Questioning of Area 51 workers delayed

Rachael Levy

Friday, Oct. 4, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The Justice Department agreed to delay questioning former Area 51 workers who fear government retaliation for exposing alleged unlawful burning of hazardous waste.

A federal prosecutor said the interviews are needed to wrap up an investigation into allegations that environmental crimes were committed at the secret military base 125 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The base, also known as Groom Lake, housed the top-secret Stealth fighter and U-2 spy plane.

Investigators received the green light on Monday from a Las Vegas federal judge, allowing them to ask the workers a limited number of questions.

On Thursday, however, the workers' attorney, Jonathan Turley, temporarily blocked investigators' efforts by asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the judge's decision.

The workers say they have evidence that the investigation is a thinly disguised effort to punish them for blowing the whistle. Las Vegas U.S. District Judge Philip Pro did not review that evidence before authorizing the interviews.

Turley argued that Pro's restrictions on investigators do not go far enough in protecting the workers' identities.

Pro limited investigators from inquiring whether workers knew the whistleblowers' identities. And should investigators learn the identities, the judge ruled that the names cannot be revealed to the Justice Department without the individual's permission.

Investigators are permitted to ask whether the workers are represented by a lawyer and if that person is Turley. Turley contends that such information is tantamount to admission of blowing the whistle.

The workers, whose names are protected by a civil court order, alleged that throughout the 1980s the Air Force regularly filled 55-gallon drums with toxic waste and dumped them in trenches the size of football fields. The drums were covered with combustible material, doused with jet fuel and set ablaze, the workers allege.

It is a crime to burn hazardous waste in open trenches. However, the statute of limitations has expired on any burning that may have occurred, meaning those responsible cannot be prosecuted, Turley said.

Workers say the Air Force has repeatedly maintained it would prosecute them for contacting an attorney about their work at the classified base.

Although Justice attorney James Morgulec refused to respond to the allegation, an Aug. 7 motion he wrote said the Environmental Crimes Section had "no stake or interest" in protecting the Air Force or its contractors.

The whistleblowers sued the Air Force and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1994 after developing health problems ranging from skin lesions to cancer. They say their illness were caused by repeated contact with hazardous chemicals.

Pro ruled that environmental regulations were violated at Area 51 in 1994 and forced future compliance, Turley said. The second suit was dismissed because it compromised national security. Both suits have been appealed.