Stealth Health Case

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

The following is excerpted from an August 16, 1994 Press Release issued
by the Project on Government Oversight. For more information, contact
Scott Amey of the Project at 202/466-5539.

SECOND LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT
CONCERNING THE SUPER SECRET FACILITY AT GROOM LAKE

 A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada, to
address eleven charges against the Secretary of Defense William Perry,
National Security Advisory Anthony Lake, and Air Force Secretary Sheila
Widnall. The charges include: violation of the federal facility reporting and
inventory requirements; violations of the ban on open burning of hazardous
waste used to build the Stealth Fighter; and illegal land disposal of
hazardous waste. The suit also alleges the illegal trucking of hazardous
waste from a California-based defense contractor to Groom Lake in order to
conceal disposal of the hazardous materials.

 The government has been using secrecy and over-classification as a
way to hide the illegal burning of toxic materials at a super-secret Air Force
facility. Workers from the top-secret government facility in Groom Lake,
Nevada ("Area 51") are now challenging the secrecy laws that have, until
now, prevented them from speaking out against this illegal practice.
Because of the secrecy oaths workers had to take when employed at Groom
Lake, six of the plaintiffs are listed as John Does and one plaintiff is named.

 The Project on Government Oversight, a non-profit government
watchdog group, and the Environmental Crimes Project, a pro bon legal
arm of the George Washington University, are assisting these workers and
local residents. Our goal is to stop the environmental violations that may still

be occurring; to force the government agencies involved to take
responsibility for injuring these people, in the name of "national security,"
to hide illegal activity.

 For example, workers from the facility have revealed that materials
used in the process of building the Stealth Fighter were regularly burned in
open air pits, including: high toxic composites, electrical equipment, tires,
hardeners, solvents, resins, coatings, and paints. Workers performed these
and other duties without having been allotted protective gear or clothing.

 The current lawsuit is the second in a series of lawsuits filed
concerning Groom Lake's Area 51. On August 2, 1994, a citizen action suit
was filed against Carol Browner, Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator, for the failure to inspect Groom Lake for violation of Federal
environmental laws. U.S. District Chief Judge John Garret Penn, in the
District of Columbia, has allowed the six plaintiffs to remain anonymous
due to their fear of retaliation from the government. A copy of the suit will
be available upon request of the Project on Government Oversight.