Title:  Groom lake lawyer targets exemption in workers' toxic     
        contaminants lawsuit
Document type:  Newspaper article
Publication:  Las Vegas Review-Journal
Date:  December 13, 1995
Author:  Warren Bates

GROOM LAKE LAWYER TARGETS EXEMPTION IN WORKERS' TOXIC CONTAMINANTS 
LAWSUIT

By Warren Bates

An attorney representing former workers of the U.S. Air Force's 
operating location near Groom Lake is asking a federal judge to-
consider what he calls the most important issue in their lawsuit 
against the government ‹whether base information is privileged 
even if crimes were committed there.

Jonathan Turley, professor at George Washington University Law 
School, is fighting a presidential exemption the government 
received in October that allows to be kept secret virtually all 
information regarding operations at the base west of Alamo in 
Lincoln County.

Turley is asking U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to determine the 
scope of the exemption and ,the government's assertions of 
national security. In court briefs filed this week, he argued that 
the government, for the first time, has taken the position that 
the privilege covers even activities alleged to be illegal.

Workers have two lawsuits pending that say they were exposed to 
toxic contaminants while working on projects. When the 
presidential exemption was granted, Turley said it meant only that 
current and future activity was protected.

"This motion is a defining issue for this litigation ... it sets 
up a national threshold," Turley said Tuesday. "If the executive 
branch can withhold evidence of its own crimes, it becomes a 
government onto itself."

Turley's motion argues that Pro would be the first judge to 
interpret how far the government can go in its efforts to maintain 
national security.

"If the court believes that the government may refuse to confirm 
evidence of its own criminal conduct as a national security 
matter, there is no limitation on their use of the privilege," his 
motion stated.

Turley has filed eight motions to compel the government to 
release details of base operations. While the United States has 
claimed executive or state secrets privilege on all of them, 
Turley is arguing that if authorities withhold a confirmation of 
acts they are not allowed to commit," the information must be 
released.

The attorney said his requests for information have been tailored 
so that sensitive details can be "easily segregated" from evidence 
of criminal conduct.  He said he has not asked for anything more 
specific than an admission that violations of the Resource and 
Conservation Recover Act have occurred.

The government has called Turley's charges mere allegations and 
insinuations and therefore is not responsible for any disclosures. 
Turley claims they are factual matters supported by affidavits 
from eyewitnesses, including participants in burning operations.

Government attorneys Russel Young and Sylvia Quast have asked Pro 
to reconsider part of his order that requires presidential action 
under the Resource Act. They contend the order is unwieldy and 
frustrates the system previously used by presidents ‹ the delegation 
of classified decisions to subordinate executive branch officials.

###