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Court blocks questioning of Groom Lake workers

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the government from questioning former workers about the alleged burning of hazardous waste near the Air Force's classified Groom Lake base.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday overruled a earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Philip Pro, who said government investigators, under certain restrictions, could interview one-time base employees.

At issue is protection of the workers' identities. They were allowed to remain anonymous in a civil lawsuit in which they alleged environmental crimes were committed, including the burning of solvents in open trenches.

Earlier this year Pro dismissed that lawsuit, ruling that because national security prevented the workers from getting any information, they could show no controversy. That decision is still under appeal.

In a separate case, the U.S. Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section is conducting what, up until August, was a secret inquiry into the workers' claims.

James Morgulec, attorney with the Justice Department, argued that his office wanted to wrap up loose ends in its case and interview the workers.

He said there was a "firewall" between his investigation and the government attorneys defending the civil lawsuit and that the employees' identities in that case would remain protected.

But workers' attorney Jonathan Turley objected. He said he did not trust that anonymity could be guaranteed and that his clients could be exposed because the government would be allowed to discover if an interviewee was represented by counsel.

Turley argued that if any former worker said 'yes' to that question, it would become obvious they were a plaintiff in the civil suit.

Turley said the Groom Lake workers had requested a criminal investigation two years ago, complaining the Environmental Crimes Section was intentionally delaying its probe until the statute of limitations ran on crimes committed by government employees.

He said the government has never guaranteed the workers they "would not be prosecuted for past disclosures to counsel about the violations."

The 9th Circuit ruled that agents cannot ask Groom Lake employees about their co-workers, nor can they ask any former worker if they are represented by a lawyer.