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Groom Lake plaintiff anonymity OK'd

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro has allowed former workers from the secret Groom Lake air base in Lincoln County to remain anonymous in their lawsuit against defense and national security officials, an attorney in the case said Thursday.

The attorney, Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, said Pro verbally granted the motion during a Sept. 2 teleconference with him and and government lawyers. Pro's decision is not binding and could be challenged later even though the government chose not to oppose it at the hearing.

Turley sought the motion because he said his clients have been threatened with reprisals if they ever broke their silence about the base, 35 miles west of Alamo, where they said secrecy fostered abuses of the government's own hazardous waste laws. The base is also known as Area 51.

"Our clients were told by government officials at Area 51 that any acknowledgment of the base's existence or their employment there will result in arrests and criminal prosecutions. They were further threatened with loss of benefits and governmental surveillance," Turley said in a telephone interview.

His clients claim toxic chemicals were routinely burned in open trenches, defying environmental laws, and exposing them to smoke and fumes that have caused health problems.

The Aug. 15 lawsuit names three defendants: Defense Secretary William Perry, National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall.

Turley represents a Las Vegas widow, Helen Frost, and six unnamed plaintiffs, described only as former base workers. Frost has said the death of her husband, Robert Frost, in 1989, was linked to his exposure to toxic fumes from chemicals during development of the F-117A stealth fighter.

Pro's decision to allow fictitious names follows a similar ruling by Judge John Garrett Penn, chief of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Turley filed that lawsuit Aug. 2 on behalf of former base workers against Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner, who they claim failed to have her agency inspect the base. That case was later sent to the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas and is also before Pro.

Concerning the EPA lawsuit, Turley said he is involved in settlement negotiations with the government, which are expected to continue for several weeks.