosing the environmental crimes and seeking criminal prosecution against those who committed them," Turley said in a telephone interview.

"We're asking for medical monitoring and possible compensation for those who were injured," Turley said, noting that the letter offered Widnall a chance to respond to the allegations.

The Groom Lake base, 35 miles west of Alamo, is believed by aviation industry analysts to be a test facility for advanced U.S. aircraft, including the Manta, a second-generation Stealth jet that can spy and bomb.

Turley would not say who his clients are, but he said, "We have a significant number of parties aggrieved by environmental crimes at Groom Lake, and the list has been growing the last few days."

A similar letter was hand-delivered to the office of Energy Secretary Hazel

O'Leary because employees from that agency have worked at the base, Turley said.

The lawsuit will focus on open-pit burning that workers, former workers, and relatives of former workers have said involved toxic materials that were used to develop radar-evading Stealth jets, he said.

Helen Frost, widow of a former worker from North Las Vegas, has said her husband's death was hastened from inhaling toxic fumes from the burn pits while heworked on hangars at the Groom Lake base. She made the claim in a federal lawsuit that was denied last summer.

Since that case, more workers and former workers have confirmed open-pit burning occurred at the base.

Thomas Fronapfel, air quality bureau chief for the Environmental Protection

Division, has been investigating those allegations since October.

Fronapfel's boss, division Administrator Lew Dodgion, said Wednesday, "What

we found out, compared to what we haven't found out, is small."

Before a hearing last week about an Air Force request to withdraw 4,000 acres of public land near the Groom Lake base, Dodgion said Fronapfel has found evidence of open-pit burning in the two visits he has made to the base since last year.

Turley said he was not at liberty to disclose the details of injuries to his clients, but he said he has "compelling evidence that environmental crimes were committed at Groom Lake."