New hope for Area 51 ex-workers

A letter from the Department of Energy's health and safety director strongly suggests that former workers at the government's secret Area 51 installation should be treated as Nevada Test Site workers under a program to compensate them for their Cold War illnesses.

The letter, obtained Monday by the Review-Journal, could pave the way for reopening many claims that had been previously denied and allow hundreds of new claimants to file for $150,000 in compensation and reimbursement for medical costs, said John Funk, chairman of the nonprofit, Atomic Veterans and Victims of America, a Las Vegas group that has been tracking the issue.

"There's 250 in my group at least, and this could very easily affect 1,000 people," Funk said.

He noted that dozens of former Area 51 workers didn't file claims because they were told by program officials that "they were just wasting their time."

Labor Department officials in Washington, D.C., were unavailable late Monday to discuss how the letter will affect decisions in granting compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation program.

But Funk estimates that 40 percent of all people who worked at the Nevada Test Site also worked at Area 51 at some time during their careers.

He said many of them were skilled craftsmen and laborers who built runways and hangars at the secret installation on the Groom Dry Lake bed, adjacent to the Nevada Test Site, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. That's where former Groom Lake workers have said high-tech stealth warplanes and the high-flying spy plane were tested against foreign radar systems.

The June 2 letter from Patricia Worthington, director of DOE's Office of Health and Safety, came in response to questions raised in a Nov. 6 letter from Peter Turcic, director of the Department of Labor's Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation. Turcic wanted to know whether special exposure coverage would be extended to Area 51 workers.

The 60-square miles that make up Area 51 was "administratively withdrawn" by the Interior Department in 1958 "for use by the Atomic Energy Commission as part of its NTS," the letter reads, referring to the Nevada Test Site.

"It was used for at least one above-ground nuclear safety experiment," wrote Worthington. "In general, DOE did not pursue any further mission-associated activities in that area. It is our understanding, however that other federal agencies did utilize that property.

"With respect to AEC and its successors' contractor employees, to the extent that those claimants reference having worked at 'Area 51,' that would signify they had worked on NTS," the June 2 letter reads.

Jon Summers, a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., reacted to the letter, saying in an e-mail that as the senator "has been arguing, the letter finally recognizes that Area 51 was part of the Nevada Test Site under DOE's responsibility."

"However, the letter also points out that other federal agencies, like the Department of Defense, may have had their own employees working at Area 51 wearing (Nevada Test Site) badges. The letter doesn't do much to clarify these workers' eligibility," Summers said.

"What we now need is the Department of Labor's further clarification on this issue, since it is the agency that adjudicates workers' claims," he said in an e-mail.

Fred Dunham, a former Area 51 security guard whose claim was denied on grounds that he worked at Area 51 and not at the test site, said he hopes Worthington's letter gives him enough leverage to win his appeal although it's unclear.

"It leads me to believe they're going to say you're half-and-half, you're half empty and you're half full," said Dunham, who blames his bout with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on inhaling toxic, dioxin-laden fumes while he worked for EG&G Special Projects at Area 51.

Dunham said references in Worthington's letter to the Area 51 property being owned by the Department of Energy and the fact that he had a Nevada Test Site badge and accessed his work station from the test site will weigh in his favor.

"There's a lot of leverage for appeal," he said. "I lived, worked, ate and pooped in a Department of Energy facility."

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.